Are we winning yet?

Some weeks, as we leave F&B, Lynn and I will have totally different views on whether the event was successful, based entirely on our personal perceptions.

I know sometimes I’ve arrived at F&B after a really challenging day, where nothing seemed to go right, and I felt that the event was fantastic, because as I listened, I realized I had constructed a fictional world in my head where everyone had it easy, and I was the only one struggling. And that very same night, Lynn felt it was only ok, and that we could probably have chosen a better beginning exercise, or made some other change.

Ok, so sometimes it’s me on the more negative side, but hey, I’m writing this, so she gets to be the moany one here! 😂

The more I think about our mismatched experiences, the more I keep coming back to the same question:

What is success for Fish & Bear?

And when I ask that question, I ask it not just for each event we host. I also ask whether we were successful last year, and what would make us more successful this year?

My long-term dream is for F&B to create an alternative to social media. So maybe the ultimate success would be the end of all those apps that promise connection but really just profit from our data and time. You know which ones I mean, the ones that led to populist governments, teenage body dysmorphia, rage bait, and all those other toxic side effects of profit before people.

I can remember reading in one of my MBA books that if you are not measuring it, you are not managing it. (Which is why businesses can get so focused on profits that they don’t notice they are destroying humanity. IMHO) So what do we measure, and what should we be measuring?

Well, we don’t judge F&B on profit or some funky financial ratio to make it look complicated. In fact, we try to judge it on human connection. But human connection isn’t easily measured or calculated; it’s pretty much as subjective as it gets.

I think I’m overthinking, yet again.

Our events are successful if people turn up and, immediately after F&B finishes, start chatting to each other with ease.

It is as simple as that.

We say in our introduction that there is no winning or losing at Fish & Bear as it is not a competition, so I don’t think each event should be competing with each other either. I told Lynn this, and she agreed - so I win! 🤣

Hope to successfully see you soon,

Mark

xx