Congratulations! You lose.

My youngest son Bobby took up fencing at age 14. I remember driving him to his first fencing class, taking lessons from an ex-Olympic coach. For the first hour, the class had nothing to do with fencing. It was all push-ups, sit-ups, and conditioning. At the breaks, I heard the first of many “Dad, I don’t like this, can we go home now please?" from my son. *I love my son to death (and I know that he will be reading this blog) but he was very lazy. Working hard for anything was not in Bobby’s view of the world. Each time I said no to his requests to quit and to go home - we will finish up the day.

And then, with 30 minutes left to go in his two hour long first fencing class – out came the weapons. With epee in hand, I saw my son transform right before my eyes into a motivated, energized and eager student. All of the huffing and puffing of the past hour was forgotten. You could see it in his stance; you could see it in his posture. It was like someone exchanged his old dead battery for a fresh brand new one. In the car on the way home, he called his mother: “This is so cool! I found my sport!”

Bobby was very good. In fact, he was a natural. Within the first few weeks of Saturday morning classes, he was beating other students that were taking fencing classes for years. In his second month of classes, he signed up for a big tournament in New York City. We expected him to get beat soundly early on, but it would be fun to see what a big-time nationally recognized tournament would be like, and it would be a cool day in the city with my son.

Bobby was tall for his age, and had great reach (long arms). Great for fencing. Shockingly, he won the first round at the NYC tournament. And then, he won the second round. And the third and the fourth and the fifth. With less than three months of total fencing experience, Bobby was in the finals of the 14 and under group, in a fencing tournament that pulled experienced students from all over. Bobby was beating fencing students who have been taking fencing lessons for more than half their lives.

I never prayed so hard in my life - for him to lose. Bobby was not supposed to win this tournament. He did not pay his dues. Bobby was very good; he was a natural. But I knew that if he won this tournament – if he won his first tournament of his fencing career (and we are not talking about some little tiny local event at the YMCA) he would be ruined. If he won this tournament, there would be no living with him. He did not invest enough time. And if he did win this tournament, he would think this was normal. He would think that with minimal effort and with minimal training, you are entitled to the grand prize. Ah, no.

You learn more from losing than from winning. You don’t know the value of money, until you lose money. You don’t know the value of good health, until you have your first serious “health scare”. You don’t realize how precious the basics of life are to all of us, until they become scarce; until you lose them. There are over a billion people in the world who do not have clean drinking water. You don’t know the value of clean drinking water unless you have none to drink.

Yesterday, we lost power at the office (for only two hours). I had to go to the local coffee shop with my laptop, to try to connect to the world. Oh, how we take things for granted, until we lose them. What if there was no coffee shop with Wi-Fi? What if the power was out for days? What if we had no power for weeks, due to a hurricane or other disaster?

Bobby lost that day in the final round, to a 14 year old kid that looked like a Ninja. This kid had more “patches” on his uniform (from previous tournaments) than an Eagle Scout. Bobby had no patches. And here is the kicker: the final match was close! He lost, but he almost won the whole damn thing! It would have ruined him. If Bobby would have won that tournament against kids who invested years in training and studying the sport, it just simply would have been wrong. This was over six years ago, but we all still talk about this today. When things come too easy, they are not appreciated.

The best lessons in life come from losing, not from winning. You will appreciate your customers more, when you lose a valued customer. You will love your pets more, when you lose a pet.

And when you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

Touché is the French word for "touched" and is used to acknowledge a hit, called out by the fencer who is hit. Conversely, if a fencer concedes a hit when no hit was actually made, the fencer's adversary would say, “pas de touché” (no touch) to indicate that the hit should not be counted.

Bobby lost the fencing tournament that day, coming in a remarkable second place. Had he come in first place that day, he would have lost the lesson. Had he won it all that day, in truth, that win would not have counted.

Touché Bobby, Touché.

Selling Power Tools to the Amish

While driving through Pennsylvania Dutch country, I watched an “old fashioned” barn raising. A barn raising is an event during which a community comes together to assemble a barn for one or more of its households, particularly in 18th- and 19th-century rural North America. In the past, a barn was often the first, largest, and most costly structure built by a family who settled in a new area. Barns were essential structures for storage of hay and keeping of horses and cattle, which in those days were an inseparable part of farming.

The Amish, the Pennsylvania Dutch sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, and – the reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology.

