Tag Archives: marketing

Salt & Pepper, Time & Temp

3 Nov

There’s an awarding winning barbecue joint here in Austin. It started out as a trailer and soon graduated into its own building.  The barbecue is so good that you have to line up at 10:30 in the morning, wait an hour until they open the doors at 11:30, and when the meat is gone…they close.  I’m not kidding.

This past summer Bon Appétit magazine called it the Best Barbecue in America.

Aaron Franklin was asked by our local news what his secret was, I’m paraphrasing, but this was his response:

We get the best meat from Montana, and then it’s about salt and pepper, time and temp. That’s it.

Really? No secret sauce? He’s not blending 200 spices together, or using his great grand daddy’s recipe?

How many times have we messed something up, failed at making something better, because we kept piling on all of our little tricks.

How many times have we rushed to decisions, because we didn’t have the patience to just let it be and see it through?

The recipe for success here can easily be translated to your life and your work.  Don’t over season, make sure the basics are being executed, and above all…be patient.

My Kid Peed in the Backyard!

31 Aug

I asked my 8-year-old son to take the dog out to relieve itself. The dog, and the responsibility, is fairly new so I intended to go with him.  He had a head start, because I fumbled around for shoes.  Eventually, I strolled across the back of my house and turned left to head down the side. There it was a glorious stream, not from the dog, but from my son.

That’s right; my son was peeing with the dog. She’s squatting, and he’s standing with one hand on the leash and the other…you get the idea.

Just because the dog does it, doesn’t mean you get to do it.  Lesson #86 of gazillion he’s heard from me over the years, like:

  • because we take turns
  • because your teeth will fall out
  • because we have a penis
  • because you can’t fit under the bed
  • because it’s not going to make itself (bed)
  • because you’ll get sick if you eat it
  • because you have a fever
  • because if you don’t pick it up I keep it
  • because you can’t
  • because I said so

To be fair, Max has taught me a few things too:

  • There are no short cuts; you just have to do it.
  • Stop focusing on what everybody else is doing, and start focusing on what you’re doing.
  • Saying “Hi” can knock down a lot of walls.
  • Farting is still funny.

My radio station is not #1, I’m not out of debt, we don’t live near family, and when the toilet flushes on the second floor above my office at work, I can hear it. Life isn’t fair.

Say these words with me: “It is what it is”.

Now get on with doing what you do, as well as you can do it.

The Modern Meeting

18 Aug

I hate meetings…most of them.  Sometimes I walk out wondering why I was even invited, other times I wonder why anybody agreed to meet with me. Most times we come in with predisposed opinions, closed, and not really interested in listening to what anybody else has to say, instead focused on what we want to say.

Al Pittampalli has just released a book called “Read This Before Our Next Meeting”.  In it he talks about what he thinks is the default stalling tactic in business today, calling a meeting.  It slows down the creative and implementation process and it put’s off having to say yes to a project.

So how do we fix the modern meeting? Al’s got some really good ideas:

  • The Modern Meeting supports a decision that has already been made.
  • The Modern Meeting starts on time, moves fast, and ends on schedule.
  • The Modern Meeting limits the number of attendees.
  • The Modern Meeting rejects the unprepared.
  • The Modern Meeting produces committed action plans.
  • The Modern Meeting refuses to be informational. Reading memos is mandatory.
  • The Modern Meeting works only alongside a culture of brainstorming.

You can buy the book here.

“…there are more zero’s on my paycheck.”

3 Aug

A decade ago I was riding the elevator with my then GM Mark Kopelman.  He looked stressed, I think he had just had his second child, and on our way down, we started complaining to each other about how tough the day was and what lay ahead that evening.  Somehow we got on the topic of money and he said this:

“I have the same issues you have, there are just more zero’s on my paycheck.”

Indeed there are, a lot more I think, but what a profound statement.  We all get wrapped up in chasing what’s next, believing that it’s better on the other side.  If I only made more money, drove a better car, or had a better job, everything would be easier. In fact, it’s not.  Truth is that time and again research has suggested the opposite.  People with the least tend to be the happiest. They have learned to be content with what they have and where they are in life. I’m not suggesting we stop striving and driving for what’s next.  I’m only asking if maybe you already have it. Do you?

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