Tag Archives: Reality checks

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 27, 2013 · 9:55 am

Take The Money And Run

TunesDay, and what better theme for a business-related post than the Steve Miller Band‘s Take The Money And Run?  Steve Miller is an interesting cat.  Unlike most rock stars, he’s always been the kind of guy you couldn’t identify in a lineup.  You can probably picture most of the other big-name artists of the 70’s and 80’s.  He might be a little harder to visualize.  The list of musicians who have come though his band over the years – Boz Scaggs being the most notable – include members of Journey, Santana, and others.  The band came out of the Bay Area music scene in the late 60’s and is still with us today.

His song about Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue is about two kids who decide to rob a house, possibly killing the owner in the process.  They evade the law and get away singing “Go on, take the money and run.”  The story is in complete contrast to the light music – let’s listen and see:

There is a business point here.  Too many businesses think as do Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue.  They’re not particularly concerned with what’s right, only with themselves.  They practice the Golden Rule: he who has the gold rules, and once they extract it from their victims, they’re gone.  That tactic worked once for these kids and it won’t work much more often for a business.  One bad customer experience can haunt a company forever (just ask United Airlines about guitars).  An American Express survey found a couple of years ago that people tell an average of nine people about good experiences, and nearly twice as many (16 people) about poor ones.

You don’t need to take the money and run as a business.  That same survey found a large majority of people (70 percent) are willing to spend an average of 13 percent more with companies they believe provide excellent customer service.  In other words, your customers will GIVE you the money if you do right by them, and they’ll keep coming back.

While it makes for a clever little tune, taking the money and running is a bad business idea.  You agree?

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August 16, 2013 · 10:53 am

Supermarket Eyes

Foodie Friday (yay!) and I want to write about a topic inspired by my local supermarket.

The interior of a T & T store

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I know what you’re thinking – awfully boring for the readers looking for a cooking tip or at least another place to complain about my recipes.  Stay with me – it’s kind of an interesting story that related to food and to business.

I’ve been going to that same supermarket for at least a decade.  I know the store like the back of my hand.  Or at least I did until a week or so ago.  They’re doing some sort of work and “improving” the store layout.   You can bet corporate management is at work here – I’m sure there are a bunch studies on shopper movement and purchasing that are in play. Most of the shoppers seem to use a hand-held scanner which traces their movements while shopping in addition to allowing a quick getaway once shopping is over via self checkout.  That data might have something to do with the changes as well.

Why I bring this up is that I noticed something while shopping in the “new”  store.  Since I no longer knew what was in each aisle or where the things I needed were, I paid a ton of attention to every shelf.  In fact, I discovered a couple of interesting food items that had probably been there for a long time.  I’d never had occasion to be or look where they were so I missed them.

That’s the business point too.  Most of us go about our days as if we’re in that very familiar store.  We know where the things are that get us through our days  but because of that we’re a bit oblivious to other things all around us that might be useful.  We need to make a mental change and approach our business lives as if we’re in that reconfigured store.  That small change in perspective can result in a big change in results.

Happy hunting!

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