Ever wonder why

Why is "systems thinking" so rare? Anyone who stops and thinks about most any subject matter for more than about five minutes will appreciate the interconnectedness of the various components of any entity. Like a chain link fence or a decorative row of landscaping rocks, the whole is made up of the pieces parts... I met two gentlemen yesterday during the evolution of Rhino Island Media and came away with one thought (and frankly, it is the most important thought): they are the "right" people, as Jim Collins might remark. At one point in the conversation, one gentleman pointed out how we had dropped our vantage point during the discussion into the realm of "too much detail" when the fifty thousand foot view had not yet been properly framed. Shows wisdom beyond his years! At another point, the other gentleman suggested a key connector might be consulted for a variety of reasons, chief among them: to increase our rate of progress. How refreshing! He understands my focus: Throughput! Every wonder why your projects are not going better (faster, more effective, etc.)? Get the right people on board It makes connecting the dots not only easier, but much more rewarding! Remember (and never forget!): Life is too short to waste it on the wrong people. -ski P.S. Need help finding the right people? Give me a call. ---- Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah Strategy, Tactics & Execution Dover, OH | Hilton Head Island, SC | Las Vegas, NV Cell: +1 330.432.3533 tag: SKI on Recruiting ©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

People Power

I finished the ROWE book... Why Work Sucks and How to Fix it by Cali Ressler & Jody Thompson The conclusion of the book about making change happen will take some additional study (as well as the core of the book, as I mentioned the other day). In other words, this is hard work! But what is the alternative? Status Quo? I hope not... More of the same is hardly ever the key to success. Colonel John Boyd talked of, "People, ideas, and hardware. In that order!" I started re-reading the book, Big Change at Best Buy, to get a better handle on change. But I digress... Every successful business turn around that I have studied could be oversimplified to this elementary statement: People Power Think of Apple when Steve Jobs returned as iCEO... It is Jim Collins' "The right people are your greatest asset" argument all over. Stuck? Ideas are a dime a dozen. Actually, Seth Godin points out a web site that will email you a new idea each and every day. Hardware is a generic term that means tools to implement ideas are necessary. But again, the key is people power. Why do companies send key people to workshops around the country? For the tax write off? Hardly. To spark them to greatness! Or so I tell myself every time I speak. Ask anyone that has attended one of my sessions, "What was the message?" You can make a difference And only you! If your mind is stuck in "wrong headed thinking" mode, give it a shake! Get to my session in Chicago on the 23rd (yes, this month: September!). You are going to hear about Boyd. And ROWE. And Lean Six Sigma as well as the Constraints Management Model. But mostly, you will hear about results Driven by People Power See you then. -ski P.S. There is still time to register. ---- Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.linkedin.com/in/consultski Dover, OH | Hilton Head Island, SC | Las Vegas, NV Phone: (330) 432-3533 tag: Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson are People! ©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

Nicholas Boothman

I bought this book on December 15, 2002 At the Barnes & Noble on Route 17 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I skimmed it back then... picked it up a time or two since... but finally got around to reading it this past week. Wow! In chapter eight, Nick finds himself at the Cape Times in Cape Town, South Africa. In the midst of a defining moment. He makes a bold claim to his boss, "I could take better pictures than that." He does not even own a camera! Did not know "the first thing about photography!" What are you waiting on? Life to line up in front of your door, perhaps in the form of all green lights, all the way to unlimited wealth? If that does happen for you, please send me a link to your blog! Otherwise, may I suggest you have to "get out there" into the world, and make it happen? Some have said that if you are not growing, then you must be dying. There is no such thing as status quo. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras gave us BHAGs. I offer the Purple Curve Effect. What is your contribution? Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. I recall during the coding of my RMS2WEB (Open Source) app, there were numerous roadblocks to overcome. As I had already publicly made my "I can do better" remark about interfacing to the API of the in house resort management system, all that was left to do, was to just do it. tag: Nicholas Boothman (c)Copyright 2007, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Success is as Success does

HOW DO YOU SPELL SUCCESS?

In Purple Curve Effect, I offer seven tips for generating throughput. My working definition of throughput is simply, "more money in your pocket."

