Mellowness

One of the things a friend pointed out during our trip to Lisbon was how laid back the Portuguese are.  "Mellow" was the word he used, a word I haven't heard often since, oh, 1979.  But it was an apt description of a pretty relaxed population that didn't seem to take themselves too seriously.  They had a nice style about them, they seemed pretty chill (though you don't want to get between the older ladies and their afternoon pastries and espresso!), and you don't see the running around and craziness of a Washington DC or London or many other capital cities.  The locals just seem to enjoy life, and yay for them...more people should.

That mellowness comes with a price tag, of course.  Though in the past Portugal was the home of many important explorers, the Portugal of today seems more content to let the rest of the world do the discovering and exploring.  Google "Portugal" and "Nobel Prize" and you only find two (Literature in 1998, Medicine in 1949).  You don't see too many inventions coming out of Portugal, though one of their contributions to the world -- port wine -- just might make up for that.  The Design and Fashion Museum didn't have a lot of homegrown exhibits.  It's easy to think there's a trade-off at work: less energy equals less creative output (or at least, less commercial creative output).

If this is the case, then you may have to consider a similar trade-off in your firm's culture.  A laid back, relaxed, mellow company might not have the energy to take on competitors or build new business.  You may not do cutting-edge work, you might not land the big clients, you may not make a ton of money...and that might be OK.

There's nothing wrong with having a less profitable, but more fun and relaxed firm, IF that's what you want.  If you don't have money at the top of your list of goals, then you might be able to afford to take a different attitude, one with a better work-life balance in the company.  But if you want to have a mellow approach AND make lots of money, that might not be viable.  As the boss you need to figure out what's most important and move your firm's culture in that direction.  And you need to make it clear to potential employees what your goals are and what kind of approach you expect; hard-chargers who come into a very chill workplace will be disruptive, and probably feel underchallenged.

Many people will tell you that your first priority should always be profit.  Very often, though, when people offer you advice about how you "should" do things, they're basing that advice on their own plans and desires.  That doesn't help.  Your best bet is to dismiss the advice of people who don't understand your priorities, then make sure YOU know what those priorities are and how to achieve them.  Make sure, too, that you're aware of the implications of those choices and are willing to accept them. If you're not, your priorities might be out of whack.

For the record: a mellow workplace is sounding pretty good right about now.