Now there is this book I got that cost me $26 excluding shipping.
They say that books are expensive but they are not if you consider them as investments. It’s not how much the books cost it’s what costs me not to read books.
A few months ago I went to Singapore and I spoke to famous marketing trendist Faith Popcorn. When I told her I have read practically all of her books she was pleasantly surprised. Ms. Popcorn looked at me and said, "You’re one of the few people I know who read books. Many people buy my books, I sign them but they just ended up on their shelves."
Now imagine my surprise when I went to San Francisco last month and saw that the same book was being sold for only $2 brand new? Not only that; all the other stuffs like CD’s and DVD’s were being sold for $1 because they were going out of business.
I went into this store, got myself a few more books. And while they were ringing up my purchases, I felt extremely sad for them.
You see this store used to be number 1 in their industry.
And now I see empty shelves, a business grave yard. A once glorious company that will soon end up as an illustration in some business books talking about its demise and why it fell from glory.
Such is the cruelty of business and such is the reality of life.
CD’s are giving way to MP3.
The walkman has given way to the Ipod.
Nobody sells VHS tapes anymore and what I saw made me smile in a sad way.
"4 pieces for a Dollar" $0.25 cents each? And nobody was even buying.
Do you know what these things are? Cassette tapes.
Nothing is permanent. No business is invincible.
This is why the only viable business strategy is growth.
No growth equals no business and the accomplishments in the past are no guarantee for success in the future.
Sony Walkman should have been Ipod but they missed the boat.
Tower Records should have been I-tune but they never saw it coming.
Yesterday’s "greats" are today’s "has beens" in the midst of an ocean of products and services that are a "never were" in the first place.
I see this as an analogy of life.
Personal growth is the only viable strategy for living.
Our past accomplishments, accolades, trophies and rave reviews are no guarantee for continued success unless we grow. And the only way we can continue growing is to first acknowledge the fact that we need to grow.
As in business and in personal living many are still living in denial. They refuse to face the brutal facts that they are on their way to extinction.
The curse of business is inertia. Sure… there are still movements, you can still see activities going on and people mistake that for growth and then realize one day too late that inertia is now at rest.
What businesses need is momentum and unless there is continuous knowledge, an insatiable desire to improve and innovate and unless there is humility to realize the need to learn and to grow, then death is imminent.
As it is in business so it is to life.
Pride and arrogance are stumbling blocks to growth.
Even Holy Scriptures talk about this.
Pride and a haughty spirit come before destruction.
And I was deep in thought as I got out of the store and walked slowly towards my car. Here lies another piece of history in the cemetery of business and life.
Even business books can be cruel.
When you’re on top they talk about all the good things about you and when you’re in trouble they talk about all the things you did wrong.
I look at this experience as a grim reminder of what could happen to my business and what could happen to my life.
I need to grow. I need to learn. And I need to have the humility to know that there’s just so much stuff out there I need to learn.
Thomas À Kempis says it correctly. "Always take the lowest place, and the highest will be given to you, for high structures require a solid foundation. The greatest, in the judgment of God, are the least in their own opinion; the more worthy they are, the more humility will be seen in them."
As it is in business so it is with life.
I took a flight to Cebu in the morning, spoke in a convention early afternoon and flew back to Manila on the 5 p.m. flight and was pleasantly surprised to find myself boarding the same plane with the same crew manning it.
April is so pleasant to look at and do you know why? Because she smiles all the time. She talks to passengers. She helps them with their heavy bags and never for a moment stopped smiling.
I asked her how long she’s been serving and quick came the reply, "Only one and a half months sir…" I said, "Please don’t lose your smile even when you make international one day."
I’ve taken international flights on the same carrier and the attendants are many years senior than those who serve in domestic flights. While some are charming and pleasant I am sad to say that not many of them are. A smile makes all the difference. It shows they care and it means a lot to equally tired and weary passengers like me.
The plane landed and while the business class passengers were disembarking I smiled when I saw what was happening. A group of male passengers took turn, stood beside April and have their pictures taken! A smile can make all the difference!
The Chinese have a saying: "He who does not smile should not open shop!"
Airlines are not in the flying business. They are in the people business and a smile can certainly help them go a long way!
(You can listen to Francis Kong through his radio program "Business Matters" aired 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. daily over 98.7 dzFE-FM ‘The Master’s Touch’, the classical music station.)