Introduction

Even though this looks like a typical blog, it is actually an experiment in using the features of simple blog software to develop, over time, a single unified piece of work. This is really an alternative to the book.  It is not constrained to the chapter format and a single sequence of text.  I think of this as a fabric of writing, so I am test-driving the term "fabwrit".  In this introduction I'll describe this after outlining the key topic areas.

The Main Topic Areas

This is as close as it gets to a linear table of contents.  The primary virtual sections of this fabwrit include the following:

• Introductory material -- This content talks about the hopes and dreams of business founders, owners, and leaders, and the difficulties that you so often encounter.
• Your business as a living system -- Here you'll be introduced to the idea that your business lives in a very real way, as living entity in ints own right.
• The health factors of your business -- Since your business is alive, it can be healthy or unhealthy in various ways, and can become unhealthy enough to be fatal.
• Diagnosis and prescription -- Part of the value of this writing (hopefully!) is to provide some guidance about how to recognize various health conditions in your business, and prescribe some generic actions to take.  It's important to note that in all cases there exist a range of professional services to call upon for in-depth help, and even out-sourcing. [in progress]
• Source summaries -- A few authors and readings have really stood out over the years as especially helpful.  I wholeheartedly recommend the sources summarized here for you to consult for specific issues.
• Deeper dives -- These postings get deeper into some of the topics such as the aspects and implications for organizations as living systems [in progress]

Why a fabwrit?

Because it uses the blog format, this experiment has the following characteristics:

• As I'm writing this, it is constantly in public
• People who come here can comment on this, even at the time it is all a work in progress.
• It never has to be completed to some final state to meet a publication date -- it is incrementally and continuously published.

Am I doing this because I am impatient for results?  Yes.  Am I frustrated by the need to arrange ideas in a rigid, sequential order?  Yes.  Is this a great idea that will really resonate with readers (and a community of collaborators)?  Time will tell!  Let me know!

For a default place to start, try this page on living the dream of business ownership and leadership.
Or maybe dive into the discussion of businesses as living systems, here.
Or straight into the hub of the discussion of healthy businesses here.