Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Everyone Experiences Setbacks

Well if you needed proof that everyone makes mistakes or experiences setbacks, it occurred recently (July 29, 2006) when Wal-Mart announced that they were pulling out of Germany. After nearly 10 years, they decided to focus in other areas, and admitted the loss would exceed $ 1 billion, that’s right a billion, US dollars.

This news wouldn’t be important if our society hadn’t developed the habit of condemning people for making mistakes.

Before you think I have totally lost my mind, let me reassure you that I am not referring to criminal behavior.

No, what I would like to highlight is the tendency to punish people in business when they suffer a setback. While I like to attempt perfection in my efforts, I realize that I may never accomplish it.

We learn from our mistakes, and some of the greatest accomplishments of mankind, have been made by people who failed in their earlier efforts.

Thomas Edison did not invent the electric light bulb, or any other of his many inventions on the first try. In fact, it took him hundreds of failures to determine the proper combination of materials to create a successful bulb. Did he look on the unsuccessful attempts as failures? No, he viewed them as successfully finding ways not to accomplish that goal. His attitude, and persistence in the achievement of inventing solutions to improve lives are what made him successful.

If we don’t give a person another opportunity to produce after a setback, there will be a significant price to pay for the company and the individual. When we chastise someone in business for a failure, it motivates that person to minimize his or her efforts to the point of avoiding the risk of failure in the future. It stunts the individual’s growth, which in turn penalizes the success of the business.

In baseball, if you haven’t ever struck out, it means that you haven’t batted enough times. Likewise, in business, if you haven’t experienced a setback, you haven’t taken or been given an opportunity to grow outside of your comfort zone.

The big question is whether the cost of the setback is turned into an investment by learning the essential lessons from it, and turning them into future successes.

In the 1980’s, I was involved through the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) in a charity golf tournament in Austin, Texas. Originally, it was dedicated to raising money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). Based on the premise of recruiting high-profile players from the National Football League (NFL), everyone had high hopes of a successful event and a significant donation.

The first year resulted in a large disappointment, and a loss of $ 22,000. Several members of the Jaycee board had to personally co-sign the bank note to repay the lost funds.

When the board met to plan the next Jaycee year, the issue of hosting a second golf tournament created a fissure in the organization that almost split it into, which would have dealt it a deathblow.

By the slimmest of margins, the board voted to have another tournament, and dedicated itself to repaying the debt and making a positive charitable donation.

The results the following year bore out the faith and confidence of the board. The debt was repaid and $ 11,000 was donated to MDA.

More importantly, the tournament is now over 25 years old, and more than a million dollars has been donated to various charities.

What would have happened if the initial failure had not been viewed as an opportunity for growth and future success? The loss to the charities, and many people involved in the project over the years would be incalculable.

Just because a failure occurred doesn’t mean someone’s head has to roll. If the individual was valued before the setback, and if there aren’t additional factors that contributed to it, then he or she should be encouraged to learn the lessons that the activity revealed.

Who knows, like Edison, they may turn defeat into triumph. Then the cost of the failure will indeed be a small investment in comparison to the ultimate gain achieved.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle

Thursday, August 10, 2006

To follow the crowd, or not to follow the crowd, that’s the question?

When getting a tattoo changed from what sailors did in the navy to what young people did to be accepted in a desired social circle, my curiosity was arisen.

My dad was in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II. He left home as a fresh 18-year-old who was average size. He spent nearly two years on active duty, and traveled across the Pacific Ocean. Contrary to the reputation borne by sailors, he doesn’t have one tattoo.

The paradox never troubled me until I started seeing a large number of teenage girls with tattoos just above their buttocks, behind their shoulder blades, and who knows where else.

Then I couldn’t resist the temptation to discover how dad avoided getting any tattoos as part of an initiation, shore leave experience, or as a way to ward off harassment from a larger or higher ranked seaman.

“Dad, how in the world did you avoid getting a tattoo while you were in the navy?” He told me that on his last shore leave in Honolulu before he was to be discharged, that he and four other young sailors were going to celebrate their pending discharges and get their first tattoos.

Before they left the ship, one of them disclosed their plan to the ship’s chief gunner’s mate. A large man, with several years of experience at sea, he told them without hesitation, “If you get a tattoo, I’ll do to you what your daddy would do to you!”

As a result, the celebration went on, but none of the five were tattooed.

Yes, today there appears to be a more universal acceptance to tattoos. Yes, it’s a free country, and an adult can choose to be tattooed, pierced, branded, or any one of several other ways to amend their bodies.

But, how many young people are tattooed to “follow the crowd?” How many will want to eventually have their body art removed? According to Web MD in collaboration with The Cleveland Clinic as many as 50% of those with tattoos will eventually want to have them removed. The tattoo removal industry is growing in parallel with the tattoo industry. Doesn’t this indicate that a great many of those who are tattooed do so for short-term motives. Wouldn’t it be easier to change one’s style of clothes or hairstyle?

General Billy Mitchell successfully led all American air combat units in World War I, and is one of the most recognized names from that era. After the war, Mitchell disagreed with conventional wisdom in the military that the World War as it was called then was, “the war to end all wars.” While others pursued worldwide disarmament or sought to emphasize naval power, Mitchell advocated the need for preparedness for a future war he was certain would occur, and the absolute importance of air power to win any such war.