Watching several dozen men successfully raise a massive structure in a single day, and all without the use of power tools (100% by hand and “real” horsepower) is a sight to behold.

I have spent my life using technology, selling technology and loving technology. Who would not want a phone in their car? Who would not want a personal computer, a tablet PC, an HDTV in their living room or a GPS in their car? From voice mail to touch-tone vs. rotary phones, who does not want to trade-in and upgrade their widgets or gadgets to live better through technology?

Answer: The Amish.

Travel back in time with me: what self-respecting businessman would not want to trade-in their old manual typewriter for an IBM® Selectric?

The IBM Selectric was a highly successful model line of electric typewriters introduced on July 31, 1961. Instead of the "basket" of individual typebars that swung up to strike the ribbon and page in a traditional typewriter, the Selectric had a type element (frequently called a "typeball") that rotated and pivoted to the correct position before striking. The type element could be easily changed so as to print different fonts in the same document, resurrecting a capacity that had been pioneered years before. The IBM Selectric also replaced the traditional typewriter's moving carriage with a paper roller ("platen") that stayed in position while the typeball and ribbon mechanism moved from side to side.

If you had an IBM Selectric typewriter in your office, you were deemed to be working in a “modern office”. You were viewed as cutting-edge, you were cool, and you were to be respected and admired. And, it was proven that an IBM Selectric will double or triple your work production, so the ROI of upgrading to this super cool office tool made it an easy sale. IBM made a fortune, and the modern office had a new must-have gadget.

As I write this blog in air conditioning (on a very hot weekend) I reflect back on my sales and marketing efforts of the week. I think of how I started my Monday with all the energy in the world, convinced that everyone that I meet, everyone that I will come in contact will want to save money, and they will want to make more money – they will want to be more profitable through technology. “Wait until they see what I have to show them! They will buy my (fill in the blank with new widget or gadget) like hotcakes, just like they bought the IBM Selectric years ago! How can they say no? It’s a no-brainer!”

The (not so obvious) lesson is that just because YOU love it, just because YOU see the vision, just because YOU have the solution and the answer to the puzzle – this does not mean anything to anyone who does not believe what you believe.
You cannot force anyone to do anything, or get them to buy anything from you, if they do not believe what you believe.

So, to all power tool salesmen out there – you can save yourself a lot of time and energy, and just skip Pennsylvania Dutch country. They do not believe what you believe. They will not be buying what you are selling.

Unless of course, the power tools that you are selling are of the “one horsepower” variety.

"Scotty, I need warp speed in three minutes or we're all dead!"

I loved Star Trek. The original TV series, the new series, and all of the Star Trek movies. A few years ago while in San Diego, my son Robert spotted a Star Trek expo and we spent hours checking out all of the props and stuff from the shows and the movies.

When I think of the message over the intercom from Captain Kirk to his Senior Engineer "Scotty, I need warp speed in three minutes or we're all dead!" I think of business communications.

How clear, how succinct, how perfect a message. If the ship’s engine is not repaired – if they don’t have warp drive repaired and properly working in less than three minutes, they are all going to be blown up by a ticking time bomb. They will all be dead.

There was no return message from Scotty back to the Captain: “wait, ....what???” There was no, “but Captain, I don’t understand your message, what do you mean?”

There it was – you have three minutes – 180 seconds - to get all of our mutual asses the heck outta here. No need for a long-winded banter, back and forth with the Captain. If we are not (all of us) far, far away from “here” - very soon – we are all doomed.

"Scotty, I need warp speed in three minutes or we're all dead!"

I love the simplicity of this message. There is no time for back and forth over the ship’s intercom. There is no time for delay caused by needless clarification, or for debating the physics of “warp drive”. You have 180 seconds, that’s it - use them wisely.

Scotty was a great one for doubting his own abilities. "She kinna take any more, Captain." "If I give her inny more she'll blow!" But he managed to fix things despite himself.

And this wasn't just a matter of convenient plotting, of the cavalry arriving in the nick of time to save the day. Scotty's ability to solve problems was a result of Gene Roddenberry's building into his creation the idea that solving problems and fixing things are what people do and that problems are a part of life so we need to be prepared to deal with them. Roddenberry believed in Murphy's Law. And he created a future in which everybody believed in it too and ordered their lives and designed their machines accordingly.

