(and that's MY word....not yours) 

I remember one time having a meeting with a bunch of people who work in what is euphemistically called the “not-for-profit” segment of our capitalistic society.

The meeting lasted maybe two hours, and at the end of it (and I’d guess there were maybe a dozen people all huddled around the table), there was a great deal of back-slapping and congratulations for a “Good Meeting” (did you ever hear of a “Bad Meeting”, BTW?).

Heck, there were those who even called it a “Great Meeting”.

So I started thinking … “What, exactly, did we get accomplished?” There were just a handful of “to-do’s”, almost none of which would, and upon their accomplishment, result in any major shifts in any major “Paradigms” (a word that was frequently bandied about in that meeting, I’ll have you know). … at least insofar as I could see!

Further, there was no Agenda for this meeting, not were there any Talking Points or Problems to be resolved. Frankly, and to me, it was just two hours from my life. Hours that I could have spent raising my kids or helping my investments grow.

It all brought to mind one of my immutable observations … most people in this free market society that we live in just want to get from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. without having to make any decisions.

You see, decisions are tough. For one thing, decision-making requires that something be decided.

And that’s work!

I remember some years ago watching the Late Show with Johnny Carson. Johnny’s guests that night included David Brenner, the acerbic comedian from Philadelphia, and George Hamiliton, he of the perpetual tan.

To shorten a long story, Hamilton was skewering Hamilton when Carson stepped in and mercifully called off the jam. Carson said to Brenner, “You have the quickest mind I have ever known. Why?” To which Brenner replied, “I grew up in the streets of southwest Philly, where you have to make more decisions-per-half-hour than anywhere else on Earth.

Decisions. They furrow the brain. And as we all learned in college, the more furrows a brain has, the more adept it is at thinking.

And thinking is what differentiates humans from beasts, and of course, humans from humans.

Thinking, including decision-making, is work.

It’s real easy to come to the point in a business’ life where decision-making becomes the province of the few. If any. This is called “getting soft” --- and businesses, being comprised of people, definitely get “soft” as they get comfortable.

Show me an unfunded start-up and I’ll show you some “hard” thinkers. Why? Because these guys know that their next meal depends upon their performance. They know that if they sell something that it adds value to their buyer’s existence, they will earn enough money to eat, pay their rent, and feed their kids.

It’s that simple. Black and white, in fact. You perform, you stay in the game.

But a funny thing happens to companies like this. After a while, they don’t have to work so hard and therefore think so hard. Why? Because their products and services become known and desired. Also, and because they have outworked their competition, the customer really has no other buying choice.

This is when the “meetings” start to happen. (I pride myself on the fact that I once had a company that didn’t have a [formal] meeting or send a memo for more than one year.) Which happens to coincide with the end of decision-making. Now, the game is “status quo”. And as such, the “status-quo-ers” begin to take over. “Take no risks”, they say. “Protect what we have”, becomes their battle cry. And of course, “make no decisions”. (This last phrase is unstated, but certainly known throughout.)

If you either work for, or are trying to do business with, one of these brain-dead organizations, you know what you have to do. Because, and short of new ownership, nothing short of Kaopectate is going to unclog the decision-making apparatus and restore the glory days when people were hungry and risk-taking was the norm.

So how do you succeed and stay hungry? Well, that’s the art of the deal, is it not?