#244: Black Friday savings

Black Friday has come and gone, which means I am probably too late to remind you that it is not your responsibility to boost the economy. Your responsibility is to spend less than you earn. If you don’t, you go broke.

I have asked this question before, but it’s worth repeating. How does one go broke?

According to a character in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” the answer is “gradually, and then suddenly.”

It sneaks up gradually then suddenly.

A better question would be, ‘why did you go broke?’. Again, there is only one accurate answer: I kept on spending more than I earned.

There is no magic to it what so ever. Whether a company or an individual, if you spend more than you make, you go broke.

During this period of frantic shopping it is worth remembering what your real economic responsibility is. It’s called saving. Time was when we admired that.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#243: Thanksgiving before expectations

This week we enter the period of gratitude and then we jump straight into the period of great expectations.

Actually, this is the correct order of things. Gratitude first, then expectation.

A common mistake we make is to withhold gratitude until we have received. In other words, until we can judge whether what we have received is worthy of our gratitude.

Imagine being served by a waitress who treats you poorly because she doesn’t know whether your gratuity will be worthy of better service. Or by a salesman who is aloof because he does not yet know how much you plan to spend.

Successful businesses don’t treat customers that way. They do two things differently. They are pleased to serve you before they expect you to reach for your wallet.

And their understanding of the word ‘expectation’ is different. They ‘look forward to’ you reaching for your wallet; they don’t act as if ‘it is their due’.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#242: Cut out play acting

Here’s what I dislike about the movie industry. Their ability to shout ‘cut!’ and do it all over again. I’m jealous of that.

Imagine having the power to shout ‘cut!’ and to do it over and over until you get it right. Now that’s the way to deal with your miss-takes. Did you catch that? Miss takes.

In real life, you mostly have only one change, one take, to get it right. Often you don’t even know in advance what the right outcome should be. After all, you don’t have the benefit of focus groups to design in advance the best outcome or the one that others in your life would prefer.

When you don’t get it right, the trick becomes one of how to re-write your story from this point forward. So, how do you create a new story starting here and now?

That is the real trick and the true art. It’s called living, not play acting.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#241: After the cold

I suspect that many business leaders prefer spring to autumn because spring is an exciting time of growth and expansion. They should learn to appreciate autumn and winter as well. Here’s why.

Obviously, some plants need a cold winter before they will bear fruit. Not so obvious is that some roots grow when the rest of the tree does not need nutrients. This is how deciduous hardwoods expand their roots before spring arrives.

Like hardwoods, some businesses instinctively use recessions to expand their roots to be ready to grow rapidly when things heat up again. Others instinctively become dormant as a way to protect themselves from the cold.

Both types need a cooling off period now and then. One is simply more prepared to bear fruit in the spring. Which instinct prevails at your organization?

I hope yours is like Goldman Sachs, whose CEO said last week that this cold spell is creating historic growth opportunities for them.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#240: When change is heavy

If you aim to make change happen, who should you influence? Not older people, according to a past chairman of Canon Corporation.

Based on his experience, he believed that he wasted his time in trying to influence older business leaders.

You might think that this makes sense. Many of us tend to expect older people to resist change more. But it does not automatically make sense for you to target younger people. Younger people might not resist change as much, but they normally don’t have the power to make change happen.

In most societies and in many organizations it is older people who have control, who are in charge and who make decisions.

I suggest you keep the following in mind before you decide who to engage. Resistance to change has little to do with physical age. Whether they are young or old, better that you ignore the weight of their years as you measure their gravitas of spirit.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#239: After your vote

Some of you who voted last week might still be disappointed because your candidate did not win. What are you going to do about it?

Those of you who are part of a successful team already know what to do. You will commit to make a success of the outcome, however you voted.

I once worked with a very successful team of executives. They had one critical rule. Members could disagree and argue as much as they wanted to inside the meeting, but not outside the meeting. In other words, once a decision was made, every executive acted as if he or she had always believed that this was the right decision.

The result? Most of their decisions were executed well and had successful outcomes.

I have also worked with executives who carried on wasting energy trying to convince others that the decision already taken would fail. Strangely, many of them weren’t around to see it succeed.




I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#238: Bumping along to wisdom

Are you in a hurry on the path to wisdom? Read bumper stickers. Here’s one about experience. ‘My old man shouts, ‘You should listen to my 58 years of experience!’ But what he had was one year of experience repeated 58 times.’

That sums up the risk you take in assuming that experience automatically improves with age. Old experience might not help as new things happen. The trick lies in understanding which old experience has practical application today.

Without practical understanding, you won’t have the savvy to see patterns in all the information around you. And if you don’t see patterns, you can’t make sense of critical events.

Practical understanding comes from direct experience. That’s why experience is defined as the practical acquaintance with facts or events.

And wisdom? Wisdom is the ultimate outcome of an accumulation of practical understandings... if you are lucky enough to survive your own direct experiences.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA