Our Philosophical Toolkit

June 9th, 2009 by Carl

Take Responsibility.

Some folks walk around with an invisible three-legged stool attached to the seat of their pants. When something goes seriously wrong, they immediately sit down. The first leg is to refuse to take responsibility under all circumstances. Second, find someone to blame. Third, feel sorry for yourself. Not to much is going to go wrong while seated, but it’s hard to go forward from that position. If you really screwed up, and feel terrible, try this mantra: ” I take full responsibility for this situation. I did the best I could, at that time and under those circumstances. I forgive myself.”

Meet people half way.

Do not have relationships with people who do not meet you half way. What is half way? Justice Potter Stewart of the Supreme Court, when speaking of pornography, said it was hard to define, but “I know it when I see it.” We have all been in those relationships, business and personal where we or our services are not valued. If you move away from those relationships (business or personal) where you are not valued, others, better ones, will take their place. People fear a vacuum, but to paraphrase Fritz Perls, flowers will bloom there.

There is no such thing as a free ride.

Call it karma. Call it what goes around comes around. Whatever you call it, you generally want to avoid getting too good a deal in your relations/negotiations with other people. Why do seemingly successful negotiations gradually fall apart? The problem is, most people see negotiations as one dimensional. They figure out what they want, go for it and if they get it, declare victory and go home. Unfortunately, for them, the job is only half done. A truly successful negotiation means both sides get what they want. It is incumbent upon you, once you achieve your goal, to persistently, even aggressively, determine what the other side wants, that you can afford to give. Why not? You have what you want, you can afford to be generous. It is an insurance policy that assures that what you think is a successful negotiation, is indeed successful.

I knew an employer who, selectively, when he made a good hire, and after all negotiations were finished, called the applicant the next day and said, ” I have been thinking it over, I’m very glad you are joining us, and I have decided to bring you in at a higher salary.” Speaks for itself.

Never, ever, bet the company.

This seems to be one of those oddities of human nature: the self-inflicted wound. It is often fatal and frequently preventable. Most of these appear to be attributable to two causes: poor management and personal demons. Poor management can be mitigated by sticking to basics: never give up something that is working for something new and untested, especially technology. When Coach introduced a new $900 bag, they didn’t do it at the expense of their $200-250 bags. They expanded their $200-250 bag offerings. Toyota never adopts technology that hasn’t been proven. Develop a process for calculating the worst case possibility. Independent advisors who will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. Carefully calculate the dilution of management time away from the core effort. Thorough vetting of new vendors. Three competing bids. Checking references.

Personal demons are a trickier proposition. What drives someone to take inappropriate risk? The answer probably lies in the realm of psychotherapy, clearly beyond our bailiwick. You might consider this, though, if you are in the grip of an urge to swing for the fences: most people who have brought a business from conception to viability have paid a tremendous price, physically, psychologically, emotionally and financial. You have something akin to a moral obligation to consider the welfare of your family, employees, customers and vendors, before you risk losing it all. Think carefully about the impact on each of them, before succumbing to what could amount to a cheap thrill.

Get your ego or get what you want.

Everyone has a favorite story of the blowhard at the airline gate who winds up not boarding, or sitting the middle seat while others board and get upgraded. The failure here is the passenger thinking that they have all the power, when in reality the ticket agent has the real power in this equation. I knew a service advisor who wrote up repair orders in the driveway of a Mercedes-Benz dealer. He took special pleasure in occasionally sending selected (difficult/demanding) customers “to the moon.” After I personally witnessed one of these he told me, “That guy owns ten McDonald’s.”

In lots of sales offices, the sales secretary has the power position. She takes messages from clients and prospects, prepares proposals, processes orders and prepares commission vouchers. It never fails: some of the reps are patient and courteous and sometimes pay for her lunch, others stamp their feet, make a ruckus and are generally disagreeable. Guess who gets the best service and the occasional leads that come her way?

My dad always used to say, “Be careful of what you want, you may get it.” If what you want is your ego, be careful, you just might get it.