Friday, July 27, 2012

No There is Too Much, Let me Sum Up

As a fan of The Princess Bride, I encourage you to read it if you never have before, not just watch it, which is where the Title comes from.

At the end of the year the public companies produce an Annual Report of their activities. An executive summary of all that happenned.

This week was the executive summary of not just 4 quarters, but 3 books and 40 years. Quite a bit to fit into 105 sentences.

While Moshe is reminding the people of everything God did for them, he is also reminding them of the bad things they did as well. In order to start a fresh, one needs to clear up the past.

And so as the entire book of Devarim is spent on Moshe saying his peace before he dies.

Why bring up the past, again? It always helps to know what came before you so you do not repeat the same mistakes. We have some more details of some of the past exploits, including that Og, King of Bashan, who was said to be a giant and live for a very long time, some say since the time of Noah, had a bed 9 cubits long. A cubit being about 18 inches, would make that a 13 and a half foot bed.

Why would anyone care about this? Was it just tossed in as a Red Herring? Or was it there to remind us that indeed at one time, giants walked the Earth?

When you provide a summary or history of a project it helps to sprinkle in some details which maybe have not seen the light of day to bring better interest into the information. It is this reason which pundits read into every nuance of reports or financial statements or press releases.

Next time you need to present the information, sum it up, don't drag it out and find one or two nuggets that will keep people interested in the sound bites of your details.

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Parsha Devarim in the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, July 20, 2012

Recognizing When Enough is Enough

Stop keeping up with the neighbors and be happy with your lot in life.


Evidently Apple doesn't see it that way and they have legions of fans to fill this empty need of theirs with some new shiny device.

It is not always so, many people are very happy with what they have and why not?

People are funny, what works for one person rarely works for another or vice versa.

When the tribes of Reuben and Gad approach Moshe and ask that they keep the land on the other (East) side of the Jordan for their livestock is because in 32:4-5 they say:

4.The land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock."
5. They said, "If it pleases you, let this land be given to your servants as a heritage; do not take us across the Jordan."
Now you could also read this as they had the wealth (livestock) and  were lazy and wanted to stay put and figured their wealth and influence would help in their favor.

Moshe wasn't swayed and while he did agree to their request, he required them to take arms and help their brethren to conquer the land of Israel first and then return home. They were allowed to build their forts and protect their families but then go forward and lead.

It is only after this discussion that suddenly Moshe says you can do it but he includes half of the tribe of Menashe. Whoa! Where did this come from? As it turns out the other half of Menashe would have their inherited lands on the West side of the Jordan. In this way the tribe would be considered whole.

So what does this mean for Reuben and Gad? Moshe realized they may be swayed by being outside of the holy land and would need some grounding thus half of the tribe of Menashe was put there. Menashe was one of the sons of Yosef (Joseph) and it was this spirit which Moshe hoped would prevail. In addition to ensuring Reuben and Gad kept their promise to go to battle.

So in the end was enough enough or was it just more greed by the capitalists? We do not know, but we do know that in time it would not matter for all two and a half would be lost during the great exile.

What is modern business to learn from this discussion? Depends on if you believe Reuben and Gad were happy with their place in life or looking for the better deal. Either way you look at it, you need to keep focused on the purpose or plan, just as Moshe reminded them to complete the battles before returning and deciding if they chose wisely.
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Parsha Mattot-Massei in the book of Bamidbar, Numbers 30:2-32:42 and 32:1-36:13
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, July 13, 2012

Succession Planning

Never easy to follow in the footsteps of someone who looms so large they are almost mythical. Look at Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Jack Welch, various heads of state among others.

The person who follows them has to find their own path, sometimes they do, sometimes they do not. In some cases the executive or the entity has prepared others to step in, which is why in the US we have a Vice President and they have had to fill in under difficult circumstances usually. But we live in hope that they can keep it together.

And so it was in the desert for Moshe who after being told how and where he will die, then asked for a replacement. Interesting that moshe asked, did he really care about Israel that much? In 27:15-17:

15. Moses spoke to the Lord, saying:  
16. "Let the Lord, the God of spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation,  
17. who will go forth before them and come before them, who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd."  
18. The Lord said to Moses, "Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a man of spirit, and you shall lay your hand upon him."
A man of spirit. Indeed, taking someone that is infused with the Ruach as the Hebrew says which is a word that can be explained as the spirit of God or a very vibrant person.  Moshe knew that leading the not so small (in this Parsha it says they had over 600,000 people) nation into Israel would take someone strong willed and backed by Hashem.

Your average company does not need a God fearing person leading them, although some may argue it helps, but rather someone with the convictions and beliefs in themselves and the company in question to lead them into the next stages of their (business) life. Unfortunately it is not very common or easy, according to this CareerBuilder survey as referenced here:
Nearly one-third (31 percent) of companies with more than 1,000 employees say they don’t currently have a succession planning program at their organization, according to a new CareerBuilder survey. In addition, 50 percent of senior management (e.g., CEO, CFO, senior VP, etc.) and 52 percent of those in a vice president position say they do not have a successor for their current role. The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder from February 21 through March 10, 2011, among more than 1,000 employers with 1,001 or more employees.
So take the time to think about who will run your business after you, you never know what tomorrow brings.
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Parsha Pichas in the book of Bamidbar, Numbers 25:10-30:1
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom

Friday, July 6, 2012

A Talking Donkey is Smarter

A talking donkey? What is this Shrek? How did this get here? What can a talking donkey tell us about business?

If you don't know the story, Balak and the Moabites decided they needed to thwart Israel's attempt of conquering the land by hiring a priest that performed curses. now this priest, Balaam, was a true man of God. In fact he says to Balak's army that was sent to bring him to wait a night and see what God would tell him. God of course says do not do this. yet again Balak sends emissaries and this time knowing they would not take no for an answer, God sends Balaam with them. It is then, at 22:22-35 the episode takes place:
28. The Lord opened the mouth of the she-donkey, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?" 

30. The she-donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your she-donkey on which you have ridden since you first started until now? Have I been accustomed to do this to you?" He said, "No."
So this donkey is minding her own business when an angel, a Malach, not a Seraph, was blocking their way. The donkey tried three timers to avert the angel, but no luck as God was trying to let Balaam know he had done something wrong.

Three times, not once or twice but three times. And yet the wise priest, and owner, ignored the warning signs even though he had known this donkey for quite some time if you want to read it as though this was his donkey from his early days of riding.

How many times have we seen executives make decisions only to be warned by their underlings or lawyers or PR people not to do something. Probably they get warned more than three times but suffice it to say, three strikes and you are out.

The moral of the story, be the donkey and watch out for the realities around you that you can see and those you can not see and not be oblivious as Balaam about what is in front of you.

34. Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing on the road before me. Now, if it displeases you, I will return."
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Parsha Balak in the book of Bamidbar, Numbers 22:2-25:9
It is said that the Torah or Bible could be interpreted in over 70 ways. More likely these days 100's of ways. In light of this idea, I am writing some posts that bring a business sense to what we can learn on a weekly basis. Enjoy, Shabbat Shalom