Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - February 15, 2015
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Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
Rules for business and life
- Learn constantly
- Improve continuously
- Execute consistently
- Recognize what is extraordinary about your times
- Act decisively
Learn constantly
Who has used this rule well?What about failures?
- Ford may have revolutionized automaking with the assembly line and the Model T. But the company stuck so long with the Model T that other automakers (like General Motors) moved in on its turf by introducing model-year changes
Improve continuously
Who has used this rule well?- Honda and Toyota both got into the American car market through evolution of their product lines at a time when the incumbent American carmakers were failing to make real improvements
Execute consistently
Who has used this rule well?- One of the ultimate models of consistent execution is Mike Krzyzewski, whose coaching career (now with 1,000+ victories) is the result of getting the job done day in and day out
- Toyota got into loads of trouble when it took its eye off flawless execution of quality and got obsessed with growth for its own sake. That was costly.
Recognize what is extraordinary about your times
What's extraordinary today?- Incredibly low interest rates
- America's huge economic advantage over the rest of the world
- Cheap energy
- Warren Buffett liquidated his investment partnership in the late 1960s when he recognized that stock prices were inflated. He got into buying entire companies instead, which were comparatively cheap.
- Bill Gates jumped feet-first into computer software before anybody else understood how important software would become
Act decisively
Who has used this rule well?- Warren Buffett made a killing rescuing other companies in the aftermath of the 2008/09 panic by acting decisively when nobody else could or would with huge, high-profit bailouts
- Philip Anschutz on Jay Pritzker: "If you had to pick things you'd want in a partner, you'd turn to Jay. He's smart, honest, loyal and makes decisions quickly. He has years of experience and a sure sense of value."
This week
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