General Mitchell did not follow the crowd, but fiercely promoted air power to his own personal and professional detriment. He was eventually court-martialed and suspended from the army, which motivated him to resign his commission. The 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and influence of air power on World War II vindicated Mitchell, who was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I know that if I would have come home with a tattoo that my father would have done to me what his father would have done to him. In the same vein, I am working to make sure my daughter understands the consequence of permanently marking her body and getting caught up in following the crowd. I hope that I can love her enough, and earn a level of respect from her that will make it easier for her to fend off the peer pressure to get a tattoo or other item that will certainly upset me and that she may eventually regret.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

The Coolest Place in Town

As the dog days of August begin, most of us spend a lot of time in air conditioned relief. So prevalent is this convenience, that many take it for granted.

Growing up in Texas before air conditioning (BAC) was common you knew the places that you could cool off from the oppressive heat. In those days, summer seemed to be endless.

There was no air conditioning in schools, cars or in many businesses. I do remember that the grocery store seemed cooler, and an occasional movie theater had air conditioning.

Early on at our house, all we had was what was affectionately termed a “swamp cooler.” This unit hung from one window in the house, and blew somewhat cool air because of the water used in its operation. To add additional cooling, we would place a tray with ice cubes in front of its vents. Naturally, we would sit as close a possible in front of the vents for maximum effectiveness.

At night, the extent of cooling in our bedroom was provided by an attic fan. For those unfamiliar with that device, it was an approximately three by four foot fan that hung horizontally from the ceiling. When used it would pull air from the outside through open windows and up through the ceiling in order to extract hot air.

My good fortune was to be the eldest of two boys. Because of that, I chose to place my twin bed next to the window in our room where I could hang on the window to maximize the incoming air to cool off. The only pool I had as a kid was the pool of sweat that I fell asleep in after a desperate search for cool air.

My poor brother was left to sleep in the middle of the room with very little ventilation to provide relief. I don’t remember him complaining, but I think that is more a factor that I wasn’t listening.

One highlight of our summers was a trip to the farmer’s market to select a fresh watermelon. In the center of the store was a vast walk in cooler to keep the melons cold. My father would allow my brother and me to select the melon that we would purchase. After a few minutes in the cooler, he would ask us if we had made our choice. Every time we would delay in order to remain in the cooler as long as possible. That walk in cooler was in fact the coolest place in town.

In those days (BAC), there were far fewer people who chose to live in Texas because of the climate. Today, after air conditioning (AAC) has become commonplace spending any time without cool air is the exception. Cars, schools and virtually all businesses are cooled. Relief from work or play in the hot sun is available for almost everyone.

Today, Texans and non-Texans benefit from central air conditioning and heating, which resulted from technology improvements and reduced costs that occurred because of the success of our economy and a lot of people’s hard work. Not everyone in the world is as fortunate as we are.

I am grateful to live during this time and in America.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle

It's Not My Fault

“Kids will be kids” is a time-honored expression that is used to illustrate examples of children’s behavior. Many times youngsters display behavior that is strikingly similar grown-ups in spite of not having been exposed to it previously.

I came home one day to discover my daughter Elizabeth playing with several friends. All of the kids were around five years old. After a few minutes, I heard a crash, as something the girls were handling was broken.

“What happened”, I inquired? “I didn’t do it” the first girl replied. “It’s not my fault”, retorted another. “She made me do it” answered a third.

It is amazing how early kids pick up the attitude of passing the buck I realized.

Where do they learn it? Because of their young age, I had a hard time believing that they had picked it up from their parents.

However, their behavior was identical to what we see adults display every day.

I made two observations from the display I observed from the kids.

First, it reaffirmed that a person who accepts personal responsibility is viewed as an exceptional individual. It shouldn’t be that way, but it is because we see it so infrequently.

As an employee, if you want to stand out, accept responsibility for your actions. Everyone will view you more positively in your business. I related the story in The Four Letter Word That Builds Character of an experience with my largest customer where I made a mistake and acknowledged responsibility. Doing so resulted in my cementing a business relationship, which earned me business every time I had a solution to offer the customer. As I was told later, they bought from me because they felt that I would be honest with them in every situation regardless of the result.

Second, I strongly believe that the kids were displaying human nature that is thousands of years old. It was documented by the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 of The Bible. If you’ll remember, Adam and Eve both wore their fingers out pointing away from themselves when confronted about eating the forbidden fruit. Yes, they disobeyed the instructions they were given by eating the fruit, but their energetic disavowal of responsibility was an additional transgression.

In fact, falling into the trap of believing “it’s not my fault” is something most of us do or want to do occasionally. We see others behave this way and watch with great interest to see what happens after they try to avoid responsibility. If they get away with it, we are more likely to attempt the same. If they don’t we may want to try the same tactic, but are unsure of what the results will be. If we deflect responsibility and appear to get away with it, we may feel that we have won.

When the German army invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, Hitler used the defense, “It’s not my fault. Poland attacked Germany first.” Later it was revealed that Hitler had emptied a prison and dressed the inmates in Polish army uniforms. Then he took them to the border and had them shot in order to make it appear that Poland had attacked Germany. Some, wanting to avoid the war that was then inevitable, continued to believe his misstatements and desired to allow his continued free reign. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed, and the world began the ensuing six year effort to defeat Germany in World War II.

In fact, winning in the short term by avoiding personal responsibility leads to a false sense of success. Only by accepting responsibility for our actions and seeing the resulting increase in trust and the resulting benefits will confirm that it is the appropriate action in every circumstance.

As I related to my daughter, Elizabeth, you will have many experiences in life. Her response to those experiences will go a long way to determining additional opportunities for her. If she learns early to resist saying, “It’s not my fault”, when it is and accepting her responsibility, she will be viewed more favorably by everyone.

© 2006 Richard V. Battle