JUST outside the city of Geneva, Switzerland, there is a small town called Prangins. On a hill above the village, overlooking the turquoise waters of Lake Geneva and offering breathtaking views of the French Chablais Alps, stands the Château de Prangins (the Prangins Castle, completed in its present form around 1730). It used to house Voltaire and Joseph Bonaparte. Since 1998, it is home to the Swiss National Museum, which has become a heritage site of national significance. Small jewels of insight can be found in the most unexpected places.
Room 5 of the museum is dedicated to Bourgeois Life. The word bourgeois can trigger negative connotations. Therefore, the term needs to be clearly defined in order to avoid any misinterpretations, both in terms of meaning and intent. It depicts people from a social class with specific cultural and financial capital, living in the urban area, who owned means of production, and valued property and preservation of capital as a way of ensuring their economic supremacy. My aim is not to judge nor favor any social class but rather to provide an example of the link between certain values and what they can lead to.
Going back to the exhibit hall, the room itself displays a salon from around 1850 with several portraits and pieces of furniture from the era. The real item of interest is the leaflet and the description it provides: “The bourgeois way of life, available only to a small minority of the population, followed a carefully balanced pattern of work and play, effort and relaxation. In all matters the outstanding bourgeois virtues were order, cleanliness, industry and punctuality.”
The sequence of the visit is intriguing. The next exhibit hall is Room 6. Its description sheds some light on how Switzerland became one of the world’s strongest economies. During the 19th century, the country changed its focus from a rural community to a city-based society. Banks, among other institutions, established their headquarters in rapidly growing towns. In terms of the global economy, no other country exported as many industrial products worldwide as Switzerland in relation to the modest size of its population.
Two things caught my attention when I was visiting the museum: the importance of balancing work and leisure, and secondly, the guidelines aka principles that can be applied to achieving goals. Bridging the work-life balance (that I prefer to see as a fit, not a balance—see Guideline 11), combined with a system of virtues, seemed to work out quite well for the Swiss. Could this be the recipe for entrepreneurial success?
This book is a recollection of my professional experiences. I taught myself by implementing first. I continue to learn my way through life by making mistakes and finding ways to do things better. Bad decisions coupled with good reflections can produce satisfactory future outcomes. Let us go back to the octopus drawing interview one last time since this is what we started with. As it turns out, eight is a special number. It is the symbol of infinity and harmony due to the balance of the two interlocking loops. Eight is also considered a symbol of self-confidence, success, inner wisdom, and financial abundance. It is associated with such traits as decisiveness, self-discipline, efficiency, and prosperity.
The symbolism of eight is universal. According to the Bible, this number is a symbol of creation and new beginnings. In Asian cultures, it is said to invite great wealth. The lucky stones are amethyst, black diamond, and pearls. Number eight means that you are on the right path to reaching your objectives. The interview fiasco certainly confirmed that for me.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a guideline is “a line by which one is guided: such as, (a) cord or rope to aid a passer over a difficult point or to permit retracing a course; (b) an indication or outline of policy or conduct.” I am passing you the line in the hope that these guidelines can serve as a foundation for behavior that will get you what you want out of your professional life and beyond. May the octo-power guide you!