Russ: Good morning, this is The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And this is that show that features those that go out there and make it happen. We're talking about the entrepreneurs.
John: You're right, Russ. The entrepreneur. They're the ones that are getting it done right now. These are the people that actually do things. They make things. They make things people want. They hire people. They innovate.
Russ: You bet. Yeah, no kiddin'. All right and here's our lineup for this morning. First up for the AFLAC BusinessMakers Flashback, we're talking about going from food stamps to CEO. That's right, because we're gonna flashback to our interview with Tara Jean Hart, the Founder and CEO of The Compliance Alliance. And then for our featured guest segment, we're talking about going from busboy the IPO. That's because we have the founder of Mexican Restaurants Inc., Larry Forehand, and he'll be joined by the company's CEO, Curt Glowacki. Mexican Restaurants Inc., also known as MRI, owns and operates Casa Ole, Mission Burrito, Tortuga Mexican Kitchens, and Monterey Little Mexico. Man, I'm getting hungry just talking about that.
John: Yeah, I know. Let's stop this. Let's go get something to eat.
Russ: Right. (Laughter) All right.
John: Right.
Russ: But first... That's right, it's time for The BusinessMakers School of Business and this is not your business as usual school.
John: You're right, Russ. It's not that. It's hard to tell people sometimes what this is but we're not here to make people smart, we're just here to impart knowledge.
Russ: There you go. And we kick it off each Saturday morning with the quote of the day.
John: Quote of the day.
Russ: And this morning I chose a quote from Murphy's Law of Technology.
John: Murphy's Law of Technology.
Russ: You bet.
John: Okay.
Russ: To spot the expert, pick the one who predicts the job will take the longest and costs the most.
John: Well that's right. Yeah.
Russ: All the others are just kinda, you know, shootin' from the hip, man.
John: Yeah, of course.
Russ: You bet, okay. All right and that brings us to This Week in Business History. What happened during this January week in business history, John?
John: All right. This week in business history, in 1880 the first U.S. sewage disposal system that was separate from the storm drains is started in Memphis, Tennessee.
Russ: Wow. Somebody said, "Hey this kinda needs to be separated."
John: Well everybody yearns for the good old days but just imagine what life was like before 1880.
Russ: That's right.
John: When everything went into the storm drains and I mean everything.
Russ: That's right, everything.
John: Yes. All right. This week in business history in 1883, just three short years after they separated the disposal systems –
Russ: Right.
John: - in Memphis, Tennessee –
Russ: Right.
John: - the first electric lighting system that employed the overhead wires begins service in Roselle. It was built by Thomas Edison as part of an experiment to demonstrate that gee, guess what, an entire community could be lit by electricity if you have enough wires. This week in business history in 1899 is the birth of Al Capone, famous Chicago gangster, although he did spend a lot of his time in New York.
Russ: Yeah.
John: The interesting thing, you know he – back in the '20s he was a ruthless killer.
Russ: Yeah. Yes he did. Yeah.
John: And ran Chicago and he actually had influence on who was mayor and all that –
Russ: Yeah.
John: And he was only in his 20s.
Russ: That's amazing.
John: Think what you were like in your 20s.
Russ: Yeah, yeah.
John: Do you think you could've wiped out all those people in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre?
Russ: (Laughter) I have to have some weapons.
John: Actually, he didn't do it, he ordered it.
Russ: Yeah, that's right.
John: And anyway. This week in business history in 1899 the same day that Al Capone was born –
Russ: Yeah.
John: - is the birth of Neville Shute who was born in Norway but eventually ended up in Australia where he wrote the book On The Beach which was an end-of-the-world, apocalyptic, here's what happens after World War III kind of book –
Russ: No kidding.
John: - and was made into a movie and it was actually a pretty good movie, pretty good book –
Russ: Yeah.
John: - and everybody was reading it –
Russ: Yeah.
John: - and because it –
Russ: It was required reading in my high school.