Too often, folks get hung up on window dressing. One advantage of cruising the country side on a motorcycle is people do not have very high expectations of the rider. Back in the late 1980's (man, that seems like eons ago!) I preferred a white dresss shirt and blue jeans. Today, it is jeans and my Turismo Cycles 'golf' shirt complete with a pocket. But I digress...

I worded these seven points differently in the book. And well, even I have trouble remembering them in order (although order is not all that important). So for the last couple of weeks, over my morning coffee at Starbucks, I have been working on phrases that help drive the message home.

So, what do you think?

Is this version helpful? Let me explain them at some length. For those whom strengths lie elsewhere...

Number One: "Dreaming" is the most important step. Period. Always. For ever. But it is not sufficient. How can you have a dream come true without a dream. In the book I called it, "Write down your Goal." Kind of sterile. Sam Walton was a dreamer. Steve Jobs is a dreamer. I have been all my life. Sure, "stuff happens" and the birds come to pick over your bones, but we have a choice! Dream bigger dreams. Ask. You have not, because you ask not. Oh yea, be careful what you ask for...

Number Two: "Make a List." Of everything. Think stuff up! Pretend you work for NASA. Think about the challenges to be solved in launching that new product line. Make lists of issues to resolve. Possible markets to enter. Or exit! Lists of people to involve. Or not involve! Make a list of questions that you need answers for, in order to proceed. You will be amazed how people just happen to pop into your life when you are on a mission.

Number Three: "Visualize the End Results." See them complete. Making money, or generating goodwill, or whatever makes sense in terms of throughput for your dream. See that ribbon cutting. Who was there? Add them to your list of invitees! Imagine your bank's staff knowing AND calling you by name as you come in for yet another deposit!

Number Four: "Develop a Project Plan for Success." I now prefer "reverse engineer" by far! See the end result and plan backwards (thanks again to Tony Rizzo for this insight). It is easier to build something (almost anything) if you have a copy to steal from! You can see the process. And as you dissect your vision, you will see shortcuts that the competion may have missed.

Number Five: "Involve Others." Still my favorite. But the "shop it around" phrase seems more timely. Why climb that mountain or swim that raging river alone? The view is almost always sweeter when you enjoy it with others. No one to share the challenge with? Call me. I only charge 10% (you get the other 90%!). Remember Jim Collins: "it is the RIGHT people that are your greatest asset."

Number Six: "Find a Working Model and Steal it." The magazine that I used as a model for TOCreview was not profitable. My bad using it as a model. Who do you know that is making a lot of throughput (money!)? Study them. Their business model(s). Can you apply those concepts in a slightly different manor or marketplace? Experiment. Test. Refine.

Number Seven: "Create a Feedback Loop" became "POOGI - Process of On-Going Improvement." That now gives way to the late Col. John Boyd's OODA Loop. He invented the maneuver you heard about in the movie "Top Gun." Remember when they all are in the tac trailer reviewing film of maneuvers and Maverick gets chewed out for a stunt that actually works? And the guy behind him lends over and whispers, "Gutsiest move I ever saw!" Thanks to H. William Dettmer for sharing his discovery of Boyd with me.

Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Publisher
www.ThroughputPress.com

P.S. How have you adopted the seven tips?

P.P.S. You do know about the MP3s that are now available, right?

P.P.P.S. This blog entry as an MP3 is available now.

tag: Throughput Tips
(c)Copyright 2007, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey.
All rights reserved.

