Hello, everyone.

I’ve often noticed that as I begin exploring a subject I start running into information that helps me to continue my learning.  Call it synchronicity or simply noticing what I would have missed before for lack of attention, but this has happened time and time again.  And it just happened again.

I’ve begun exploring in these pages my theory that when a business owner finds him/herself in crisis, we can explore the transits of the five outer planets to both define the crisis and to design the solution out of the crisis.  In my post “What flavor your Crisis?” I began to outline the types of crises you are likely to experience when under the influence of each planetary energy.

The Trap

This morning an article came through from Harvard Business Review called “The Acceleration Trap.”  This article insightfully describes a situation when a business takes on more than it can handle.  Often sparked by an exceptional burst of opportunities, the company increases activities and exceeds prior performance but doesn’t know when to stop.  If the activity level turns into chronic overloading, employees’ motivation will flag and the company’s focus will be scattered in various directions.  This can confuse customers, threaten your brand, and lead to burn-out, exhaustion, and resignation (maybe even yours.)

Sounds like a Jupiter crisis!  In my previous post, I described a Jupiter crisis this way:  a Jupiter transit indicates a business crisis caused by too many opportunities.  Risk-taking could be leading to overexpansion.  The focus has become too scattered and lack of follow-through causes projects to be invested in and then dropped before completion.  There can be lack of judgment on the part of the owners and extravagance and dissipation of resources.

The HBR article adds to my research by describing three patterns that can emerge from this situation:

  1. Employees are overloaded with too many activities.  This is when workers don’t have the time or the resources required to do their jobs.
  2. Companies ask employees to do too many kinds of activities, what the authors call “multiloading.”  This leads to workers being unfocused and activities misaligned.
  3. Companies get into the habit of constant change, or perpetual loading.  This deprives workers of any hope of recharging their energy. 

Of course in a micro-business with only the owner, or the owner with one or two employees, these patterns can certainly emerge too.

The Solution

How does a company break out of the acceleration trap? 

Another part of my theory is that you have to fight fire with fire.  If, due to the natal chart of the company or the owner, there have been and continue to be a string of Jupiter transits, then the energy that led to the situation must be called upon for the solution.

Here are some suggestions, culled from the HBR article, and modified according to what we know about Jupiter:

  1. Ask your employees for ideas about what to stop.  As employees bring their wisdom to the situation and enjoy the trust you place in them to resolve the crisis, it brings the best of Jupiter to bear.
  2. Make sure you have defined a long-term strategy, that everyone in the organization knows what it is, and that every project supports that strategy.  Jupiter is the king of looking ahead and planning for the future.
  3. Have a way to make hard choices.  Ask each manager (or yourself), what is the single project you want to complete above all others?  Setting one supreme goal brings out the Jupiter spirit in people.
  4. Call an end to ceaseless turmoil.  Declare it over.  Jupiter understands the power of words and proclamations to shape the present moment and the future.
  5. Create a ceremony to acknowledge what is stopping.  The HBR article highlighted the need for a “burying” culture.  People have invested time and energy into projects you may be halting.  Gather people together to formally acknowledge the end of a project so that everyone can grieve and let it go. 
  6. Work to change the company culture.  Slow down.  Relax.  Indulge.  Institute regular time-outs and be sure to stick to them.  No one likes fun more than Jupiter.

 

To read the initial article in this series see:

What Flavor your Crisis?

For more articles on Jupiter see:

Astro4Business Basics – Jupiter

Ready for Opportunity?  Jupiter Direct

Don’t forget. If you have an astrology-related business question (or a business-related astrology question) send it to me at ellen@astro4business.com. I’ll answer it in these posts, anonymously of course, and we can all learn from each other’s experiences. I look forward to it! Have a question now? Email it and let’s get started!