Patience and Persistence Along Parallel Paths

June 12, 2023

Good morning!

It’s strawberry season; the sweet, juicy, red-ripe, sensuous texture and flavor made possible only because of a backyard strawberry patch. And, like most good things, it happens only for a very short period of time each year. Which means also, it is strawberry – rhubarb pie season… and, how about that?! Add to it, June is Dairy month, and guess what?! More and more the evidence is mounting — and the undeniable vibe — Thursday is the new Friday. If so-called global warming and/or climate change are too politically charged, how about Global Weirdness?  (Pogue)

• Looks like Tesla is winning the electric vehicle charging station competition.
  • Remember the battle of Edison vs. Tesla a century and four score years ago?
  • The Serbian engineering genius, Tesla, won that one, too.
• Years ago I benefited greatly from a mentor who taught me about making progress on the margins.
  • Shortly before I met him, I coincidentally coined what would become my favourite aphorism:  Patience and Persistence along Parallel Paths.
  • What this mentor, a graduate of the MIT Sloan School, taught me was being alert to what is possible in the moment — and being ready to act.
  • Don’t push too hard, but be ready; be well-researched, have a vision, and be not asleep to what is happening all around you.
  • Like a chess game, have several options in mind, move the piece that’s best to move at the moment… and then wait for your next best chance.
  • If you know where you want to go you will almost certainly make progress toward that destination.
  • This friend will soon be 98; he does some writing, a little bit of spread sheeting, and still lots of good thinking.
  • I have a current client who expertly exemplifies — possibly without knowing it — this important principle of making progress on the margins;
    • many could learn much from each of these people.
• Book:  If you enjoyed The Devil in the White City, you will probably similarly enjoy Erik Larson’s, Dead Wake — The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.
  • A friend awarded me with this book and I’m grateful; it’s one you will want to savor word-for-word, perhaps even re-read certain passages (no pun intended).
  • Larson brings to chilling life the smallest of thousands of details regarding the Lusitania so that you are among its wary passengers on that final, fateful voyage.
• Elements of an (Environmental) Sustainability Business Case
  • Between 2015 and 2022, only 20% of companies saw a positive market reaction to 75% or more of their sustainability-related announcements-and nearly a third saw half or more of their announcements destroy value.
  • Moreover, after three days, the aggregate of announcements we studied didn’t deliver a shareholder return distinct from that of the overall market.
  • But when we applied the business case lens, our hypothesis was confirmed.
  • Those sustainability-related announcements that included some or all of the following seven elements associated with a strong business case did create value:
    1. Material to the Company. The effort is big enough to make a difference given the scale of the company.
    2. Material to the Sector. The investment area is seen by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board as a material environmentally related disclosure topic.
    3. Connected to the Core. The initiative is tied to the company’s core strategy.
    4. Clear on Funding. The announcement discusses the investment’s magnitude and sources.
    5. Tangible Goals. The company offers a way for investors to monitor progress, such as a revenue target or deadline.
    6. Third-Party Verified. Progress will be audited by a trusted external entity
    7. Drives Value Creation. The announcement describes the move’s potential financial upside for the company.
    • (S&P Capital IQ: BCG ValueScience Center, FactSet financial data and analytics. Note: The metric is the change in the company’s total shareholder return relative to the market as a whole three days post-announcement. Dataset is 1,010 sustainability-related announcements by 59 companies in automotive, mining, and consumer goods between January 2015 and December 2022.)
• “One of the things I love about working as a board game graphic designer is thinking through the end-to-end player experience, how to get them setting up quickly, and just getting them playing faster. The faster they can start playing, the better their overall experience.”  (Wocken, P., 2023)
  • There is something profound here and transferable to other industries… not sure what it is but I’m going to think on it.
• If your organizational culture encourages phishing on its people — and/or if it is persuaded in that direction — do you think something might be wrong?
• The latest (2023) Axios Harris Poll gauging the reputation of the most visible brands in the United States — based on 20 years of research —
  • — comes up with these top five:
    • Patagonia
    • Costco
    • John Deere
    • Trader Joe’s
    • Chick-fil-A
    • And, lots more if you want to read the whole list:  Best Reputations
• Are you an over-your-shoulder or rearview mirror investor?
  • Try Carvana = +56% in one day, or Nvidia = 160% this year.
    • Never doubt the entrepreneurial sparks of genius to be incubated at a Denny’s — the United States’ Diner!
• If you were educated in Florida, you, too, could spell psammophile.
• Empathy is a critical leadership skill because people want to be understood, especially by their boss.  (Eades)

These accumulate from week to week… I can’t bear to take leave of them… these are not required re-reading:

“All dogs have a bad day sooner or later.”  (U.S. Postal Service)
“The only difference is packages don’t complain.”  (Federal Express founder, Fred Smith)

“Analyze, organize, initiate, and follow-through.”  (Douglas Jr.)

“The best prize life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”  (Roosevelt, T.)

“We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us.”  (Proust)

Underrated skill:  Following up. (Schwedelson)

“When the sea was calm, all boats alike / Showed mastership in floating.”  (The Bard)

“Vision is equal parts inspiration and aspiration.” (YT)