John: It was – well I don't – it wasn't required reading in my high school. All right. This week in business history in 1903 the new bicycle race Tour de France is announced.
Russ: Ooh.
John: The idea for the race came from a cycling journalist. Wouldn't you know it, a journalist would come up with this idea, Geo Lefevre and he and his editor discussed it after lunch, November 1902. They anno0unced the race in 1903 and there you go.
Russ: So 107 years old now, wow.
John: Yeah, well that's amazing. Yeah. This week in business history, the neon tube sign is patented by George Claude. Neon George, they called him and –
Russ: Yeah.
John: - something innocuous you might say, "Oh it's a neon tube, why the hell's that's gonna make life better?" but where would we be without neon?
Russ: I think it, you know, just think of all those beer signs, man. Yeah, where would they be?
John: This week in business history in 1922, the Geological Survey says the U.S. Oil supply will be depleted in 20 years. Okay, this should be a dumb moment.
Russ: Yeah, it should.
John: And I'm sure we do have a finite but they keep discovering oil all the time.
Russ: Oh, all the time. I mean, the – and the technology they use to discover it is very impressive.
John: I know.
Russ: And the oil itself is just such an efficient source of energy compared to anything else.
John: Yeah, I know. Right. Well I don't know about wind turbines or –
Russ: Oh it's much more efficient. The – what you can do –
John: I'm being sarcastic here.
Russ: Okay. (Laughter) I hope you were. I was ready to take you on, man.
John: Actually they're designing cars with wind turbines on them.
(Laughter)
Russ: I guess the faster you go, the faster it turns.
John: Yeah.
Russ: And that creates more en- wow, we might invented perpetual energy.
John: Perpetual motion machine.
Russ: Right. We did it.
John: All right, this week in business history in 1935, is the birth date of Sam Cooke.
[Music "Hold On, I'm Comin'"]
Russ: Sam Cooke of Sam and Dave.
John: Sam and Dave, right, yeah.
Russ: You bet.
John: Okay, this week in business history in 1939 Hitler proclaims the German parliament to exterminate all the European Jews.
Russ: Well that's a kinda monumental, I would say.
John: That's – yeah, I would say. And you know the all – it was in his book, Mein Kampf.
Russ: Yeah.
John: If people just would've read it.
Russ: Yep. Seventy-one years ago, this week.
John: That's right. Yeah, this week in business history in 1943 is the birth date of Janis Joplin from Port Arthur, Texas and she's got a great, great sound. It's too bad she died early.
Russ: Yeah, no kidding. She'd be 67, I wonder what she would –
John: She was no box of chocolates, though, when she was –
Russ: No, no she wasn't famous for her beauty.
John: - no and I – I wonder if – some people, you know, look better as they age.
Russ: Well they do.
John: I wonder if she would've been one of them.
Russ: Well she had a beautiful soul, though, man, the way she sang, geeze.
[Music: "Try"]
John: Okay. This week in business history in 1951 monumental rules change here in the NFL. Tackles, guards and centers were to become ineligible to catch a forward pass.
Russ: No why didn't those guys get together and form a union –
John: A union –
Russ: - and protest? And we're just gonna strike and –
John: Maybe they were the ones that lobbied. Say hey we don't –
Russ: They didn't wanna catch passes?
John: - we don't wanna catch the passes.
Russ: I don't believe that. I think they wanted to. They used to make touchdowns.
John: Yeah right. Okay this week in business history in 1953 the birth date of Paul Allen, American entrepreneur and the cofounder of Microsoft.
Russ: Yes.
John: Okay.
Russ: The guy that was probably number two there with Bill Gates.
John: Yeah.
Russ: He's done quite well himself.
John: Yeah they did – yeah he's done quite well for himself.
Russ: Yeah. I think he's got some health problems right now, though.
John: Oh okay, well. Hope he's on the mend.
Russ: You bet.
John: Okay, this week in business history in 1968 the Houston Cougars defeat the UCLA Bruins in the Astrodome.