In episode after episode, the Enterprise would seem to be damaged beyond all saving, and yet Scotty, or Spock, or Kirk, would come up with a fix, seemingly out of thin air. But Roddenberry's Enterprise had been designed with the idea that it would break down. That everything that could go wrong would go wrong at some point. So every piece of equipment on the Enterprise had a back-up system or a manual override. The back-ups had back-ups, and those back-ups had back-ups. And when all the back-ups had failed, everything could still be operated by hand.

The people – the crew (the staff) – would be the heroes who would save the day, when the technology failed.

I run a company (to some degree) the way that a captain runs a ship. I am responsible for our company’s direction, our success or our failure. But the real “heroes” of MTP are the staff and back-office people that can take the orders, and just flat out “get it done” without the needless debate.

“I need this package in Cleveland by 8:00am tomorrow or we are all dead!” (i.e., we lose the deal).

“I need this website fixed today, or we are all dead!” (i.e., the client will cancel their account with MTP).

“I need the bugs in this software fixed by end of business today or we are all dead! (i.e., the server will need to be rebooted over the weekend).

MTP is very fortunate indeed to have some Chief Engineers like Mr. Scott on-board.

Do you have a “Montgomery Scott” at your company?

Live long and prosper......

Mini-Me Father's Day Celebration

Mini-Me is a character played by Verne Troyer in the second and third Austin Powers movies: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Austin Powers in Goldmember.

Before Dr. Evil was sent back in time to 1969, his minions made him a clone. The clone was identical in every way but was "one-eighth his size". Upon being introduced to his clone, Dr. Evil immediately declared, "Breathtaking. I shall call him... Mini-Me".

I have two sons that I love very much. Both are in the School of Business at their respective Universities (Quinnipiac and UCONN).  My first son, Tom Jr. was asked when he was around eight years old, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”  His answer was profound: “I don’t know what my dad does, but I want to do that!”

My other son Robert never uttered such an infamous statement, but he is currently Majoring in Entrepreneurship at UCONN.  Go Huskies!

I am bracing myself for my own “Mimi-Me’s” to change their minds (many times) as they seek their passion.  50% of all college students change their majors, change their schools, and/or change their careers.

My father was in the construction game.  We are talking big construction – bridges, roads, skyscrapers. I worked construction when I was young; my summers were spent making around $28 per hour on job sites where (truth be told) I never did any real work. Back then (the late 70’s) $28 per hour for a teenager was “obscene”.  By working with my father each summer, I was able to pay for my own college, and buy anything that I wanted, and still have money left over.  I lived like “Richie Rich” but I did earn it (technically).  Oh, and overtime was double time.  Spoiled, yes. But at least I can openly admit it.

My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He wanted me to be in the construction game, and take over the family business. He wanted his “Mini-Me” to carry the torch.

I hated construction.  I wanted to be a Doctor ever since I could remember.  I wanted MD license plates so that I could park at fire hydrants. I wanted a phone in my car like the Doctors on TV, and I wanted “MD” after my name on my Platinum American Express card. And, I wanted a trophy wife, and the big house like all of the Doctors on TV.  As a stupid kid, I had great “passion” for becoming a medical doctor, and I had no (zero) passion for the world of construction.  I’ll take the $28 per hour at seventeen years old, thank you very much. But, if I actually had to do any “real” work, I knew that I would hate hate HATE it.  


At that time in my life, I thought that “manual labor” was the President of Mexico.

My father eventually stopped bugging me about going into construction.  At some point, he started taking pride in telling people that I was a Biomedical Engineering Student at Purdue, and going to be a Doctor.  “My son the Doctor” started sounding pretty good to my father, as he would brag to his friends.

I was my father’s only son, and from an old-fashioned Italian family, that is a pretty big deal. I was his “Mini-Me”. I loved my father more than this blog has room for words. He was my Superman. But, there was no way that I was going to follow in his footsteps. I was going to be a Doctor and that was final. We fought over this many times, and I thank my mother for stopping it before it got “physical”.

When I was young, I had no passion for construction – but I had lots of passion for science, technology (cool toys and gadgets) engineering, and for making lots and lots of money. Did I mention the money? In my mind, any career short of being an MD was a waste of life.  


Ah yes, to be young and stupid.  Ignorance is bliss.

