Be Brave Not Safe

As outlined in numerous posts on this site, there are MANY steps that we can take to create a solid future for ourselves and our family.

One step we haven’t covered much, relates to the selection of industries (or companies) we might want to jump into, to apply our skills and abilities – for maximum payoff!

Why is this important? Well, as relates to customers and revenue, some industries or companies are:

• In decline or contraction
• Fairly stagnant with little to no growth
• Growing
• Destined for hypergrowth!

Have you ever heard the term “hockey stick” used in business?

In business terms, there is slow growth (sales) projected in the beginning. Then, when significant adoption (of the product or service) takes place things shoot up exponentially. This depicts an industry or company that is projecting hypergrowth. THAT, would be an industry or company to target, in terms of career opportunities!

Thanks to Providence, I was fortunate enough to have latched on to 2 up-and-coming (at the time) technologies within the telecommunications industry that are perfect examples of hockey sticks (I mean hypergrowth).

• Cellular (Mobile) Communications
• The Internet

Back in 1989 when my wife was pregnant with our first child (Ian), we lived in South Portland, ME. I was working in the pulp and paper industry (the growth in that industry had long since passed). And, because we couldn’t afford what we really wanted for our (now growing) family, I put my resume out all across America. There were NO LIMITS.

Thanks to a GREAT placement agency that I was working with at the time I had several interviews, in the course of just a couple of weeks, in New England, Detroit and Atlanta.

I cannot seem to recall the companies or industries I interviewed with in the former 2 locations, but the Atlanta-based opportunity involved working for a cellular communications company. At that time, most of society did NOT have a cell phone. In fact most people had not even seen one, in-person. Those that I had seen were in brief cases owned by the elite few.

Never-the-less, as young and naive as I was (at 25) I knew that this “thing” was going to be big. So, we packed up my Firebird with our luggage and drove to our new life in Atlanta. The goal of the drive down: beat the moving truck so that we had a place to unload our stuff. You see, we had NO IDEA where we were going to live. Remember, there was no Internet (for the general public) back in 1989. So, there was not much we could do for investigation, in advance. So, we just winged it and everything worked out just fine (although, there is a story to it, perhaps for another time).

We are now in Atlanta and I arrive on my first day at the new job. My boss (I hope he reads this post 🙂 ) stopped by my desk and drops off (with a thump) a 3-4″ stack of 11X17 computer paper. It contained the code for the cellular billing system. As I recall, he says: “There is a problem with the tax calculation. Fix it.”

My inner dialog goes crazy: OK – No honeymoon here. The ultimate test has begun. I better fix this, or I’ll be heading back to Maine. Failure is NOT an option. Let’s get to work. After, a change of underwear 🙂

The good news: the code was in COBOL, which a mere human can read. And, since I was experienced with COBOL, I was able to navigate around pretty well. However, this was complex cellular telephone billing stuff which I had never seen: I was pretty much clueless.

Fortunately, after a handful of days of debugging I found the problem, fixed it and implemented the solution. We were now correctly billing our customers for the tax on the use of their cell phone. Phew!

Not long afterwards, the company rolled out voicemail. Yep, there was a time when there was no such thing for cell phones.

Now, picture this…At the time, we had people pulling cellular telephone usage data directly off of cellular switches (computers that process cellular calls) which were strewn across the country, placing it on magnetic tape and shipping them overnight to our headquarters. We’d then load up the mag-tapes on a tape drive to read and process the data. But, to-date, it was ALL call data.

My task was to identify and cull-out the voice-mail usage data so that we could bill it at a different rate. After many days, which included arriving at work by 4am (because I couldn’t sleep, trying to figure this out. And, I was stressed-out because the product manager was breathing down my neck as he wanted to recognize the revenue from the new service they had launched weeks ago) I figured it out, and we implemented.

You’d think that the product manager would have let us (IT) know that this was coming so “just maybe” we could have prepared for this BEFORE the product launch. Such is often not the case and you just have to deal with it 🙂

After an unforgettable time in cellular, I then found myself working for a company whose business was: The Internet. This was at a time (1995) when most of society did NOT have an email address. And, if they did, it was only good “inside” the company in which they worked. Things were “just beginning” to open up to the wild wild west: the new frontier called the Internet.

In summary, I can tell you that this was the most rewarding aspect of my career. It was an experience similar to my years in cellular: times 100. Talk about rapid growth! There was no end in sight (for a long time) with too numerous tales to tell (in this post).

So, what are some of the benefits of latching on to a hockey stick (a hypergrowth industry or company)?

In the beginning (which can last several years) things happen rapidly. EXTREMELY RAPIDLY. Over time, the leaders and key players who are able to adapt, get in lock-step with the rhythm of the business and aid in its growth and scalability – in fact, they DRIVE ITS GROWTH!

The ongoing objective becomes: Make “things” happen more and more quickly and efficiently, every single day! But, NEVER do ANYTHING that would slow things down. Heaven forbid 🙂

An apt phrase that best described our task: CONSTANTLY change-out the wheels on a train that is flying down the tracks. And, do so without stopping, slowing down, damaging the cargo, or losing our limbs.

Exciting times.

For example: It was not uncommon to be assigned large, complex and very risky projects that you had no right doing (e.g., no experience). The reality is, however, that NO-ONE had experience doing it, because it hadn’t been done before – EVER! So, if you could put a good fog on a mirror, you were assigned. If you came through (time and time again) you gravitated to the top of the heap. If you did not, you were simply left behind in the dust.

