THIS IS MY 84TH BLOG ON UNDERSTANDING MONEY TOOLS
We have talked about planning in personal life as well as
planning in the corporate world. I
thought I would address those two subjects in a different light. Recently, I
had a discussion about this with a retired successful businessman.
We have referred to the “New World Order” in past
blogs. As many of my blogs are
written relating to my history of common sense, analysis, and rational thinking
I do agree times have changed.
Everything and everyone is moving so fast these days, next to impossible
to keep up. Planning seems to be difficult, and I am starting to agree with
that.
For the individual the best words of wisdom would be is to
continue education and keep up with “cutting edge” technology. Show loyalty to yourself first, and
keep your eyes open for opportunities, move on the opportunities quickly, some
will be successful others not.
Stay in motion and interact with people, don’t get too absorbed into
your own world staring at your computer at Starbucks!
On the corporate side of things we also talked about
planning, basic structure, pro-formas, etc. The same applies here as with your
personal life, hard to keep up.
There are so many mergers and acquisitions in today’s world, plans set
forth three months ago may be out the window today; prices change, interest
rates go up, world currencies change to the US dollar. What was deemed to be an equitable
return on investment may not apply.
Business presentations are all electronic received on cell phones and
computers, no longer hard copy using paper products. The business technical structure has brought with it
expected huge returns on investment; gross profit margins especially technology
products made in Asia can be huge.
The allocation for technology running your company versus
the human being may change very quickly. Dominance in an industry sector is
all-important, or a nitch in that sector.
Younger people think of new ideas, get in, get out. That is why the venture firms are
also referring to “outs”. Make
money, get a good tax law firm to legally circumvent paying as much tax as
possible and move on to the next idea.
As you need to get abreast of market needs when being a
consultant or possible employee of a company, let’s approach two subjects from
a learning standpoint.
In our first example, you have probably heard of Anders
Ericsson’s 10,000 Hour Rule? If
not it basically states that it takes 10,000 hours to really learn a new
subject, complex situation or to be a great athlete in a given sport. That is a
lot of years! You don’t have that much time, and as stated things change. In
Ericsson’s Rule, know that the Rule is to be the “best of the best”. The learning curve is exponentially
upward at first in almost everything, and then starts tapering off. Bottom line
here is get good at what new endeavor is necessary, but you don’t need to be
the very best. Many times you can finish that final learning on the job. If this is to make money, knowledge has
to serve a purpose.
The next learning subject is how and when we learn. I’ll revert to Piaget’s Theory of
Development; at what ages you mentally and physically change and learn. Hate to tell you this, but your
greatest learning, about 80%, comes in the first 8 years or so of life. In ages 4-7 curiosity takes over and a
person really learns. I realize
you are older than that if you are reading this boring blog, however you can
take a look at your current environment and with whom who you socialize and
hang out with. Look out for yourself.
Are you “hanging” with the types of people and in the environment where
you want go?
Good luck!
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