The Wisdom of Ed - Part 1: Wishing You Some New Problems

During my first twelve years at Horizon Hobby, I had the opportunity to interact quarterly with  Ed Bachrach, retired CEO and Chairman of Bachrach Clothing, Inc., at our board meetings.  Ed brought  a variety of skills to the table, particularly in supply chain management, inventory control, and merchandising.  The highlight though was Ed's memorable snippets of dry, sharp wisdom that could put everything in context.  At one board meeting I described how we had addressed a significant business problem, but now a new and even more significant challenge had surfaced.  Ed quickly remarked,

"If you're lucky in life, you'll have a new problem everyday.  If you're unlucky in life, you'll wake up to same damn, old problem every single day."


I don't think Ed was talking literally about bedfellows.  He was addressing the reality of business.  Problems are never banished; they are just replaced with new problems.  Former Horizon CEO Joe Ambrose exhorted us to solve the fundamental problems so that we could move upward to the more nuanced problems.  If you got a new problem, you're making progress.

But what about the old problems that just won't go away?  At New Years', one of our daughters asked me if I was going to lose the same 20 pounds again this year?  Ouch!  As a fundraiser, I find that appointments with new prospects are just as difficult to secure this January as last January.  We know the drill when we're really ready to face these old problems.  Where have I not changed my actions, and what is the underlying reason for that lack of change? Where have I changed actions, but new tactics are needed?  Where am I ignoring or tolerating an old problem because I have lost the drive to improve?  I learn most about myself by honestly examining my old problems, the first step in finding their ultimate solutions--so I can get some new problems!

Here's wishing you some luck in 2020.  I hope you enjoy your new problems.


Comments

  1. UnknownJanuary 14, 2020 at 8:29 AM

    Good stuff Steve, thanks for sharing. I've got some old problems to address for sure! Here's to clear vision in 2020 - Dan Rodawig

    ReplyDelete

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