“Blessings may appear under the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments, but let him have patience, and he will see them in their proper figures.”

 Joseph Addison

British Essayist and Politician 1672-1719

“We mount to heaven mostly on the ruins of our cherished schemes, finding our failures were successes.”

Bronson Alcott

American Educator 1799-1888

 “BlockBust”ed and “Two Hit Wonder”

Ron Johnson created the Apple Store and then flounders at JC Penney; Bill Gates puts the PC on everyone’s desk and misses the internet opportunity; Bob Nardelli shines at GE only to fail at Home Depot and Chrysler. The inability of successful entrepreneurs or corporate executives to turn in a repeat  performance or adapt at all is all too common. So…two articles about success and failure.

“BlockBust’ed”: BlockBuster video has announced its last day to rent was yesterday and is closing all its stores. Many of us remember standing in line on  Friday night to rent videos. What happened? What can we learn from The Last Blues for BlockBuster?.

“Two Hit Wonder: Lucky or Smart:”  On the success side of the ledger, Jack Dorsey is at least a two hit wonder; namely, Twitter (which just went public) and Square  (the credit card reader that plugs into an IPhone or other device, greatly simplifying the ability of merchants to take credit cards). Check out this article from the New Yorker  (be warned, it’s long) about Dorsey’s journey from middle class kid to billionaire. Has he been lucky or smart? Both? Can he do it a third time?

“Have I been lucky or smart?” is one of the most important questions we need to ask ourselves after every success…and every failure.

 Involuntary Advertisers

Stephen King became one of America’s greatest contemporary novelists by giving the horror genre a new look and feel. The book that made him famous, “Carrie,” about a troubled teenager with telekinetic powers that wreak havoc when she is angered, was made into a hit movie in the 1970s and, like everything else that worked once in Hollywood,  has just been remade.

Like the author, Sony Pictures, producers of the remake, decided to give the commercial promotion of the film “ a new look and feel” by subjecting the unsuspecting patrons of a New York coffee shop to, well,  “a troubled teenager with telekinetic powers that wreak havoc when she is angered” and filming what happens when the teenager’s computer is ruined by the spilled coffee of a clumsy “customer.”

Check out this video of the “coffee shop prank”  which quickly went viral.   How would you have reacted if you have been one of the shop’s patrons  (i.e. unpaid, unaware actors)? Could you (would you)  advertise your offering this way?

Tool Box Tips for the CEO

The CEO is usually the least technically adept person in the firm. This is strange not only because the technology is increasingly easier to use, it’s also increasingly free. At a recent Vistage All City Event, in Charlotte, NC, the former CEO of 1-800-Got-Junk, in a talk entitled “From Zero to Good: How to Build a $100+ Million Business” shared his favorite proven productivity tools.  Which ones are you using….or should be?

Econ Recon:   The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen?….The Carbon Conversation

The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen?…. : The Chairman of the Federal Reserve has enjoyed increasing influence over the past 20 years as Alan Greenspan, then Ben Bernanke and now Janet Yellen hold greater sway over leaders and markets than any president or prime minister.

It should therefore come as no surprise that the nomination and confirmation of Dr. Yellen has had more political overtones than in the past; particularly as regards the increasing concerns about independence of the Fed from politics. A recent column by George Will looks at previous Fed Chairs and observes that this is actually not a new problem.  Whatever your politics, if you have an interest in the economy,  Will’s column is a worthwhile read . He raises some tough questions she will have to face. You may disagree with Will’s commentary but he does a service by posing the questions about the challenges facing  someone who is  about to become arguably the most important person in the economy.

The Carbon Conversation: Check out Vistage Staff Economist and ITR Economics Principal Alan Beaulieu’s latest blog The Carbon Conversation. He takes a look at the players on both sides of the Carbon debate and brings good sense and hard data to the conversation and points out some vested interests that may not be obvious. You may not agree with his observations about global warming, but it’s hard to dismiss his follow-the-money insights.