Fear obsolescence, kid

Some proper background here is that I come from a very yin/yang background. As creative, community-minded and social as my mother was, my father is a very corporate, strategically minded man. And he is extremely good at all things math (my sister and I still wonder how we both missed that gene).

For example, Mom would volunteer to head-up Girl Scouts Cookie Sales (that was good for the community). And Dad would always make sure we had a strong strategy (that was good for sales).

He kept saying "Everyone is going door-to-door, let's do this differently." Um, OK Dad. So, all dressed-up in our green beanies and badges, we infiltrated Dad's workplace and, instead, went office to office. They didn't buy boxes of cookies. They bought BOXES of cookies (think 1 cardboard box that packed 25 boxes of thin mints).

As a result we gave back to our community with BIG cookies sales. So Mom, Dad and the Girl Scouts were happy.

My Dad asked me what, if anything, was different in going office-to-office vs. door-to-door. I explained that instead of his co-workers and employees asking about the different kinds of cookies, they asked how many the others had bought. And Dad would explain that the following year we were to say, " Hi there! Since you bought X amount last year, did you want to place the same order this year...or would you like to order more?"

Hey, I just did what I was told.

So mom would teach me how to get people engaged around a cause...Dad would teach me how to push that cause full-throttle (still does). But his best business advice was this gem:

"Fear obsolescence, kid."

He explained that people always need to be open to new ways, new technologies, new strategies and new methods of meeting goals. That's how we always stay relevant and differentiate ourselves. He used more simplified language at the time but did use the peculiar "obsolescence" word.

See, Dad's an early adopter. He used to bring home the darndest things--like computers that had the monitor attached to the keyboard and a VCR AND a Betamax. Since we weren't sure which would be "the standard," we might as well hedge our bets. (I kept asking, "So they do the very same thing?")

When Dad would say things like "Fear obsolescence!" he would be so serious and raise his index finger to the air as if he were at a platform giving a speech. But it was just normal to my sister and me. What wasn't normal is that he'd pick the darndest times to bestow these beauties.

For this particular lesson, I remember we were having banana splits and I was just shy of 16. I didn't care about obsolescence--and didn't rightly understand the word. I cared far more about boys and boy bands than business rules (yawn).

And when your parents tell you "One day you'll thank me," that one day is too darn far away. Yet Dad would remind me that his advice had yielded big cookie sales not six years earlier ;-).

Turns out that lesson has served me well the last two decades. I tell it to many clients when they're hesitant or skeptical. And I also use it to remind myself. I explain that skepticism is needed so long as it's not a barrier to investigating new ways to grow, new ways to create value...and, many times, new directions in which to flourish.

You needn't implement every "new" thing, but you need investigate it and be open to it. After all, a first-mover advantage only has one first in each industry, or segment within that industry. And those that move too slow? They'll watch their cookies sales take a dive.

Or worse, they'll become obsolete. And that's a hard reality to swallow.

(Maybe I, too, should give the speech over banana splits.)

PS: I'd love to hear about the great business lessons your parents taught you...parents are great teachers after all.

Comments

[Bill Gammell]

CK,

What an excellent story! I can just imagine you working hard to sell those cookies (I’m a sucker for Somoas or Tagalongs- but I digress).

I think I learned many great business lessons from my mom. I summarized them awhile back in my post entitled "Seven Reasons Why Your Mom Would Make A Good Marketer". Here are just three:

1. If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump off too? - Following what others have done may seem easy, but it most certainly will lead to your own demise.

2. How do you know you won’t like it unless you try it? - Encourage innovation nd “stretching” of your employees beyond what is comfortable.

3. Don’t forget to put on clean underwear in case you are in an accident. - Don’t make a business “accident” worse by not proactively preparing for a better outcome.

Thanks for the stroll down memory lane!

[Seni Thomas]

I come from a family of artists, which makes me the black sheep for attending a business school. My dad was one of those kids who dropped out of high school at 13 to play in a band, drove a motor cycle to San Fran, and dodged the draft to Australia, spending the next 12 years traveling. During this time he was a musician, painter, leather worker, architect, wood crafter, sculptor, and some how developed a chemical compound to dry coconut wood for flooring.

The lesson here? Always be reinventing yourself and always seek new experiences, and new people.

[CK]

I am inspired to add another lesson...this one learned from my rockin' momma. She taught me to "treat everyone with equal respect, be it a carpenter or a CEO". While this wasn't for biz purposes, it paid-off. After we attended a showing of "Annie" in Philadelphia, we awaited outside at the backstage door for autographs and mom was speaking to an otherwise, ordinary woman dressed in jeans and a sweater. She told her about how much she wished she could get Annie to sing "Tomorrow" for her campaign (her campaign was based on a better tomorrow).

That seemingly ordinary woman was Annie's mom waiting for her daughter and was taken with my momma's energy.

Annie sung in my front lawn, and at a campaign fundraiser fashion show 2 weeks later. I've the paper clippings to prove it.

Annie to a 12 year-old is a REALLY big deal. And mom won the election and ousted a 7-year incumbent (and was the only female that had ever held that office). And got re-elected thereafter. So, be good to all people as you never know. Plus it's good manners.

[Mark Goren]

Two lessons from my dad – a standout salesman – stand out:

1. Similar to your mom's lesson: treat the receptionist like you would the buyer, because you never know when the receptionist will become the buyer.

2. To paraphrase the most important lesson from Dad, a guy who worked for the same company for 25 years, then left to start his own business: "Pursue the career that makes you happy, but make it your goal to work for yourself one day."

I never forgot either one, but it's that last one that probably lead me to make the best career choice I've ever made.

Great post!

[Lewis Green]

CK,

Thank you for sharing a personal story. I've written about this before: My parents gave me the values on which my business and my life are based.