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#1 A Business Carol
In the original story “A Christmas Carol,” (rst edition 1843) Charles Dick 
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ens writes about an old and miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who undergoes alife-changing experience of redemption over the course of a Christmas Eve
night.
The plot goes like this (http://tinyurl.com/mjdxkk):
“If the experiencedoesn’t change Scrooge’s ways, he will end up walking the Earth forever being nothing but an invisible and lonely ghost, like his deceased friend  Jacob Marley.” 
Lately, I’ve been thinking about how “A Christmas Carol” parallels much of what we do every day within our businesses.First of all, Charles Dickens himself was a struggling entrepreneurial au-thor fretting over how he was going to pay off his debt when he penned “AChristmas Carol” - all 18,000 pages - in just six short weeks. But this isnothing new on genius spurts because many bright and creative folks pro-duce some of their best ideas under duress. A great mind reacts naturallyto dire circumstances: Do something spectacular! And in this case, “AChristmas Carol” was not only cranked out in a limited amount of time butalso went on to become one of the most popular and enduring Christmastales of all time.
What’s so remarkable is how this story has become a metaphor for oper 
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ating a business during our current tumultuous economic times - what I refer to as “A Business Carol.” A related concept that recently caught my attention comes from Dr. Vijay Govindarajan, a professor of international business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. An expert on innovation and strategy, he spoke with The Wall Street Journal (http:// tinyurl.com/lhsxvp) about his theory of how business strategy involvesthree boxes (hence, the image).
The Wall Street Journal article describes Dr. Govindarajan’s theory:
“Box One involves managing the present - for example, improving the efciency of today’s businesses. Box Two involves selectively forgetting the past [interesting twist]. And Box Three … is about creating the future.” 
I could not help but think of good old Scrooge. But let’s take a furtherlook at how three different perspectives - “A Christmas Carol,” my make-believe “A Business Carol” and Dr. Govindarajan’s real-life interview withthe WSJ - all tie together to help us better understand how to prepare forthe economic recovery.
The Past
A Christmas Carol: TheGhost of ChristmasPast leads Scrooge on a journey to some of hispast Christmases, whereevents shaped his lifeand character.A Business Carol: Asa business owner, you
reect on some of your
past business decisionsthat shaped the direction of your company.Dr. Govindarajan:
“Box Two involves selectively forgetting the past.” 
Hereyou thought we were to learn from history not to repeat mistakes fromthe past! Partially true. In Dr. Govindarajan’s opinion,
“not everythingthat you do today will be relevant in 2025.” 
So therein lies the rationale of selectively forgetting the past so that you can remain relevant and prepareassertively for the future.
The Present
A Christmas Carol: The Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge throughthe streets of London on the current Christmas morning. They observe theCratchit family’s happy celebration. When the Spirit predicts an early deathfor son Tiny Tim if things remain the same, Scrooge wants to change thefuture.A Business Carol: You observe the celebrations of the neighboring businessand their new product that was launched on a shoestring. When you seesigns of an early death for the product if things remain unchanged, youwish to change the future.Dr. Govindarajan:
“Box One involves managing the present - for example,improving the efciency of today’s businesses,” 
the WSJ article explains.Dr. Govindarajan states that companies tend to focus on this and cost con-trol.
“That’s inevitable because, for many companies, sales revenue hasdropped by 50%, 60% or 70%. When your sales drop by 70% and you’vegot to maintain margins, you’ve got to cut costs,” 
he says.
The Future
A Christmas Carol: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come frightens Scroogeand haunts him with a vision of a future Christmas with the Cratchit familybut without Tiny Tim.
 
A Business Carol: You are haunted by a vision of a future in which theneighboring business’s product has failed.Dr. Govindarajan: Box Three is about creating the future, according to theWSJ article. Can you really plan for the future? “You cannot plan for theyear 2025, but you can prepare for it,” says Dr. Govindarajan.
“Preparingfor the future simply involves asking what the broad trends are.” 
The End
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge changes his life, becoming more generouswith his time and money.A Business Carol: You change your life and revert to the generous, kind-hearted soul you were before the death of one of your ideas. You anony-mously send the neighboring business the biggest business tip you canthink of, and you spend time with employees, independent contractors andthe neighboring business.Dr. Govindarajan: Often,
“companies spend too much of their time man
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aging Box One - the present - and think that’s strategy. Instead, heargues, companies need to spend more time and energy on thinking about Box Two [selectively forgetting the past] and Box Three [creating the fu
-ture],” 
the WSJ reports.
There you have it. Three different perspectives, all with a common theme:There is still time to make a difference in our world, to learn from your  past yet choose to forget certain parts of it to remain relevant and to makeimprovements in your life and your business in preparation for a morevibrant future.
And remember, just like Scrooge, if you don’t change your business ways,you might end up being nothing but an invisible and lonely business ghost.
 
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