Russ: That's right.
John: To win the game of the century.
Russ: What a game it was, man.
John: That was a great game and unfortunately for UCLA, Lew Alcindor who would later become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar –
Russ: Right.
John: - had an eye injury.
Russ: That's right.
John: He had a patch over his eye, so –
Russ: That's right.
John: Did –
Russ: But he had one good eye, there. So –
John: He had one good – yeah. That's really all you need.
Russ: (Laughter) That's right.
John: I think the other eye's a backup eye.
Russ: That's right.
John: So his backup was out.
Russ: Was out.
John: So he had to use his primary eye.
Russ: Right.
John: All right, this week in business history in 1971 – this is during the Charles Manson trial, Beatles song "Helter Skelter" is played as evidence.
Russ: That's right.
John: Because one of the theories is that the Manson Family went on this murder spree in hopes of igniting a racial war –
Russ: Right.
John: - where there would be helter skelter.
Russ: That's right.
John: Right.
Russ: And then ultimately that was the name of the book written by the prosecutor, Bugliosi. It was called Helter Skelter.
John: Helter Skelter, right, yeah.
Russ: What a book, geesh.
John: Yeah, right. Okay, this week in business history in 1973, Roe v. Wade supreme court case ended up legalizing some abortions.
Russ: Thirty-seven years ago. Wow.
John: Okay this week in business history in 1985 "Born in the USA" by Bruce Springsteen peaks at number nine.
[Music: "Born in the USA"]
Russ: Isn't that amazing? It only peaked at number nine?
John: Yeah.
Russ: That's – I thought that would've been more.
John: Well, I think when it came out, people thought it was kind of a positive song about the USA –
Russ: That's right.
John: - but it's actually pretty negative.
Russ: Yeah. That's right.
John: This week in business history the 17th Annual Music Award, Milli Vanilli, who wins the award later finds out they've been lip synching all this time.
[Music: "Blame it on the Rain"]
Russ: Yeah they didn't even know they were lip – they thought they were singing, too.
John: I know. That's crazy.
Russ: All right.
John: All right this week in business history in 1991 Eastern Airlines goes outta business after 62 years. I like this, "citing financial problems."
Russ: (Laughter) We didn't know the money.
John: Why else – why else are you gonna go outta business?
Russ: Well and then I think they were picked up by Continental Airlines.
John: Yeah.
Russ: That was when Frank Lorenzo was pickin' everybody up and –
John: Yeah.
Russ: - and which led to Continental Airlines going into bankruptcy but they came back out, too.
John: This week in business history, in 1991 Operation Desert Storm begins as U.S.-led allies go into combat with the Iraqi Army.
Russ: Yeah.
John: And the war lasted about two days.
Russ: Quite a decisive victory there.
John: I know but they shoulda had the troops go into Baghdad to take it over.
Russ: Well. I think that's what W always thought that his dad cut it off short and so he –
John: That's right.
Russ: - was gonna pick it up. Who knows what the best decision woulda been.
John: I know. This week in business history in 1992 IBM announces a nearly $5 billion loss for 1991. Things weren't going so hot then those days for IBM.
Russ: Man.
John: You were workin' there.
Russ: No, I, I was already gone for about five years but –
John: You were prob'ly the one who caused that, all that money –
Russ: Then got outta town. No I mean, it is unbelievably emotional for IBMers because there had been like somethin' like 90 consecutive quarterly record profits and then all of a sudden the bottom fell out and –
John: Ah.
Russ: They completely changed everything. A lotta people think that it was their total commitment to full employment. They didn't believe in ever cutting the workforce no matter what.
John: Uh huh.
Russ: And –
John: Kinda like the Post Office or something like that.
Russ: Yeah, kinda like that.
John: Yeah right.
Russ: So anyway, they have survived by bringing in a new CEO and sorta changing the whole format.