Best of all, there are some common things that are often experienced in hypergrowth industries and companies, which include:

• Personal and professional growth – Due to the velocity of the industry or company, you cannot help but grow in MANY aspects of your personal and professional life. This includes: on-the-job training and experience, juggling family and career demands. And, rapid acceleration up the corporate ladder (if you are one of the people described above).
• Mergers and acquisitions – Your company is bought by, or buys, another. Closing the deal is just the beginning. Now, it becomes time to make two companies operate as one. You want to be right in the middle of this!
• Stay bonuses – If you are a key player (that is, you go WAY, WAY, WAY above and beyond the call of duty and tenaciously get things done) upper-management wants to make sure you stick around. Stick around through the period of rapid growth; through the completion of a merger or acquisition, etc. So, they offer “handsome” packages that make it more than worthwhile to hang on.
• Employee stock purchase plans – Like many (publicly traded) companies, as an employee you can acquire their stock at a discount. And, when doing so for a hypergrowth company your prospects “can be” much higher for a rewarding payout!

So many reasons to latch on to a hockey stick. And, I’m sure I’ve left some out…

Yes, you can eke out a fine career and salary from industries and companies that are NOT projecting hypergrowth. If, however, you want to take things to the next level (to rapidly accelerate your career and compensation) consider the hockey stick.

Areas of hypergrowth have typically involved technology-related companies. My personal experience certainly proves that out. And, further, to couple that with healthcare, I’d suggest you have a winning combination.

In closing, there is no silver bullet (no one thing to do) to ensure a solid future for you and your family.

Bottom-line: You must press forward on ALL fronts. You might ask: “What are “ALL these fronts?” Well, I’ve written enough for now. But, you can learn more in the series of posts introduced as: Mind Like Water.

All the best!

p.s. Sorry hockey fans. While I reference my favorite sport, this post has nothing to do with my experience playing hockey. Perhaps there’ll be a future post on that 🙂

During today’s check-in to Yahoo! Finance I came across a less than inspiring article for the young people in our society.

The article: Teenagers are losing confidence in the American Dream.

Let’s be clear. There are 3 primary sources of information that have caused “some” of our teenagers to think this way:

• The media (the above mentioned article, for example)
• Their teachers (grade school and/or college)
• Their parents

I say “some” of our teenagers think this way, as mine certainly do NOT 🙂

In fact, I published an article several months ago covering the topic of : What are we teaching our children?

It seems we are teaching them things like:

• The government needs to fix this or that so that our young people will have a fair shot in life.
• Since you aren’t already among the upwardly mobile you’ll never make it.
• Because we cannot afford an expensive college for you to obtain a 4 year degree you will be among the have-nots.
• Because the minimum wage is so low you’ll never be able to afford to live on your own.

ALL of the above is misinformation and negative thinking.

Let’s go back in time, for a moment: to the Great Depression. The country was in a bad place economically and (worse) mentally.

Did you know that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, put together a National Recovery Team. Among other things, this team was tasked with inspiring public confidence by aligning all sources of information that shape public opinion (i.e., media, government, churches, etc.) to share a message of hope.

One of the key members of this team was Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich. Among his contributions is said to be one of the president’s most famous lines:

We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.

It seems that there is an awful lot of messaging today, in the mainstream media and elsewhere, promoting economic fear.

On the other hand, there are also sources providing messages of hope – if we choose to listen! For example, the quote I just received from My Daily Insights was:

Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs; the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so. 

This is empowering guidance that our young people would do well to hear. And, it would help EVERYONE if this message was reinforced by the media, teachers and parents.

Now, let’s get back to debunking the misinformation and negative thinking, shared above.

Here are some questions for teens and their parents:

• Does each teenager have a brain? Yes, of course.
• Are the teens fully applying themselves to extract as much value as possible from the public school system? Doing so ensures that we don’t have to pay for a “re-take” of certain pre-requisite subjects while in college and can also qualify for scholarships to lower the overall costs.
• Is there a Community College nearby? They provide quality education at a fraction of the cost AND the student can often attend while living at home.
• Parents: can you afford to pay the costs associated with Community College, for your student? If not, can you co-sign for your student’s loans?
• Are there Help Wanted signs that you (teenager) are ignoring? Because, when you aren’t in school or studying, you can be working to pay your own living expenses as well as continuously knocking down those student loans that you may have had to take out.

You’ll note that:

• The government has NOTHING to do with ANY of the above. It is ALL personal choice.
• We ALL “should” have to start at the very bottom, regardless of the economic mobility of our parents.
• We do NOT need an “expensive” 4 year degree to make it. A quality education can be obtained via numerous means at a reasonable cost. In fact, check this article out: 9 Highest Paying Jobs With A 2 Year Degree.
• The minimum wage is ONLY the starting point for workers in the American society. We are NOT called to stay there. That is, if you want to earn more than minimum wage then you must make yourself worth more! Don’t wait for the government to raise your pay (minimum wage); set your own pay by the quality and quantity of service you render to society!

How does one go about doing so? That is, make oneself worth more to enable the climb of our great country’s socio-economic pyramid? Simple: scour this site, as it is full of ways to do so, starting with my own bootcamp experience. If you do so, you’ll be off to a great start.

And, finally…A message of hope that I just came across: The Single Most Effective Way To Get Rich. You’ll note that it is NOT a get rich scheme. It is the time-proven process of investing (just a little every day)…

You see, if we are to get where we want to be we must focus on that desired end-state, continuously learn and take SIMPLE pragmatic steps each day to get there.

In closing, the American Dream is alive and well for those who are willing to go for it, vs. looking for the excuses not to.

All the best!