More Metrics

Penny wise and pound foolish? In business as well as life it is easy to "cost justify" mistakes that rob you (or worse, your business) of important cash... much needed cash. Take something as simple as paper for your printer as an example. A single ream of suitable general purpose copier paper is like $3.99 each. Which might last 30 or 40 days, maybe more. But a name brand office supply company is running a 50% off sale on cartons of copier paper for $18.99 for 10 reams. Which is the better deal? If you are a startup with limited cash and limited printing needs, it would be easy to say that not spending the extra $15.00 could not possibly make a difference. So you might be tempted to spend it and get the carton. You will need the paper, right? Wrong I have seen this scenario too many times... in numerous businesses in various industries. So, how do we stop wrongheaded thinking? By exposing the core issue: lack of systems thinking. I love the TV series Life about the cop that was framed and served twelve hard years before having the findings reversed. He discovered Zen while doing time, and picked up his life after release without any malice. Thank you Hulu dot com. Check it out, it is a refreshing experience. Both seasons are online for a while longer. But I digress... We must fight "cost world thinking" (aka local optima) with a Zen like love of exploration for the true ramifications. Like Charlie Crews of Life would. That $15.00 will quickly become ten times that before the week is over and that becomes over $600 a month. Which might make a big dent in some major expense, like rent! Consider the road trip. My favorite classroom. I have the Kings of Entrepreneurship and Business in the car with me on each and every trip. Right there on my iPod is Les Brown, Guy Kawasaki, and Jim Collins to name just three. Along side Dylan and Clapton, for sure! You probably know my name because of one such case: the road trip I made in November 2000 when I heard Eli Goldratt speak "live and in person" for the first time. Driving back to Hilton Head Island from Indianapolis into the night, I was tempted to stop and get a motel room for the night. As I recall, I drove up on a Wednesday after a leaving a client's office, driving through the night. Got to Naptown early in the morning and was able to check into my Thursday night room at 7am. I do that a lot. In other words, I did not have a hotel bill for Wednesday night. Attended the Necessary But Not Sufficient roll-out on Thursday and Friday until noon, then hit the road. Driving back into the night, I had recently purchased a Sony digital recorder, and captured a number of ideas that lead to my launching of TOCreview magazine... which gave way to "this, that and the other" and here we are now. Because I understood that a penny not spent today, was going to be worth two or three dollars tomorrow. Bottom line: watch the pennies and the dollars have a better chance of rolling in! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.Throughput.us +1 330.SKI.0431 ski@throughput.us ©2010 Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Joe Distefano :: Paughco MC LLC

Donald Trump could learn a thing or two from Joe D.

My good friend Joe Distefano ("Joe D.") is at it again. This time rolling out the new wheel division of an old company, Paughco, Inc. I can only assume that the "MC" in Paughco MC LLC stands for motorcycle. Disclaimer: Joe is a client of Throughput.us LLC.

As told on several occasions, I met Joe back in 2004 while serving as interim COO (actual title: Director of Manufacturing) for Red Horse Motorworks, LLC. He jumped into the mix and came up with a truly "win-win" solution for us and his wheel company employer, and we became fast friends. We have done the various industry trade shows together, like Sturgis, VTwin Expo, and Daytona Beach Bike Week.

One of things that sets Joe apart, he really does understand holistic (or systems) thinking. He had other products that helped the cause at Red Horse. Because of his connections, my efforts in purchasing were turbocharged! Some short-sighted idiots (at least two that I know of) are now bankrupt, I would suggest in no small part to their close-minded approaches. And listening to the wrong people. Remember, as Jim Collins shares, it is the RIGHT people that make all the difference in the world. And although I digress, Joe D. is the still the right man!

If you need a "go to" person in the motorcycle industry, Joe D. is it. Sorry Donald.

Tell Joe, "SKI sent me."

-ski

----
Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah
www.linkedin.com/in/consultski
Hilton Head Island, SC | Las Vegas, NV
(330) 432-3533 | fax (954) 252-3927

tag: Joe Distefano
©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

A Line in the Sand

Hilton Head Island is a great place to Vacation

It is however, a better place to live!

Perfect for drawing lines in the wide sandy beaches. Like from the example yesterday.

So, get back out your piece of paper... the one with the line down the middle, and the list of UDEs on the left side. The UnDesirable Effects of your existing efforts. Items like "We cannot increase production without adding more personnel."

Adding more people can be a good thing. But it also can destroy your small business. As Jim Collins teaches, it is the RIGHT people that are your greatest assets. The wrong ones are huge liabilities!

Cost Accounting

Recently, I had lunch with one of my heroes: Dr. Howard Meeks. Of Iowa State University. At one point, he interrupted himself to share a thought: "Reporting is not decision making." Cost Accounting (and I would suggest GAAP) was designed to report on past activities. Not make decisions, which by definition are based in the future. It is too late to 'decide' about choosing a course of action for events that have already occurred. Does that make sense?

Without knowledge of the items on the left side of your paper, I can tell you that more than one item, perhaps as many as 50% of the items (or more!) that you have identified as holding your business back from significant growth, are a direct result of cost accounting.