John: This week in business history in 2005 Johnny Carson, one of those kinda guys you'd think that would live forever, you know –
Russ: Yeah, yep.
John: - I mean an iconic –
Russ: Oh yeah.
John: - individual, passed away.
Russ: Oh yeah, man. He was the best.
John: He was the best. Right and as NBC's finding out, it's not so easy to replace him.
Russ: Right.
John: And I remember when they hired Johnny Carson, he was a game show host on a show called "Who Do You Trust."
Russ: Right.
John: And everybody thought who in the heck is this guy. Are they really gonna put him in charge of the Tonight Show?
Russ: Yeah.
John: 'Cause Jack Paar had it before.
Russ: That's right. That's right.
John: Interesting story. Interesting story in show business.
Russ: Yeah. All right, all right and that wraps up this morning's history lesson.
John: Yeah, that's all I got.
Russ: All right. Good job –
John: All right.
Russ: - though, nevertheless. All right and that brings us to Navigating Business Jargon.
John: Oh here we go.
Russ: This is our vocabulary lesson.
John: Uh huh.
Russ: And the way we try to teach it here is to demonstrate someone who has a very broad vocabulary whether or not they can know the meaning and that would be you, right?
John: Well I – you know I have a good vocabulary but these words are so new.
Russ: We're making up new. Yeah. (Laughter)
John: Some of them are made up as you're reading all this.
Russ: That's right.
John: and – so I just try to guess the meaning and sometimes I get it right. Sometimes I get it pretty close.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Other times I just miss it by a country mile.
Russ: That's right but just to be sure for our audience, John does not know the word.
John: Yeah, this is not some schtick.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Okay I do not know the word or the phrase or the acronym.
Russ: That's right. Well it's gonna actually be a new word.
John: A new word.
Russ: And it's a noun.
John: A noun. Person, place or thing.
Russ: Yeah, obviously I choose the word.
John: Uh huh.
Russ: And then I say the word.
John: Okay.
Russ: And then John tries to guess the meaning.
John: All right.
Russ: No wagering, please.
John: Void where prohibited by law.
Russ: All right and here's this morning's word.
John: All right.
Russ: Irritainment.
John: Irritainment.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Well entertainment is something that's kinda fun to watch. It's pleasant to the senses. It's something that draws people to a way of passing the time.
Russ: You got that part right.
John: Okay now irritainment is something that just annoys the heck outta ya.
Russ: Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a winner. Good job.
John: All right, all right, thank you.
Russ: The official definition is slang for annoying entertainment and media spectacles you're unable to stop watching.
John: Yeah right.
Russ: Yeah. Examples were the O.J. Simpson trial and Paris Hilton going to jail. That's perfect irritainment.
John: Well you could stop watching that.
Russ: Okay. (Laughter) Yeah.
John: Just to turn off the TV and –
Russ: Well I know but you probably couldn't stop watching Paris Hilton going to jail.
John: Right.
Russ: Yeah. You seem like you –
John: Yeah she's a – she's the spokesperson for that sunglasses company.
Russ: I know that we had on the show.
John: Yeah, I wonder if she's the only –
Russ: Gripping Eyewear.
John: - I wonder if she's the only convicted felon we've had on The BusinessMakers –
Russ: As a spokesperson.
John: - as a spokesperson for a business.
Russ: I think she probably is. Yeah.
John: Yeah, okay we have to look that up.
Russ: Yeah.
John: Well get our Research Department on that.
Russ: We didn't vet that guest out very well but it's a great, great guest. Gripping Eyewear.
John: Gripping Eyewear.
Russ: Jimmy Youngblood.
John: Right, Jimmy Youngblood.
Russ: It's a great – Paris Hilton is their spokesman.
John: That's right.
Russ: Well, cool.
John: And when she's not doing time.
Russ: That's right.
John: Okay, right.
Russ: That's right. All right and that brings us to Dumb Business Moments. Do you have one to share with us this morning, John?
