FIRM STRATEGIES
If I Were a Rich Man
By Ronald A. McKenzie
This is an ongoing story of encounters between the King, everyone’s favorite owner; his architect, Slide Rule; and his contractor, Igor. Characters are inspired in part by Gary Larson’s Far Side.
“Igor and Slide. Please join me. Let me tell
you a story I heard a long time ago.” Igor and Slide took a seat with the King in a
Pub at the end of a long hard day of work. Ale was served; first to the King, and then to Slide and Igor. “I love a good story,” said Slide. “Before I begin, I have always wanted to
ask you this question for a long time. Igor, your company’s name is Moat Designs Ltd., but you’re a contractor. You sound like a design firm. And Slide, your company’s name is Building Blocks Inc. You sound like a builder. Why is that?” “That’s a very astute observation,” said Slide.
“This column is a parody, and the author is mak- ing the statement that contractors try and move into the design arena so they can attract more business, while architects fancy themselves as builders, and hence, we have design-build. He’s playing with words to get people to think about their business name.” “Really?” said the King. “That’s fascinating.
Should be in a book. Anyway, here’s the story I was going to tell you. There were two individuals, much like yourselves. One was a millionaire, and the second one was broke. The broke one was given a million shillings so that they were both mil- lionaires.” Slide and Igor looked at each other. “Time went by and the economy changed.
Both the millionaire and the formerly broke person who was given a million dollars went broke. They were then asked what they thought of the fact they were both broke.” “That’s a lot of shillings to lose,” said Igor. “Yes, you’re right. The millionaire said, ‘I will
be poor and broke until I’m once again a million- aire,’ while the poor person who had been given the million shillings, and lost it said, ‘I’m poor once again.’”
8 METAL ARCHITECTURE “That’s interesting,” said Slide. “The millionaire
responded as if he was temporarily out of funds. While the other one’s attitude was, I’m rich until I run out of money, and then I’ll be poor again.” “Yes, you’re right. So, what have you learned?” “I don’t know, but I’ll tell you I’ve been thinking
about what it would be like to have a million shillings for a long time.” “The key word is you were thinking of what it
would be like to have a million shillings. You didn’t picture yourself as a millionaire. You thought of your- self as you are now. What about you, Slide?” “I think it’s a bunch of baloney!” “OK. Figures. Let’s try another way to think
about this. Sometimes you have good days, and sometimes you have bad days, right?” “Yes,” they both responded. “Well, there are always problems, particularly
in construction. Something is always going wrong. But my point is, you don’t have to let that change how you respond to these problems. Even with bad things happening, you can still have a good day. You can have a positive attitude, and it will help you work out the problem.” “I’m having a hard time with this one,” said Igor. “Why is that?” asked the King. “Because, if it’s a bad day, I want everyone to
know about it.” “So, you get pleasure by letting everyone know
you’re having a bad day?” “Yes.” “You need help!” said the King. Slide raised his hand as if he was in class.
“Your Majesty, if I may, perhaps I can help our friend Igor out.” “Very well Slide. You know Igor better
than anyone.” November 2012
www.metalarchitecture.com “Very well. In business, where you’re deal-
ing with other employees and business associ- ates, it’s very much in your best interest to let them know how you’re feeling, but it’s how you go about it that’s important. In fact, just because there’s a problem, it doesn’t mean you should make everyone uncomfortable about it. It’s much better to be positive, and like the millionaire who is temporarily out of funds, your problems will eventually go away. You’ll have also demonstrated your professionalism.” “I think I understand,” said Igor. “Very good. In fact, both of you have always
helped with whatever needed to be done at the Castle. It has pleased me, and now, I would like to present to each of you with a gift of a million shil- lings. You’re now both millionaires.” Both Igor and Slide were so happy they
were jumping up and down. Igor was the first one to speak. “How can we thank you?” he said out of breath. “I was just kidding! Perhaps you can behave
as if you’re both millionaires and that you’re both temporarily out of funds.”
With the exception of an occasional guest
appearance by the author, any similarity to actual events or people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Ronald A. McKenzie is president of COMPASS Consultants Corp., a strategic planning and market- ing company specializing in developing business growth. He is a published author and has made nationwide presentations on the subject of strategic planning and marketing. He resides in Las Vegas and can be reached at
ramckenzie.compass@
gmail.com and
www.compassconsultantscorp.com.
Mike Stanfill
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