Example

Supply chain. Business owners that do not know better, select (or insist that the purchasing department select) the low cost provider. They demand three quotes, and then pick solely based on price. Almost regardless of the delivery time table.

Regardless of the past performance of that vendor.

How stupid

What decisions like this example have crippled your ability to respond to opportunities?

Next Step

Take your list of items. In no particular order. And go out into the shop. Or out on the store showroom floor. Ask the "front line" individual that represents your company to the customer. Or performs that actual work that gets shipped to your customer. Ask them to review the list. Ask them if there are any other UDEs that you did not think to capture. If they are secure in their position, and/or genuinely concerned about the company, they will be able to offer twice as many items as you.

W. Edwards Deming said ask the guy (or gal) on the production floor why a problem occurred. But only if you want the real answer. The truth hurts. Lies hurt more. Stop lying to yourself. Make a decision to make a difference. That is the simple part. But it is not going to be easy.

Until you can consistently do more with the existing info-structure, more sales would only push you into bankruptcy. Make the decision that you will never again layoff employees. Why should their families suffer for your mistakes?

Too intense?

Sorry. Jump to the next blog. I assume you are here because you need help. Some idiot (sorry) well meaning individual told you that a recession is coming. Or worse yet, they told you it is here already! Wrong. Better yet, so what? Simply decide not to participate.

Logic

IF you have the right people on your payroll,
AND you think holistically about your company,
AND you value your customers and their requirements,
THEN you have little to fear.

Will it be easy? Of course not. Simple? Yes. Easy? No.

I really do think it is time to buy my book, if you haven't already. Then, we can intelligently discuss your options.

Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah
Throughput.us LLC
(330) 432-3533

©2008 Jeff SKI Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Congrats Son

So you got that promotion... Now, the fun begins! Friends that might not like taking orders from you... folks that want to be your friend, now that you have some control over their future. Oh the joys of the hidden agenda! I recall Earl Nightingale quoting from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

"To thine own self be true..."

Not quite as polished a speaker, I prefer this quote from a Reggie Jackson TV commercial:

"The only person that I have to impress, is me."

Trust your gut. Of course, you might take time to re-read my book as well. There is a reason why I called it a business leadership guide. There were a number of reasons your grandfather wanted it published, and I have to believe that one of them was for your benefit. Focus. My key to any success that I have enjoyed. I am willing to stay on task until it is complete, or the circumstances demand a review. Study the facts, ask a lot of questions, then make a decision. Quickly. Then apply leverage at the focal point. Never second guess yourself. Life is too short.

"Its relationships, stupid."

I tell myself that most every morning. Not that I am all that stupid (or, all that smart), but we all make mistakes. But Jim Collins gave us a great gift in his Good to Great book, and that was the proof that the RIGHT people are your greatest asset. Not the smartest. Not the young (or the old). The right people. Surround yourself with great people, and you will be amazed at the victories that await your command. Find those loyal young hot shots (like you were just nine years ago!) and challenge them to contribute. You have my number, call if you need encouragement. Call to share your successes. But as you have learned over the years, I do not accept calls to complain. Life is too short. --the dad

Google Alerts

A google alert sent me to Tiwari's blog

Where I found a very smart individual... with a passion for reading and sharing his discoveries with the world (in the spirit of the Open Source software movement).

I commented on one of his posts, then added him to my bloglines, where I then found this great post on Jim Collins and the "people are your greatest asset" amplification:

management-phrase-abusage-people-are

-ski

P.S. Tiwari: for me, the secret of GE under Welch was exposed by Seth Godin in the Dip. To cut to the chase: be number one or two in each market, or get out!

tag: People are Assets

Stephen Covey

The Eighth Habit, by Stephen Covey Reading in Made to Stick, there is a reference to Covey's research based on thousands of surveys of people working in businesses, perhaps just like yours (but not mine), where he makes "dry and boring" statistics come alive, by relating them to a soccer team. A snippet of that example is online in the form of this post by William Frank Diedrich. Which is slightly off-topic. But not by much. I read the whole article and was impressed by the call for action, and his reference to Jim Collins. But I digress... In the Covey example, raw numbers in the form of percentages simply numb the mind. Cut to the chase: If your business were a soccer team of 11 players, "Nine of the players would in some way be competing against their own team." Have you communicated your goals to your team? FYI: Most have not. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Publisher www.ThroughputPress.com P.S. Break out of your comfort zone and take charge of your business. Before it is too late. tag: Stephen Covey (c)Copyright 2007, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.

