Tag Archives: Dag

David Greer

I’m networking with an 8-year-old

I’m in the marketing business and run a couple of regional lifestyle and business publications. We’ve been front and center at networking functions, breakfast, meetings and symposiums of all kinds for years.

On the home front I’ve got kids spread across decades. My oldest, a SCAD graduate of 2011, has just taken a job in New York City. My middle son is in his second year at Clemson and then there’s princess Gracie who rules the roost in the second grade.

When the boys were younger, we juggled business and work best we could. We got in the soccer games and field trips like families across the country do every week. And then in a flash, one day I woke up and the boys were driving, self sufficient and well on their way to becoming responsible young men.

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David Greer

The Beat Goes On

Like driving down a road you travel every day, your subconscious takes over when you stand up, put your right hand over your heart and start reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. But when was the last time you really looked at the words and connected with their meaning?

The year 2012 is a leap year, will see America’s finest athletes compete in the Summer Olympics, and during this time, Americans will seat a new U.S. Congress and choose a President to lead the country the next four years. The 11th season of American Idol begins in January, the Super Bowl will consume everyone’s thoughts in February, then March Madness arrives, followed by tax season and the beat goes on.

Amidst the distractions, will you carve out time to consider what the Pledge of Allegiance means to you – your interpretation of the values inherent to America? Patriotism blazes the most fiercely when our personal safety, livelihood and way of life are in peril. I am of the opinion that individually and collectively, we, the every day citizens of this great land are poised to forge a new dimension of American exceptionalism.

Perhaps the first step is to revisit 31 words that have the power to renew our patriotic spirit: “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Dag
dag@gbj.com

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David Greer

Be Still

“He leadeth me beside the still waters.” “Be still, and know that I am God.” “Still waters run deep.” Just…be still.

I love the thought, the concept, the art of being still.

There are so many times in my life I’ve been faced with tough decisions. I’ve always owned my business and faced the trials and tribulations of the entrepreneurial life for many years. Countless times I’ve had competing priorities and decisions that just felt overwhelming and bordered on impossible.

I remember an employee coming to me at a challenging time pressuring me to make a decision. I had to make a tough choice and I weighed carefully the next best step. He was frustrated with me…said I was procrastinating and avoiding the issue and that I needed to get off the fence. I told him none of that was true and I would sit straddling that proverbial fence ‘til I had burrs on my fanny if that’s what it took for me to decide my next step.

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David Greer

The kid will eat the middle of the Oreo first

Innovation, ingenuity and vision are often the cornerstones of entrepreneurial businesses. Countless hours spent in pursuit of the better mousetrap. If only we could think of one of those million dollar ideas. If only we could come out with some product or service that took off like wildfire and made us rich. If only we, too, could come up with that one great idea, we’d be set for life. Right?

I’d argue that the world is full of great ideas. Opportunities lie on every corner – more ideas than you can comprehend. I also think for every great idea you see in the market, there are thousands and thousands that never made it out of the minds of creators. They just never got traction, never made it to fruition.

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David Greer

Is it just me or do all men avoid the doc?

Well in case you didn’t know – you’re not invincible and as you age, the old body is going to show some signs of aging. Apparently when ya hit that half century mark things can start breaking down or at least require a little more maintenance than in your younger years. Go figure.

I’ve never liked going to the doctor and I’m not sure why. I don’t get sick that often and when I do I think it’ll pass. I figure by the time I get to the doc it’ll run its course anyway so just press on and tough it out. My wife will insist I go, but I’m typically stubborn and resist, defying all sense of logic. My prerogative as a man, I guess. Same part of my brain that tells me I don’t need a map and I don’t need to read the instructions.

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David Greer

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures

Tough times do call for extraordinary measures. It’s the time to fortify your will and determination. It’s the time to dig deep and double up your efforts. Are these mind-boggling times? Yes. Intense, worrisome times? Certainly. Exhausting? Of course. Desperation, however, doesn’t mean compromising your character and values.

Running a business in great economic times can be very forgiving. The momentum of success can mask a lot of problems running just underneath the surface and if you’re not careful you fall victim to a false sense of security. Sometimes the entire business model can be flawed, yet in flourishing times you get by and think things are rosier than they are.

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David Greer

Do you do too much?

I’m kind of a do it yourselfer. I’ve come up in the ranks as a small business owner and never really experienced the good ole days of having a secretary or a maintenance staff at my beckon call. In a small business, if you see something that needs to be done, you just get up and do it.

A couple years ago a new employee came to my office and asked where the “Maintenance Requisition Forms” were. He had a light bulb out in his office and needed it replaced. I took him down the hall and pointed him to the closet and said “they’re in there.” In the closet was the ladder and the light bulbs. I told him to be careful on the ladder and be sure to close out the ticket when he was done.

 
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David Greer

Thinking stuff up is easy

Thomas Edison quipped that genius was 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Given that he was a pretty smart fella, I think I’ll agree with him. Most people I talk to concur implementation is a far bigger challenge than coming up with ideas themselves, even though ideas seem to get all the glory.

And what about this? Seems there are plenty of folks who can spew an idea a second, particularly when they are telling you what “you” should do. They’ll throw an idea out and then sit back like they’ve done the heavy lifting, when in reality, discussing an idea is the easy part. Implementation is where superstars are born! The people and companies that see their ideas through to reality are the ones I watch.

 
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David Greer

The devil made me do it

How many times have you been in a meeting and someone says those words: “Can I play the devil’s advocate for a minute?”

What certainly follows is a litany of reasons why something won’t work, or why it’s a bad idea or why that grain of innovative thinking needs to be squashed flat before it has a chance of working.

And you can’t be mad at people like this, right? After all, it wasn’t them. They aren’t pessimistic, idea-killin’ pontificators of doom. No, no – it was just the devil. By using the ol’ devil’s advocate approach, people have granted themselves criticism-whiner immunity. They claim to be among your staunch supporters; they hear what you’re saying; they believe in you; they thrive on innovation; but, they “owe it to the cause” to play the devil’s advocate.

 
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David Greer

Sometimes, you gotta go old school

The car is packed the night before. Snacks. Luggage. Winnie the Pooh and Home Alone DVDs that I will soon be able to recite line-by-line from hearing them nonstop for eight hours.

Our destination? Nickelodeon Hotel in Orlando. Nope, not Disney, Sea World nor Universal Studios. No, my little girl’s dream was simply to get slimed at The Nickelodeon Hotel. The Nick Hotel gleamed in her mind as worthy as any of the theme parks and well, it’s all the same to me.

We leave in the “middle of the night,” as Gracie would say. In adult time, that’s really five in the morning. We head southward, enjoying the dark quiet time while it lasts. We know that all too soon “are we there yet?” and “how much longer?” will interrupt the soothing melodies of “Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh…Willy nilly silly old bear.” Makes me wonder why anybody thought DVDs in the car were a good idea.

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