Tag Archives: business thinking

August 29, 2013 · 10:25 am

Getting Pinned

Credit card

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A friend had her pocket picked last night. Yes, I’m being literal – they got her wallet and immediately ran to a couple of stores to buy electronics which are easily turned into cash on the street. Fortunately she noticed her wallet missing not long afterwards and so was able to block the credit cards relatively soon.  Still, thousands of dollars of goods were charged – they were few in number but big in price.

As someone who used to supervise a fairly large online sports store, I’m well aware that it’s usually the merchant who bears the brunt of these fraudulent purchases.  Most of the time, the onus is on the retail outlet to verify that the card is being used by the rightful owner or the outlet will eat the cost of the goods refunded to the consumer.  Because of that, there are a lot of electronic countermeasures taken during online checkout to be sure that the card is real by both merchants and card issuers. You may even have experienced some of them while traveling, especially if you’ve gone out of the country (banks don’t like it when the card is suddenly being used overseas!).

What strikes me as odd, however, is that it’s far easier to commit fraud in the real world than it is online.  Think about your last experience charging something with a credit card.  The cashier may not have even looked at the card to see if the sex of the user matches the name on the card.  They might not have verified the signature.  Neither of those, by the way, is much of a deterrent.  Maybe you swiped the card at a gas pump which then asked for your zip code.  As in my friend’s case, if they have the entire wallet, there is probably something in there identifying the correct zip so that doesn’t work either.

Contrast that with a bank debit card.  You must have a PIN to use the card.  Forget the pin and there is no way to get cash or make a purchase.  Does anyone think it’s odd that when the bank is on the line (as with a debit card) for the money there is a fairly secure (ok, very secure except for the idiots who write the PIN on the card) check but it’s not there when someone else is liable?

It seems like a pretty simple fix and it can save billions.  Like many things in business, you shake your head and wonder why no one is taking the time to do it.  You agree?

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August 28, 2013 · 8:32 am

Having A Dream

Today is the 50th anniversary of the “I Have A Dream speech Dr. King gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.  I began to write about him and my memories and then I realized I had already done so in 2009.  In reading it again, the thoughts seem appropriate to today as well so here is it once more, albeit slightly edited.

I’m old enough to remember Dr. Martin Luther King and while he didn’t light the fire of the civil rights movement in the US (I’d say Rosa Parks is that hero), he certainly brought the fire to life and tended it well until his assassination (and I remember that as well – how horrible a day it was!).

Martin Luther King, Jr.

What inspired me, a young (then) white kid was his notion of bringing a dream to reality. OK, the words and delivery were pretty inspirational too, even when you read them off a page. Yesterday the Inauguration Committee had a concert on the very place where Dr. King gave his “I Have A Dream” speech to celebrate, nearly 46 years later, a big piece of that speech coming to reality. One can’t help but wonder what Dr.King would have felt and said – he certainly should still be alive – he’d just be turning 80.

Robert Kennedy said “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”  I think that’s great business advice as well, even if George Bernard Shaw had the notion before Bobby.  Mark Twain wrote that “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

So today, I celebrate Dr. King’s dreaming of a better world and making it happen.  Tomorrow, we can watch it become real.  What are you dreaming of?  Can it be real?  Why not?  Or better – why not!!

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August 26, 2013 · 9:43 am

The Same But Different

At the risk of alienating a few of you who are sick of golf-related posts, I want to tell you about a tournament in which I participated over the last three days. It inspired some business thinking as I reflected on it so I feel it appropriate to share with you. I guess I’ll see the rest of you tomorrow!

Golf Anyone?

(Photo credit: Amber B McN)

The tournament was one in which I was paired with another club member for three days. Each day we played golf but the format varied by round.  The first round was what’s known as a scramble – each player on the team hits, we pick the better shot, and both hit the next shot from there.  Rinse, repeat for 18 holes.  It’s a format that encourages thoughtful, aggressive play.  One partner hits a safe shot, the other can try something more difficult since there is no penalty for failure.

The next day was best ball.  Each partner plays their own ball, handicap strokes are deducted, and the better net score is written down for each hole.  This is basic golf.  While there is some strategy, it’s not much different from the regular game one plays all the time.

Finally, there was alternate shot.  In this format, both players tee off, the best drive is selected, and then the player that didn’t hit the chosen drive hits the next shot.  Players alternate shots from there until the ball is holed.  It is a tremendously difficult format in many ways, the biggest of which is that a bad shot forces your partner to fix your mistake.  There is a fair amount of strategic thinking if you hit two good drives.  Who should hit onto the green?   Who do we want putting?  Weak players are exposed and better players often feel helpless since they can’t display their skill while trying to recover from a partner’s miss.

The similarities with business are what struck me this morning.  The rules and conditions are ever-changing even while the basic game remains the same.  One must adapt or die.  You have to build your team so that you can play under any condition.   Teams that had done well in the first two formats posted horrific scores yesterday because one player was very good while the other was pretty bad.  Attention to the strategy appropriate for the situation is always critical in golf and more so given the changes to the rules each day.   Finally, one bad hole doesn’t kill your team nor does one bad day or quarter in business.  Maintaining a good positive attitude with the big picture in mind can deliver a trophy; staying mad about the bad hole (or quarter!) can keep the negative results coming.

We won our group (by a stroke!), mostly on the basis of delivering solid results each day.  That’s not a bad thing for any business to do.  Wouldn’t you agree?

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