Tenth Tenet

Tenth Tee at Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island, SC Ever wonder why professional golfers have caddies? SKI's Tenth Tenet: "Two heads are better than one" Common sense, right? I talk about the power of a SME (subject matter expert) and Constraints Management Jonah teaming up to turbocharge results. But it is more than just good horse sense... The great golfers know when to ignore their caddy. I often wonder if I too, made my book to easy to discount. In Purple Curve Effect, we talk about Eli Goldratt and his world wide best seller, The Goal. The fact that once read, a lot of otherwise smart people put the book down, and go about their business. It is too good. Well, my book is not too good. But it is the best guide I know for accomplishing one's dreams, regardless the mission. And I have read a lot of books. Some great ones. Like Jim Collins' Good to Great (actually, I have it on CD-ROM and my iPod, not in book form). And some not so great... but regardless, I can usually find at least one nugget to justify the purchase. But I digress... Having trouble making this tenth tenet seem profound? Better buy my book! Or attend the workshop next month. They will even improve your golf game! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.ThroughputPress.com

six simple skewed sentiments sez ski

Six sentiments; simple, skewed, sez SKI #06 :: the right people are your greatest asset i talked recently of zig ziglar's bicycle buying experience... hopefully that hit home with folks (other than just myself). but what about leverage? a number of years ago, i worked in a manufacturing environment, that oft worked more than one shift... sometimes, in a crunch, we worked all three shifts. the owner was always buying more equipment in order to return to a one-shift operation. why? in order to better supervise the work. today, i would fight this approach (much more vocally than i did then). why? jim collins taught us that the "right people" are your greatest asset. not more equipment. it takes a lot of effort to recruit and hire the right people. it is a cost of doing business. the problem is when we settle for someone... or wait too long to make a change. fiorina mentioned this as well. without too much effort, it should be fairly simple to chart the cost of acquiring equipment versus the expenses associated with hiring the right person (or people). but remember, we must find and focus on solving the weakest link in our business. but actually, we must draw a line in the sand first. #05 :: there are two types of constraints: internal and external in the fall of 2004 i made a dream come true (hardly the first, hopefully not the last time) by becoming the Director of Manufacturing for Red Horse Motorworks LLC. as mentioned on several occasions, i was able to double production while reducing inventory (both raw material and work in process) by 50%... but what i wanted to really do, was sign up dealers by cruising up and down the eastern USA on a Red Horse Corsair 250 fat tired custom motorcycle... simple question: if sales doubled, could you handle it (within reason) with your existing facilities? another elementary question: are your shipments less than 80% on time? in other words, do you miss due dates a lot? one of the problems with TQM (total quality management) is the empowerment of everyone, without regard for the "weakest link." same with Lean and Six Sigma: great tools, once you know where to aim them. your business is a system. for the most part, a closed loop system. a change in one part of the business will (actually it must!) impact one or more of the other sub components. double shop floor production and the shipping department will scream! switch from low cost provider to the most reliable vendor and your comptroller will pay you a visit. there are only so many hours in the day... spend them wisely. quickly determine if you need more orders or more throughput. external or internal focus? #04 :: improve cash-flow in order to fight another day i gave a great speech a couple of years ago on the importance of selling, and the fact that if there is not enough money left at the end of the month, then focus on sales and marketing. you can always turn your attention to throughput next. an aside is in order. very few otherwise intelligent business people seem to be able to grasp this simple fact: fix the weakest link. until it is no longer the weakest link. then shift your focus to the next weakest link. repeat. they really have trouble with this next statement: not sure what to fix? pick something and take action! one does not have to guess with any real accuracy. any selection is better than no selection. if you guess wrong, so what? you will do better the next time. another reason for my focus on doing this in 90 day segments. the Boyd OODA Loop demands that we loop faster than our competition. fix sales (the external constraint) first, then you have the money to fix any and all internal constraints. why is that so hard to appreciate? #03 :: the mafia offer by cash-flow guru Dr Lisa there are any number of people better at any number of components of constraints management than me... so what? i am happy and pleased to blow their horn. one such guru in cash-flow and creating un-refusable offers (formerly known as "mafia offers" -- too good to refuse!) is Dr Lisa. get to one of her boot camps... buy her materials... do it today! i am more than "okay" at marketing... and have sold six figure (and a lot of four figure) contracts... so i can help in the short term. if your requirements are beyond me, i will be the first to run to lisa for help on your behalf! #02 :: throughput means "what gets measured, gets done" lets save strategy for another day, other than to say if you are not using CMM (goldratt's TOC and Boyd's OODA Loop, as explained by dettmer), you are probably not serious about results... which, basically could be defined as throughput. i would suggest that few are as good as yours truly when it comes to throughput. yet (and maybe 'because') i have had failures... one of the key's to IBM's success under tom sr. was his approach to failure: it is a requirement of success. yes, goldratt is light years ahead of me... and charges accordingly; but prefers to work with the fortune 100. it now takes me a week on-site to determine the weakest link. two years ago, it took a month. a year ago, about 3 weeks. progress! what metric do you study? you can invent reports of everything under the sun... but if that raw sales number is not a focal point, the rest is oft for naught. remember that GAAP is mostly for taxes. managerial accounting has its roots in cash based metrics, not accruals. the business owners that i prefer to work with are interested in putting more money in their pockets, AND the pockets of those contributing to throughput. a friend of the family, many years ago, worked for a company that offered a 10% commission on everything that he sold. until one day... they called him in, and said his checks were too big. they wanted to cut the commission rate. how stupid can people be? they were getting 90% and it was not enough... smartly, our friend said good bye. ever kill the golden goose? #01 :: what is your dream this topic deserves its very own post... but let me set the stage: humans will do very little without a reason. sure, you may run to the mall or over to friends without one, but prolonged efforts need, no DEMAND, a purpose. a goal. a mission. a dream! Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah consultSKI@yahoo.com www.SKIconsulting.biz