John: Yeah, this is a dumb mo – this happened in 2009. It's a multi-dumb moment.
Russ: Okay.
John: Because it involved an individual and a company, both of which you would say acted dumbly.
Russ: Okay.
John: Okay. A guy by the name of Anthony Armadi interviewed for a job at Avaya. You know the telecom company –
Russ: Right.
John: - and decided to, at the last minute, change his mind and fortunately for him for awhile, he was already on the payroll system.
Russ: So –
John: And nobody at Avaya realized, you know. That's the trouble with a big company.
Russ: So they offered him a job and he said no thanks –
John: And they kept payin' –
Russ: - and he start –
John: - yeah he changed his mind at the last minute. Kept payin' him –
Russ: Yeah.
John: - and this went on for a couple of years.
Russ: (Laughter) I've always wanted one of those jobs.
John: And then he – and then he made a fatal mistake. He attempted early withdrawal from his 401k. And this is button money he wasn't earning anyway.
Russ: Right.
John: You know he – why go into –
Russ: So he's trying to get more –
John: Because it's difficult getting money outta your 4- even if you're eligible to take it out.
Russ: Yeah. (Laughter)
John: You know you go through all the paperwork the company's gotta sign off on it.
Russ: Yeah.
John: I mean how stupid can you get? He had to repay the almost $471,000.00 in compensation. I like this article, they call it compensation.
Russ: Compensation.
John: It was theft i9s what it was.
Russ: Yeah.
John: But here Avaya payin' a guy for a couplea years and then a guy, you know, thinkin' he can get away with it.
Russ: Both parties made dumb mistakes there.
John: Yeah.
Russ: No question. All right and before we wrap up this morning's School of Business it's time for the very popular PKF Texas Entrepreneur's Playbook.
John: Here's my favorite accountant. Greg Price and here he is. He's always on time, always has a smile on his face. He's always ready to play the piano. And here he goes.
Russ: You bet.
Russ and John: A one and a two and a –
Greg: This is Greg Price with PKF Texas’ Entrepreneur’s Playbook. As we start the New Year, we find at many of our clients and businesses that January is usually a time of employee annual reviews and performance feedback. One of the items noted by employees at high achieving organizations is the environment in which they work. Highly successful companies achieve very high scores in the feedback assessment processes by their employees. Which raises the question: “Where would my organization rank on such an assessment?”
To the following question: “What type of workplace fosters the creation of exceptional sustainable value?” Some of the answers gathered by Marcus Buckingham in his book, First Break All the Rules, include the following subset from over 1,000,000 surveys:
- Do I know what is expected of me at work?
- Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
- In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
- Does my supervisor or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
- In the last six months has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
In the book Conscious Business I learned that feedback is actually a mutual learning opportunity. In providing feedback I try to:
- Recognize that the intent behind feedback is learning and development (vs. criticism)
- I provide broad context, both positive areas and areas that I am concerned about
- I try and focus on effectiveness gaps and not personal traits
- Be timely and convey both positive and constructive feedback
In receiving feedback, I try and remember the following:
- Be learner, do I love the truth more than I love my face?
- The person giving my feedback is supporting my development.
- I take responsibility for the feedback, and my role in the gap of my performance
- I use effective inquiry to understand, not defend myself
If your environment is creating exceptional sustainable value in the area of Giving Feedback, you will be surpassing your competition in this challenging market place. To read and comment on the PKF Texas’ Entrepreneur’s Playbook, visit my blog, fromgregshead.com. PKF Texas the fit, that’s right!
Russ: All right and that wraps up this morning's School of Business. Stay tuned in for the AFLAC BusinessMakers Flashback when we feature the guest that went from food stamps to CEO. That would be Tara Jean Hart, CEO and Founder of The Compliance Alliance. And then also four our Featured Guest segment where we feature the guy that went from busboy to IPO. We're talking about Larry Forehand, the Founder of Mexican Restaurants Inc. You're listening to The BusinessMakers Show, heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.
