A dose of business clichés and neglected lessons

Sharon Stone sat two tables away. Movies and red-carpet memories flashed and bubbled inside my head. I sipped the last of the cold coffee as ex-Secretary of State George Shultz ended his remarks and the San Francisco Symphony fundraiser spilled into networking and schmoozing.

Like many a bright idea, meeting Sharon Stone took abrupt urgency.

Every founder and innovator connects with this urgency. Each startup or steady-on can instantly launch a narrative of birthing their idea or of some driving emotional quest. Along the way, here are a few reframed aphorisms for sudden passions or well-thought adventures.

Cross that bridge before you get there. Crossing a bridge when you get there is a fast track to failure. Smart businesses study every support beam, arch and trestle beforehand. A celebrity once said, “I pretty much believe in that Dylan Thomas line, ‘Do not go gently into that good night’.” I suggest early surveying so that neither the coming bridge nor Dylan’s mysterious night messes with your plans.

Count every chicken early. If we don’t count our chickens before they hatch, we’ll get caught with you know what on our face. Don’t spend money you haven’t earned, but know if the yield, license or retainer will keep you in business. Count those chickens. During the great times of the 1990s and early 2000s, I could depend on 75 percent of my business proposals being accepted.  History supported each estimate. When it changed, and it did, I counted anew.

All work and no play makes Jack stupid. This classic was thrown at me in graduate school as a friend recited, “Rick, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” I rationalized that at least my thesis was published and I graduated. Years later, I got it. Good, steady habits finish more degrees and business initiatives, leaving time to enjoy life and be a true human being. The “work hard, play hard” jingle is as uncreative as “I’ll catch up on sleep when I’m dead.” The real insight is to focus hard on your creative work when you’re working — no multitasking, no lollygagging, no superficial work/life balance. Focus, focus, focus. That’s how great books are written and real innovation rises above the serial startup. If you have purpose and balance, fun doesn’t come later; you’ve been having it all along.

A bird in the hand can still fly. The plant manager at Intel’s Fab 2 in Santa Clara, Calif., sat me down and said, “Rick, you’re leaving gold on the table.” I was smug with the hidden knowledge that I had my precious three birds in the hand and no longer needed their corporate gold — Frito-Lay, L’Eggs pantyhose and an auto dealership in Santa Cruz. Oh, how I wish I’d had a mentor then. Those birds in my hand contributed to the timing of my au revoirs and voluntary Intel exit interviews. I should have been beating every bush I could find because I lost all three sure bets.

Heads I win; tails you lose. This isn’t your con-artist relative or that buddy who just got out of prison. This is you and your business, your brand. Some call it a blue-ocean strategy where you do things to render the competition irrelevant. It’s a subtle form of genius to read enough, learn enough, risk enough and prepare enough to position your enterprise to win as circumstances change.

Yes, you’ve been waiting. I never actually met Ms. Stone on that San Francisco evening. The closest I got was to brush up against her arm, mumble a poorly articulated “Excuse me” and continue towards the exit. It was a thrill. She’s the one who mentioned the Dylan Thomas line.

Rick Griggs is the inventor of the rolestorming creativity tool and founder of the Quid Novi Innovation conference. Contact him at rick@griggsachieve.com or 970.690.7327.

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