Fast forward to today: There is no MD on my license plate.  There was no medical school in my bio. While at Purdue, I learned that the love of making money does not a Doctor make.  I found out that I would actually have to interface with “sick people” and I might be asked to touch disgusting things – in order to get “the money”. This was not how they portrayed it on TV when I was growing up. I would have been a terrible Doctor.

My epiphany came when I realized that I had a passion for business – I had a passion for building a business, growing a business, and a passion for making money.  It did not have to be via a career in medicine. I love technology, I love business, and now - I love being in the technology business.  


Passion! Do what you love, and the money will follow. 

Do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life.

Life is too short, to not do what you love!

Mini-Me is a character that is funny and entertaining, because it is a crazy concept. We are all unique and we are all different. There should be no “Mini-Me” clones, not with Fathers and Sons, and not in business.

I am sending this Father’s Day blog today, as my gift to myself tomorrow will be a day without technology. No computers, no cell phones, nothing that requires keyboards or the Internet. I am spending my day tomorrow with my dog Bella, and (maybe) a golf club or two. There might be some clams and lobsters smothered in steaks on the on the deck, not sure yet. (…my family will see this blog…..hint hint).

I am dedicating this blog to my two “Mini-Me” sons, as I hope they find their passion. They might work with me in our family business one day. And, they might not.  They might go into construction, or they might open a sandwich shop. 

At the ripe old age of 50, I now know that the key to a successful life is to find your passion, and then grab on with all of your might.  The rest of it is all minor details along the way.

And a big thanks to my father (who has since passed away) who allowed me to “construct” my own career. Thanks Dad.  And, an “honorable mention” to my mother, who kept my father and I from killing each other while I was on my quest to find my passion.

Epilogue #1:  By the way, I did manage to get the trophy wife, after all.  Thanks, Dianne.

Epilogue #2:  Steak, lobster, clams. That should do it.

Choose your distractions wisely

“If you keep on doing what you’ve always been doing, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always been getting.”

How much thought have you actually given to the full power behind that statement and what it might take to change your results. What it takes is a shift in thinking; wiping the slate clean of all your comfortable ways of doing business and stretching your mind to think about new and different ways to build business.

To help you begin the process, here are six significant steps to ponder: 

     Diversify
It’s comfortable to continue calling on familiar types of customers. But is there an industry that’s not your typical customer base which just might be ripe for using your service? In this fast-changing market new industries are popping up everywhere. Is there something you’ve overlooked? Some category that no one has yet approached? Who might be in need of your service that previously did not? Who that’s already using your service may know a new type of customer, but you haven’t thought to ask?

     Leverage your strengths. 
What separates you from your competition? Certainly there’s something you have that others don’t. Maybe it’s you and your ability to respond faster, solve problems or just communicate more effectively. Whatever your strength, what are you doing to leverage it? 

     Be easy to work with. 
People do business with people they like. And, they like individuals who can take the hassle out of their day and are pleasant while doing it. How easy are you to work with? How easy are you to reach and how pleasant are you to deal with in a crisis?

    Develop resource relationships before you need them. 
Referrals are always better than cold calls, but how much have you done to develop strong relationships with your potential referral sources before you may need them? What have you done for your colleagues to help them? Have you spent time nurturing relationships or do you find yourself with very few resources when you most need them? 

    Build A Network.
The world is a network today. Boundaries are few. The greater your network, the larger your potential for success. What kind of a network have you built?

    Take massive action.
Very little happens with any plan, technique or premise until you commit it to massive action. That requires determination and focus. While always important, this is particularly critical during highly competitive and difficult economic times. It requires self-motivation of the highest level and a focus that allows few if any distractions. Do you have what it takes?

I end by sharing with you one of my favorite quotes. You may want to print it out in big, bold, colorful letters and look at it often:

“Choose your distractions wisely for they will cost you dearly.”

How is your memory?

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service. First enacted by former enslaved Africans to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.

Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end. Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of “memory” as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not.

Memorial Day has also become a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. When I was at Purdue, going to the Indy 500 was a big deal, and I remember those days like they were yesterday.

Now at age 50, here is what I now get out of Memorial Day.  Everything that we are, everything that we will ever own, and everything that we cherish – is enjoyed only because of the hard work and sacrifices made by others. Our parents, our teachers, our relatives - from generations of the past - have made everything that we own and enjoy (and sometimes take for granted) possible. Don’t let your ego kid you – every one of us are nothing more than the byproduct of a long list of unsung heroes; military and non-military alike.