#711 It's not about Luck

"We need to get some engineers..." I could not stop myself. I had to interrupt the gentleman explaining one possible approach for entering a new market segment when he suggested that they might hire some engineers to explore the possibilities. Okay, maybe I could have shown a little more restraint, however, it was a brief meeting over lunch and time was a factor. Besides the weather was perfect and I was looking forward to the ride home now that the temperature was more reasonable. It was only 62 degrees when I left home an hour earlier; now it was upwards of seventy. That is one of the great focusing tools I use that I have not made clear: the motorcycle as basic transportation. Caution: Motorcycling is a dangerous activity. Do not attempt without proper instruction. Meetings almost always last too long. Way too long. So, the other day when I decided to ride the Kaw Nomad to a meet & greet, it was with intent. There was also talk of a plant visit. If you have seen 100+ plants, you have seen them all. Okay, there are exceptions. But the initial meeting is rarely the right venue for a visit to the owner's base of operations. (See Purple Curve Effect for more insight.) Things get off-track in a hurry like that, besides, this was more about connecting people of similar interests than any sort of consulting assignment. Hence my bluejeans and "Save the Black Rhino" t-shirt insured no plant visit. But I digress... In Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan's book, Execution, they talk of getting the right people on board. As does Jim Collins (myself) and others. But the best approach is employed by Cisco Systems, Inc. Acquisition! If your business is number one or two in your market segment and the future looks even better than the past, then stop reading. However, if margins aren't what they used to be and competition is bearing down on you from numerous vantage points, consider Cisco's business model. Yes, it will take a little effort to learn the proper approach for successful acquisitions, but once mastered, your business can weather any storm. Given the right business plan. In fact, you will then be in a position to inflict storms on your competition. A la John Boyd's OODA Loop. Need some help applying today's message? I am as close as your local Country Club Golf course. Besides, if you are serious about leaving the thin margins of Status Quo to your competition, you could use the break. Working 60+ hours a week only makes for one dull instrument. Give me a shout. Before its too late. Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey ski@throughput.us (c)2009, Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey. All rights reserved.