Perspective

Life lessons from the bowling alley. 

Brotemarkle, Davis and Company proudly fielded two co-ed teams of 5 people each to participate in the Wine Industry Network 2010 Gutterball Classic fundraiser last Saturday. 

First of all, you have to wonder who decided to associate all of those unfavorable words with this game.  You play the entire game in an “alley” for goodness sakes. That doesn’t sound like the kind of place you want to be after dark.

And then there’s the “gutter”, which for some of …

Our recent rainfall has given me my first exposure to flood warnings in Napa.  I can honestly say I have never lived in a place where you were invited to go build your own sandbags by city officials. Once I got over my initial confusion about where in the world to put sandbags (do they go by the front door, outside my garage, near the windows?), I had a rather frightening read of the streets that would be impacted in the event of a flood (I think I am in the Phase 4 flood zone), and then I started to think about a business equivalent.

Wouldn’t it …

I have just finished relocating my family’s residence to Napa, California. While the move was far shorter than our journey from Atlanta, Georgia five years ago, it still required what seemed like a gargantuan effort and a dedicated team to make it happen. We moved only 60 miles this time but managed the entire project ourselves.

The experience taught me a lot about the attributes of project team members - and the difference in the view of owners versus employees  in a business.

Our moving project involved 5 team members which consisted of two owners (my husband and I) and 3 part-time employees (our unpaid 2 children and one boyfriend.)

These …

We’ve all heard the stories about how St. Nick is able to make all of those Christmas Eve deliveries. What would happen if Santa’s team acted like some employees?

Dasher : “I don’t understand why Rudolf always gets to take the lead. I think I have better ideas about how to make these deliveries on time.”

Dancer: “ Let’s start in Norway then work our way back to North America. I would really like to stop by my favorite smoked salmon store to pick up a …

I just finished a fascinating book by Matthew E. May called In Pursuit of Elegance. It includes a number of interesting examples, including concepts drawn from application of the Kaizen method at Toyota.

 But one of its central themes is that elegance requires subtraction.  One of the reasons we are having an economic adjustment right now is that we have spent much of the last five years in an additive state – increasing our ownership of property, buying ever larger automobiles, and packing our homes with stuff. Our corporations were bloated, our governments inefficient, and our time jammed with activities.

We have seen painful …

I was driving through Napa with the air in my face on a perfect day when I saw this hay neatly stacked.  …

There are many things about the winery business that are fantastic.  There’s all of the magic and mystery associated with raising a crop.  And there’s that air of elegance and refinement that is the product itself , not to mention all of those french words.  Plus the power to intoxicate.  It’s not likely that a sock manufacturer is going to replicate that magic or mystery.

But there are some basic elements of the way wineries do business that other industries would do well to model:

1.  Treat your customers and prospects like family. Make them feel welcome. Offer them food, provide comfortable seating and establish …

Many career difficulties can be traced directly to communication. It is always wise to understand your own style and the styles of those you work with and sell to, but it makes even more sense today. Almost every job posted on Monster.com includes a requirement that the applicant have “excellent communication skills.”