The Entrepreneurial Savant

Expert poker players know that the way to win consistently is to fold whenever you have a hand that is weak and hang in there when your hand is strong. They also know that when you have a good hand, it gets better as more cards are on the table. Extremely successful investors also know that it is vital to have a plan to cut losses quickly and to let profitable positions ride until they run out of steam. As obvious as these tactics seem, very few humans make good poker players or successful speculators because it is our nature to hold onto losing positions until we can regain our losses. We also tend to grab profits right away instead of letting them build. The key to changing this destructive behavior lies in having a plan to control your exposure to risk.
Whatever you do for a living, it is a good idea to know the point where you will stop putting energy into a losing situation. When you make your plans, build in a set of indicators that tell you that things are not working out and that it is time to exit gracefully, accepting your small losses as an investment in experience. By doing this you’ll leave yourself the energy and resources you need to go on to other things.
Conversely, when things are going well and you have begun to profit from them, you must resist the temptation to get out while the going is good. The best time to take your winnings is after the tide has turned and your project is running out of steam or changing. Getting out too early will not put you into the black. It works like this:
Imagine you get five bad hands in a poker game or five stock market picks start going down. The person without a risk control plan will lose a little too much money on each losing situation as they hope for a turnaround, adding up to considerable losses, possibly even breaking the bank. The player with an experienced attitude towards risk gets out as soon as it is apparent that things aren’t working out, taking a small loss. On the winning side, the participant without a plan who finally gets a profitable position will usually get out too early because of the desire to ‘protect’ their winnings. The experienced player knows that he must bet the pile on the winners and stay in there, taking money away from the little profit takers and making up for all those little losses he accepted earlier. One 100% gain wipes out nine 10% losses and shows a profit. One 100 % loss puts you out of business.
The secret of risk control is to have plan and stick to it, no matter what.

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Human beings are always in search of things that can change or improve our life. Paradoxically, nothing we have is permanent and the future is always a mystery, no matter how carefully we prepare for it. All of our work up to this moment can be undone in an instant by forces beyond our control or those same unknown forces can suddenly propel us forward into entirely new territory, unexpected and exciting.
The result of this lost past and uncertain future is that we are, by nature, seekers. Those who choose to try and define their life by today’s standards will end up struggling against the inevitability of change. Their lives are defined by the past. Others may always be looking forward, trying to discern the future when things will be better. They are locked into a reliance on uncontrollable forces. Realizing that things will never be the same as this moment helps us focus in on what we are doing now and gives life its sweetness; the sweetness that comes from experiencing things which will never be again. Sometimes in our search for personal and professional success we become too focused on what has been and will be. Now is the moment in which we actually live. Appreciate it.

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A consideration is a form of payment and receiving one is the sign of a professional. If this seems like a contradiction to our secret that tells you to give things away, think of it this way: It is the nature of the consideration that is important. In business matters the consideration may be money, referrals, the promise of future business, etc. In charitable matters it may be internal satisfaction or the knowledge that your contribution will have measurable effect. Only by insisting on a consideration do you value your contribution in the eyes of others. Insisting on results may mean your money or time is put to the most beneficial use rather than being thrown into an amorphous fund.
Why is it important to be considered a professional? Self-esteem issues aside, we live in a capitalist society and the professionals often get the most interesting opportunities. The most basic description of a professional is one who pursues their interests as a profession, a source of life. If you are truly dedicated to your vision then being a professional is the least you can do. And that means requiring a consideration for your input.

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Contrary to what our society teaches us, the $7 an hour burger cook who makes a great burger is earning their wages as much or more than the $50 an hour executive dashing from meeting to meeting. Both are working hard to do what they are paid to do and do it as well as they can. Unfortunately, it is common and almost acceptable to put no value on other people’s work unless they make more than you or are perceived as somehow better or more successful. I’ve seen craftspeople doing extremely skilled work treated as a subhuman species by others who probably couldn’t describe what they accomplished that day if you asked them- but who earn high salaries or have ‘serious’ job descriptions. The point of this diatribe is that work well done is admirable and respectable no matter what it is or who is doing it.

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When someone asks you for a price quote, resumé, copy of an article, name or phone number, estimate or for any other information, get it to them as soon as possible. My brother Richard, who owns a custom cabinetry business, has found that one of the most effective ways to beat the competition without price cutting is to get his quote back to the client ASAP, the next day if possible. This sends a clear message that he is businesslike and will not drag his feet through the job, a primary concern people have when hiring outside contractors.
We’re all time conscious and with the advent of overnight delivery and email, the expectation time frame for delivery of information went from weeks to days, hours or minutes. Most e-commerce businesses are now including one or two day shipment as a matter of course compared to those ‘delivery in 4-6 weeks’ notices that used to be common in mail order. All of these things mean we are time conscious to a degree never known before. The early bird truly does get the worm nowadays.

