Dream Big or stay home

2009 Hemi® Orange Dodge Challenger

Sundays are for dreaming big dreams... as Les Brown says, don't waste time on the "how" but spend that time on the "what" that will inspire you to take action.

He goes on to say that few folks aim high enough for fear of missing; most aim too low and hit their targets! How to break out of the Status Quo?

Dream big dreams.

The local Dodge dealer has a new 2009 Hemi® Challenger on the showroom floor. Wow! This is a great looking car to those of us that grew up in the heyday of the American muscle car. I recall my 1967 GTO falling to at least one 'Cuda back in the day. One 340ci Red 'Cuda in particular comes to mind... we left the line together (both stick shifts with some tire spin) as the light turned green. When the other guy hit second gear, it was as if his 'Cuda jumped straight up into the air and ran off into the night, never to be seen again. But I digress...

Back then, I was raised on the Chevy brand. Loved my small blocks like the 327ci with "hump back" heads in my 1965 Chevelle. Or the 350ci in my 1972 Camaro. And yet both my '67 and '68 GTOs (both had the 400ci engine) hold a sweet spot in my heart. Plus there was the 396ci 1968 Chevelle 4-speed to which I added the Mr. Gasket V-Gate shifter.

Why buy a retro and restore it when you can buy a brand new Hemi® 'Cuda?

Sorry, I meant Challenger.

-ski

Rules for Start ups

Best Business Start Up book I get a number of calls (mostly emails, but some are old fashion teleco calls) from would be entrepreneurs. Which I encourage. I am happy to share the little bit of the puzzle that I have discovered over the years. One of those recent calls got me to recommend Dan Hanlon's book, Riding the American Dream. As a result, I started re-reading the text myself. It is even better than I remembered! If you don't own a copy of this book and you are serious about "changing the world" through your own business venture (and the timing could not be better, given the economic turmoil), you simply will waste a lot of time and money. Time and money you do not have to spare! This book is a not a short cut. It is the road map. If you write a business plan today without consulting Dan Hanlon's book, you just don't understand throughput. How sad. -ski ---- Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.throughput.us ski@throughput.us ©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.

Career suicide

by way of the "Counter Offer" I bumped into this great article addressing the "counter offer" when a valued employee decides to move on. I have had this happen on at least two occasions. Once, I recall jumping through a number of hoops for a great consulting role with a consulting firm. One of those deals where they did not want to talk wages until they knew I was the right person for the job. When I passed all tests, they offered me a low ball figure. I was insulted. One of the reasons that I have never, and would never, consider applying for another job where the employer is embarrassed to reveal the wage and benefit package early in the dance. Your mileage may vary. But in this case, I so wanted to leave my old position that I agreed to work for that low wage. They said if they had made a mistake, they would make adjustments at my annual review. And they did. I got a 20% increase a year later. Largest in company history. I felt vindicated. They admitted that they were wrong. Now that I was in demand, time to look for an employer worthy of my talents. Within three months, I found one and left. They made the counter offer, but I explained that it was "too late" for them to impress me. Yes, they honored the commitment to "make it up to me", but even a 20% increase a year later would take years to actually repay those lost wages. But I also knew "career suicide" was more common than most would like to admit. Don't fall prey... -ski ---- Jeff 'SKI' Kinsey, Jonah www.throughput.us ski@throughput.us ©2008 Throughput.us LLC. All rights reserved.