My father served in World War II.  My wife’s father served in the Korean War. Both of our parents would never speak of their time in the service of their country, as the memories were too painful. They came home from the war (with all of their limbs intact) and they were able to start a family.  They came home and enjoyed the American Dream of home ownership, entrepreneurship and the pursuit of happiness.

Everything that I am, and everything that I will ever be, is due to the hard work and the incredible sacrifices made by all those who have come before me.  This is what I now think about during Memorial Day weekends.

Maybe we should rename the holiday.  Maybe we can call it “Be Humble” day or “Get down on your knees and be thankful” day.

Memorial Day reminds me that we should make every day count, and we should live each day like it was a gift. Because that is exactly what it is - a gift from those who have come before us.  A gift that we must never squander nor take for granted. Hopefully our children and all future generations will one day feel the same way.

Have a safe and Happy Memorial Day. 

Bring Back Simon Cowell

I’m not a big fan of American Idol since Simon Cowell left the show, but I am interested in the competitive aspects of taking a group of talented people and publicly narrowing it down until you have a single “winner.”

This got me to thinking: what can we take away from this kind of competition? Have we learned anything after many seasons of watching a singing champion chosen this way?

Well yes, there are some pretty big lessons we can take away from American Idol — especially if you run a business.

At its core, American Idol is all about finding and promoting the very best talent — something that a leader does every single day. But, how the show ultimately goes about finding and promoting the best talent leaves a lot to be desired, and it raises some issues that everyone should think about in their own talent development process.

The highly-competent-but-safe candidate doesn’t always make the best hire.

Are you satisfied choosing someone who is “safe” and won’t get you into trouble, or, do you go with the flashier choice that may have not only more upside, but perhaps some downside too?

Safe but unexciting choices yield safe but unexciting results. If that’s what you are looking for, then go to it. But, if you want to push the envelope and stretch for something better, you need to work on overlooking the flaws and quirks that many highly talented people bring to the table. If you don’t, you end up with someone like Taylor Hicks — the safest and most forgettable American Idol winner ever. How hot has his career been lately?

A committee approach to hiring doesn’t always yield the best candidate.

Lots of organizations like to have candidates get interviewed and evaluated by a slew of different managers before everyone weighs in with their opinion. It’s a “safe” talent acquisition approach.

American Idol works this way, too, with the judges and nationwide voters all weighing in on who they believe is best. It’s a time-honored approach, of course, but hiring by committee rarely yields the best candidate. For every superstar like Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson, you get a slew of middle-of-the-road winners like Ruben Studdard, Chris Allen, David Cook, and Hicks.

Idol would do well to limit the nationwide voting until late in the season, letting a smaller group of smart and insightful talent managers — the judges –whittle down the group until the final four or five are left. Doing this would surely help keep more of the highly talented but less traditional candidates in the candidate pool longer, and maybe, give one of them a chance to win.

You would also be better served by limiting the vetting of candidates to a smaller group of four to five key decision-makers rather than running potential hires through a gauntlet of managers up and down the food chain. I bet you’ll find this approach not only leads to making better decisions about talent, but is less stressful on the candidates and your organization.

You need to ask yourself — do I hire for competence now - or for growth potential down the road?

In most seasons, the American Idol winner reflects someone chosen for solid competence right now over someone who may have more upside in the years to come. 

Except in very rare cases, high potential tomorrow is always preferable to solid competence today, but many leaders don’t agree. Making the safe choice won’t get you in trouble and may help the organization immediately, but going with the high-potential candidate is likely to yield a lot more if you can afford to be patient. In other words, you won’t build superstars taking the safe road, but isn’t building an organization of superstars what it is all about?

Yes, American Idol is all about top talent winning out, but like a lot of things in life, it’s less about finding the very best talent and more about finding someone who is highly talented and acceptable to a large group. It leads, in the end, to all-too-many vanilla choices, and while that may be acceptable for American Idol, it’s not the optimum way for you to get the very best talent into your organization.

In other words, you need to find people (contractors or employees) like previous judge Simon Cowell. That’s a tougher way to go, but in the end, you’ll have a lot better bottom-line results to show for it.

American Idol is just not the same without Simon, don’t you think?