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Are you a logical hard-headed business person? Write a poem and send it out to a hundred of your friends, associates, customers, competitors and enemies (I hope you don’t have any). The results may surprise you. If nothing else, it keeps people from solidifying their impressions of you. You know what a solidified impression looks like don’t you? Cement.
To avoid being as exciting as concrete, do the unexpected. If you’re a pale-faced geek, train and run a marathon. Make sure you prominently display a picture of yourself triumphantly crossing the finish line in your office where your co-workers can see it. If you’re a mud spattered artist, show up for a lunch meeting in a three piece suit. If you’re going on a date with someone who may already have a certain idea of what you’re like, break the mold, do something wild. If you’re normally wild, go low key and classy. Whatever unexpected behavior you do, make sure you do it as though it is a piece of cake, even if it means practicing and studying fine wines or belting out a blues song at a local dive.
Doing the unexpected makes you a more interesting person, both to others and to yourself. Good preparation will help you to enjoy the process and will reduce your fear of failure. Try it, you’ll be amazed at the results.

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I’ve tried to avoid clichés in this collection but this is one that everyone can relate to. Scams, undependable people, dreamers and crooks have all flourished because people conveniently forget this simple statement. When something sounds really great, stop a minute and think it out. Seek informed opinions. Check references. Ask to speak to long term satisfied customers. Do a little research. Then and only then, if everything still smells like roses, go ahead. If there’s any doubt, throw the bums out because if it sounds to good to be true….

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Listening is a skill that has become increasingly vital in our busy self-centered society. Active listening means listening with your full attention, in the here and now. It means listening with a clear head, without making judgments. More importantly it means listening with your other senses. What is the person’s tone of voice? Is it calm and relaxed, nervous and jumpy, high pitched, slow and hesitant? What about their physical presence? Are they intimate or reserved, breathing slowly or rapidly? Are they perspiring or red-faced? Do they make eye contact or do they appear to be looking inward? Where are their hands? Do they gesture or hide? Non-verbal communication is as much as 60% of the message-bearing part of our interaction with others.
Once you’ve become aware of the other person’s non-verbal communication you can start to match it, relaxing with them, walking along when they get up and move around, responding quickly when their thoughts are moving at a fast pace. If they are leaning towards you and speaking in something close to a whisper, lean in, match their tone and volume and listen to the message behind the words. These techniques will help you achieve a rapport with the other person, bringing you both in sync and establishing common ground for the expression of ideas, desires and questions.
You cannot successfully listen when you are preoccupied with your own agenda. And unless you learn and practice active listening skills you will have difficulty communicating and sharing your vision with others.

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When things aren’t going your way or you ‘blocked’ and can’t seem to resolve a problem or begin to take the steps required to solve that problem, there are exercises that can help to break out of your ineffective state of mind. One, from Dr. Van K. Tharp, a psychologist who specializes in the psychology of successful investment traders, goes like this:
“Get up out of your chair. Walk away about four feet and then look at how you looked in that chair. Notice your posture, your breathing, your facial expressions. Then imagine how you would look if you had the sort of mental state you would like. When you can see that clearly, sit down in the chair again and assume the position that you just imagined.
The exercise works for almost any situation as it involves several important principles–changing your body posture, seeing yourself from a more objective viewpoint and imagining a more resourceful state.”*

*As quoted in Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager, Harper & Row

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Have you ever wondered what it is that makes it possible for some human beings to regularly perform at levels far above average? Why some athletes, musicians, counselors, communicators and leaders get far better results consistently than their peers? It used to be an accepted fact that these people were exceptionally gifted in ways that the rest of us could not hope to emulate. Recently there have been breakthroughs in the study of exceptional performance that make it possible to learn from these prodigies. By using a technique known as modeling, people are studying the personal strategies that highly skilled individuals use and putting them into form that can be taught to others.
Classically trained musicians are required to memorize extremely complex pieces of music, taking into consideration a very large number of factors including tempo, pitch, tone, feel, the interaction with other musicians, physical and mental technique, the response of the audience and many other elusive factors. By modeling the interior techniques used by musicians talented in these skills, it has become possible to teach others the process they use to achieve. They may use visualization techniques, mnemonic devices, and other techniques to help them get through a piece. By breaking these strategies down into processes, they can be taught to others.
Is there someone you admire who has abilities you would like to develop? Talk to them about the thought process they go through to prepare themselves. Observe the physical rituals they use. Read biographies and interviews for clues about the mental techniques used to get to that highly capable state. Modeling is a very complex process but even a rudimentary awareness of how it works can help you to learn faster and more effectively.

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