Thursday, August 23, 2007
Moving out!
Greetings! I heard that this blog's host closed on his/their house today and they are moving out soon! I'm sure he will be innernet challenged for a few days, so I thought I would update his millions of readers.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
The Book Corner
The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A fictional account of the time of King Arthur and Camelot. It is unusual because it is told from the perspective of his sister, aunt, and mother, the women in his life. But it's a great read for the guys also! 'One of those big spell-binding books you know you are going to enjoy -- you might even want to save it for cold weather!
Temporary delay in posting
For those millions of readers out there who continue to check futilely here for more of my excellent opinions, I must offer this excuse.
Anne and I are in the process of TRYING to move to Chattanooga, or rather a suburb, named Hixson. We have a contract on our current home and a contract on the home in Hixson. Now as long as our buyers don't back out we will be moving on 8/17. Obviously, in the meantime, we are going to be very busy. I assume we will keep the same e-mail address, so my blog will probably not be very active for a month or so.... We will let you know as things develop.
Anne and I are in the process of TRYING to move to Chattanooga, or rather a suburb, named Hixson. We have a contract on our current home and a contract on the home in Hixson. Now as long as our buyers don't back out we will be moving on 8/17. Obviously, in the meantime, we are going to be very busy. I assume we will keep the same e-mail address, so my blog will probably not be very active for a month or so.... We will let you know as things develop.
Thanks to buddy Frank for this bit of irony
A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3
area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens and a certificate of completion for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower (a reduction in workforce) for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was "out-sourced" to India.. Sadly, the End.
However, sad, but oh so true! Here's something else to think about:
Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages. Toyota has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results: Toyota makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing. Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3
area steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens and a certificate of completion for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower (a reduction in workforce) for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was "out-sourced" to India.. Sadly, the End.
However, sad, but oh so true! Here's something else to think about:
Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can't make money paying American wages. Toyota has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results: Toyota makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Book Corner
Every week, we will recommend a book that one or both of us have greatly enjoyed. But be aware that my dear wife is pretty dubious of my "blog undertaking" and probably prefers to remain anonymously and quietly in the background! But I know some of her favorite books and authors. As for me, I read mostly history and historical novels and quite a few folklore or "feel good" type books -- Jan Karon's Mitford series I really liked and usually any book about Southern or Appalachian life. So, it goes without saying, Tom Clancy is a real favorite, along with Dan Brown, Robert Ludlum, and many others.
So, the first book on the list is "Cold Sassy Tree." Cold Sassy Tree is a 1984 novel by Olive Ann Burns. Set in a fictional Georgia town called Cold Sassy (and based on the actual city Harmony Grove, now Commerce) during 1905-1906, it follows the life of Will Tweedy, and explores themes such as religion, death, and social taboos. This is a good, funny, heart-warming, sad, poignant tale of a young boy growing up in the South. The sequel to the novel is Leaving Cold Sassy, which was published after Burns' death. Personally, I did not care for the effort and tone of the sequel at all and would not recommend it.
So, the first book on the list is "Cold Sassy Tree." Cold Sassy Tree is a 1984 novel by Olive Ann Burns. Set in a fictional Georgia town called Cold Sassy (and based on the actual city Harmony Grove, now Commerce) during 1905-1906, it follows the life of Will Tweedy, and explores themes such as religion, death, and social taboos. This is a good, funny, heart-warming, sad, poignant tale of a young boy growing up in the South. The sequel to the novel is Leaving Cold Sassy, which was published after Burns' death. Personally, I did not care for the effort and tone of the sequel at all and would not recommend it.
Always give your customer a little more
How many times do we see new endeavors, be it a restaurant, an airlines, a dry cleaners, or a service business, that start off with a big bang in delivery of goods and services only to fall miserably behind as time goes by. A new restaurant, for example, cannot do enough to please their customers, their food is fresh, their service is timely, their surrondings are spotless, and their waitpeople (don't you just hate that word and all it connotes?) just gush with friendliness and turn back-flips to please the customer. The food is always fresh and crisp, arranged meticulously on your plate, portions are impressive, etc. But then go back in a couple of months and the place is filthy, the waitpeople surly, the food stale, the lettuce brown and wilted. And don't even THINK of going into the bathroom! And the even sadder thing is that many reading this will say, "Well, so what's new? That's just the way it is now, get with the new worldly ways!" It's a shame the younger generation has never experienced real customer service people,CLEAN bathrooms, COURTEOUS salespeople, and even quiet, smooth-riding automobiles. They know things as they are today and not how they were in a previous generation.
That's one reason so many small businesses fail -- they cannot deliver the goods on a long-term basis whether it's service or a resale business. They get tired very quickly of the effort required, their customers turn away, the business goes under, and then they eventually think of some other way to make a few quick bucks and the cycle starts anew. In the meantime, their old customers happen upon another new business and rave about it to all their friends and THAT cycle starts anew. Entrepreneurs today think that once they get the business started, they can just sit back and watch the money roll in without any further real effort from them. They don't understand that their work has just begun.
And while we are speaking of customer service or customer relations, did you ever notice two things?
First, the clerk you are having a problem with is invariably named Stephanie, Jennifer (not Jenni), Crystal, Tiffany, or Seychelle.... or Somesuch.
Second, how on earth do desk clerks at a decent hotel learn to be so snooty? You would think they are the queen's child and you are applying to stay in their home at no charge. They don't have a clue as to the difference between efficiency and pomposity and arrogance and, as we say at home, snootiness! You're a desk clerk not the keeper of the queen's palace for goodness sakes!
Don't take my word for it. Just pay attention.
That's one reason so many small businesses fail -- they cannot deliver the goods on a long-term basis whether it's service or a resale business. They get tired very quickly of the effort required, their customers turn away, the business goes under, and then they eventually think of some other way to make a few quick bucks and the cycle starts anew. In the meantime, their old customers happen upon another new business and rave about it to all their friends and THAT cycle starts anew. Entrepreneurs today think that once they get the business started, they can just sit back and watch the money roll in without any further real effort from them. They don't understand that their work has just begun.
And while we are speaking of customer service or customer relations, did you ever notice two things?
First, the clerk you are having a problem with is invariably named Stephanie, Jennifer (not Jenni), Crystal, Tiffany, or Seychelle.... or Somesuch.
Second, how on earth do desk clerks at a decent hotel learn to be so snooty? You would think they are the queen's child and you are applying to stay in their home at no charge. They don't have a clue as to the difference between efficiency and pomposity and arrogance and, as we say at home, snootiness! You're a desk clerk not the keeper of the queen's palace for goodness sakes!
Don't take my word for it. Just pay attention.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Introductory Post
New subject posts will be added weekly at a minimum on every Wednesday. First of all, let me assure EVERYONE that my main motivation for setting up this blog is to simply see if I can do it and manage it, not to spread my views and solutions to the world's problems. We all know I am much to humble for all that! If you will tolerate an occasional rant, you might find some good books to read and a fact or two that is surprising. Everyone knows that some of my rants will be about commercial flying, jumping off bridges and out of airplanes, and just generally taking what I consider to be unreasonable risks, although I would not classify riding in an airplane as an "unreasonable" risk. And I AM aware that the world must have those risk takers.
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