Marsosudiro & Co.

Coincidentally related to my last post, here’s the current mantra of my friend Jen:

Discipline is remembering what you want.
Discipline is remembering what you want.
Discipline is remembering what you want.

And, of course, doing what it takes to get what you want.

Discipline without wisdom is pointless.
Wisdom without discipline is fruitless.

“Be Quick But Don’t Hurry” — John Wooden’s top advice to his UCLA basketball team that won ten national championships in twelve years.

Adds the coach: there is never enough time to be sure (and if you are sure, you’re probably too late), but you must always keep your balance.

Wise words in any time, but especially now when many are panicking. UCLA alumnus Andrew Hill joined with Wooden to write a business book of the same title. Check it out if you need some balance in these unsettled times.

Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.

- Steve Jobs

Have fun.  Do good.  Make money.

These are the things on my scorecard, and the first among them is all three.

Today I was talking with some business friends including one fellow who’s trying to decide what to do with the valuable remnants of a business that recently collapsed.  He had many ideas, any of which could be a viable re-configuration of the original idea.  But which ones would be the best for him?

“What do you want?”, I asked him.

“That’s a deep question,” he replied.

I told him what I want from my business.  I want to have fun, do good, and make money.

Turns out that he wants the same thing, along with everyone else around the table.  Fortunately, there’s an ample and ever-growing supply of each.

When I signed on with Verizon Wireless this week, I discovered that they Net Promoter idea very seriously.  In fact, it’s the only question on their new-customer survey:

1. How likely is it that you would recommend Verizon Wireless to a friend or colleague?

I clicked on “extremely likely” and added a comment why:

Great signal.  That’s the one important reason.  The surprisingly friendly and efficient service was a bonus.

After I submitted my response, I got a Thank You screen that said, “may we quote you?  And if so, how would you like your name to be written?”

End of survey.  Cool.

The New York Times has an interesting article on otherwise smart people spending dollars to save pennies:

All around the country, at similar cosmic moments, perfectly sound brains have been seizing up like an old car on a frigid day, particularly in the last few weeks. As Americans attempt to perform cost-benefit analyses of their needs and behaviors, they are whittling pennies from cable bills only to squander dollars on gas driving miles to discount stores, or on coupon-spurred splurges for nonessential items, like Cheez Whiz or organizing supplies. Pinched by shriveled retirement and college accounts, battered by ballooning mortgage costs, rent and co-op maintenance increases, and hedging against the possibility that a job might vanish, some are practicing economies that may not deserve the name.

– Penelope Green, Failing Home Economics, New York Times, 19 November 2008.

The advantage of doing one’s praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places.

– Samuel Butler (1835-1902), from The Way of All Flesh

At the back of each issue, Forbes magazine collects a carefully selected set of quotes on a theme.  Not long ago they theme was Opinions.

Here are a couple of their choices:

I don’t like my music, but what is my opinion against that of millions of others? — Frederick Loewe

A point of view can be aa dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding. — Marshall McLuhan

Man tends to treat all his opinions as principles. — Herbert Agar

I am reminded of two of my former colleagues and their thoughts on the matter.

An un-respected senior manager once tried to curry favor with my boss, Frank, by asking for his perspective on some topic.  Frank said “you say you want my ‘perspective,’ but all I’ve got is a ‘dumb opinion.’”  I think Frank just didn’t want to fake an attitude of cooperation.

Dave, a broadly respected middle-manager, liked this old joke, “Opinions are a lot like a**holes.  Everybody’s got one, but I don’t necessarily want to know about yours.”

The maxim of the British people is “Business as usual.”

- Winston Churchill, Speech, 9 November 1914