Author Archives: codemizell

#21: Effectiveness as Habit + Wu-Tang

***But I’m still depressed, and I ask what’s it worth?

Ready to give up so I seek the Old Earth

Who explained working hard may help you maintain

to learn to overcome the heartaches and pain***

 

Wu-Tang Clan  ♦ C.R.E.A.M.; Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)

 

We all know that the Wu is perpetually down with the realm of Eastern philosophy.  This Black Asiatic/Zen Brother approach may be too much for some but BPM says that we don’t need to be overly theoretical or metaphysical to find merit here.

This is more akin to the athletic notion of “runner’s high.”  When you run that extra mile, the endorphins kick in and all that pain in your thighs, lungs, feet and knee-caps go away.  There will be moments of doubt as you push through an agenda, but once you really get into high gear on pushing the difficulty of the process will subside.  In part it subsides because you actually are getting part of the agenda done, but in part it starts to disappear because your faculties are becoming attuned to the process.  You are getting in shape.

The more you negotiate, the longer you are able to negotiate.  The more you create sales presentations and business models, the faster and the easier it becomes to complete them.  The more you shoot for high year end sales numbers and achieve them the better and less difficult it seems.

 

BPM TAKEAWAY#21:

  • DISCIPLINE OVERCOMES PAIN

  • EFFECTIVENESS COMES FROM HABIT

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Takeaway #22: Embrace the Competitive Market as inspired by Public Enemy

***Cycles, cycles, life runs in cycles. New is old, no I’m not no psycho
        The monkey on the back makes the best excel
        The people in the crowd makes the best rock well
        The people in the back lets you know who’s whack
        And those who lack, the odds are stacked***

Public Enemy ♦ Timebomb; Yo! Bum Rush the Show (1987)  

Hell, old-school heads know that you can write an anthology on Public Enemy alone, but that’s not BPM’s mission.  What from these old lyrics can you extract for purposes of your day?

This is an ode to the value of free market forces.  The market is cyclical.  The new will become old and become new.  The shift from gas guzzlers to compacts will rock back and forth, just like a toggle switch on mini-skirts and long skirts.

The beauty of the free market and competition (the monkey-on-your-back) is that it makes all of us better.  Your competition brings out the best in you and your organization and in that sense is the best thing for you. 

Also, the market forces are correct.  People trade up the value of publicly traded stock based on the hard economic facts.  The volume of traded shares up or down will let you know whack investments from the good.

Moreover, the market tells us where the best assets are.  If you lack the skills to succeed, the market will let you know.

BPM TAKEAWAY#22:

  • THE INVISIBLE HAND OF THE MARKET CANNOT BE DENIED

  • EMBRACE THE COMPETITION.  IT ONLY MAKES YOU BETTER

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Takeaway #13: Slow & Steady or Flash-free

**A jeep — doesn’t he make enough ends?

A genius like him should drive a Benz

Well he believes clothes don’t make the man or a car

And the man still makes five hundred grand

Every six months yo the kid is no dunce***

Chubb Rock  ♦   I’m the Man ;  I Gotta Get Mine Yo!  (1992)

 

  There is no doubt that everyone wants to be in the business that is sexy.  It sounds great at a dinner party.  People like the shiny stuff.  Unfortunately some of us make widgets or even the parts that keep the widget running smoothly.  The widget parts manufacturer is making great earning per share but may be tempted to get into the sexy widget movie business, even though the numbers do not add up.  Stay in the widget biz.  The widget brought you to the dance; don’t fall for the flashy product.

   The company has a decent market capitalization should we buy another entity that will raise our profile?  No.  Should we spend on the trophy building?  No.  Take a look at the stark Wal-mart headquarters inArkansasand tell me if the money was spent on real estate and lobby furniture.  Should we put on an over-the-top road show for the institutional investors?  You put on the show and you will be struggling quarter-after-quarter to meet analyst numbers that exceed guidance and expectations.

When Chubb Rock wrote this people were getting car jacked in hustler-mobiles or pulled over by profiling police officers.  The herb in the Jeep was getting home safely, night after night.  He is the predecessor to the “Millionaire Next Door” profile.  The low-key profile is the best.

 

BPM TAKEAWAY#13:

  • NO FLASH, JUST CASH

  • SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE

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