I recently read An American Saga, Juan Trippe and His Pan Am Empire.  It was a fascinating read but more importantly it is almost a primer in how successful American businessmen work.  Here are some of the key lessons:

Connections always matter:  Juan Trippe was born into the upper social classes of America.  This gave him two advantages.  The first was obvious.  When you have Yale classmates and personal friends with names like Vanderbilt, raising a little capital is not going to present a problem.  The second lesson is more subtle but perhaps more important. Having been born into that class, Trippe instinctively knew the rules of dealing with powerful people, everything from how to dress to what not to order at a business lunch.  He had immediate social acceptance in business situations, not only because of his birth but also because of his personal presentation.  Trippe made new connections easily because he was viewed as someone important even if the person didn't know who he was.  The subtle choices of clothes, manners and personal presentation came naturally to him. When I worked for computer companies, they took great pains to teach us those things because powerful people won't consider what you have to say if the don't consider you, if not their social equal, at least a person who will not embarrass or betray them.  Back then, companies like IBM and Xerox had strict dress codes and paid tens of thousands of dollars to teach their representatives the secrets of personal and business presentation that people like Trippe knew naturally.

You must be ahead of the curve:  Trippe understood that you have to stay ahead of the curve to be successful.  Trippe did not let his customers define his business or the services he provided them because they rarely knew what they needed or what was possible.  Instead, Trippe chose to define his own market and services in such a way that he was always considered a trend setter.  He literally made his own markets and customers flocked to them.  For example, when other airlines were worrying about delivering a few bags of mail between American Cities, he was working with aviation experts to design long range flying boats that would link the major cities of the Caribbean and South America with luxury passenger service.  If he had listened to his customers, he would have been one of many competitors that might or might not have had moderate success in a turbulent US market.  Instead, he set the curve in a new market and emerged as literally a world changing leader who was a defacto third diplomatic force in foreign politics involving the US. The Boeing 707, Americas first jet liner, was built to Pam Am specifications on the promise of their order if the specs were met.  It was built to serve markets he had created, the long haul Atlantic and Pacific runs. The Boeing 747, the first jumbo jet, was also built to Pan Am specs and Pan Am engineers had significant input into the final design.  Pan Am engineers in cooperation with RCA literally developed the long range radio navigation systems that are still in use and were the only means of radio navigation until GPS.  Trippe realized that long term success requires more than just showing up and doing what is asked.  You have to define what needs to be done and then do it better than anyone else.

You must demand excellence:  Everything about Pan Am was the best.  When other pilots and air crew were allowed to fly in leather jackets and civilian suits, he demanded that his crews wear spotless naval style uniforms.  They were not allowed to smoke or drink in public nor even appear in public without their jackets and ties.  Pan Am flight-line services set the standard for the rest of industry.  Trippe never forgot that he was in a life and death business and that lives depended upon everything being done right the first time.

So long as Trippe was alive, Pan Am was the leading overseas airline in the world.  As he passed so did Pan Am.  The reasons are complex but they boil down to the fact that his successors lacked his vision and ability to demand excellence.

So what are the lessons for a small businessman?  You may not be born into social and business connections but you can make yourself into a person that any businessman will be happy to do business with regardless of which side of the tracks you were born on.  You can choose that your business will be ahead of the curve in everything it does, that you will define your market and services based upon the superior knowledge of your industry that you have worked hard to develop.  And, you can decide that "good enough" is never good enough, that excellence is the only acceptable standard.

I'm Impressed .... And a little shocked!

As you probably know from my previous posts, our farmhouse was burglarized last week.  Now that my anger is subsiding, there is something that I need to say.

I am deeply impressed by the response of the Sequoyah County Sheriff's Department in this matter.  When my cousin John discovered the break in a deputy was there in less than an hour.  I was there within two hours and within an hour after that the deputy was back taking a supplemental report.  For a rural county with a small department and high crime rate, that is impressive response.  That was faster response than we could have gotten in Metro Tulsa.

Here in Metro Tulsa where there are literally hundreds of officers, a smaller land area to cover and two departments working offenses and sharing jurisdiction (PD and Sheriff's Dept.) officers simply do not respond to theft calls.  As a matter of fact, as evidenced by my past posts here they don't even respond to grand theft auto calls.  But, here in Sequoyah County, USA darn they still act like you are a person and your property is important to you.

The real capper came at lunch time today.  My phone rang and it was a Sequoyah County Sheriff's investigator.  She asked me a few more questions and I gave some further information.  I also described a possible suspect.  I was already in awe that they were treating my complaint like the real crime that it is instead of blowing it off like the officers do here in Tulsa.  But son of a gun, this lady was actually investigating and talking about pulling in a suspect or two for questioning.

In Tulsa, I would have been told to fill out a form online so that could send me a letter in 90 days telling me they were closing the investigation and the file on it.  After I got over my shock, I realized that this is how things are supposed to work.  That in the REAL AMERICA, cops still do their job and treat the community with respect.  Increasingly, Tulsa metro police are "too busy" for things like street crime and theft.  That is sad and counterproductive because the criminal class no longer respects the law, the police or the law abiding population.

I was ready to treat this like a "Tulsa Situation."  Before the nice Deputy called, I was already going through my files looking for the number of a tough young ex-Dallas cop PI I know who could go down there and ask some questions and shake some trees.  I was getting ready to make the telephone calls to local LEO's in Sequoyah County to let them know that my PI would be down there nosing around.  But after the nice Deputy's call, I realized that Sequoyah County is NOT TULSA and I don't have to pay someone to do the cop's job for them.  

Again, I'm impressed with Sequoyah County and saddened that Tulsa, my hometown, has become the mess it is.

Our Farmhouse Was Burglarized!!!

Sometime between Wednesday and Saturday morning this week our farmhouse was burglarized.  Aside from making a mess, they only took three items, two of them of great sentimental value.  If the thief reads this be advised, the local Sheriff is looking for those weapons and I am looking for those weapons.  One was a gift from my long dead father.  I will look for that weapon until I find it or die and be advised, I have a lot of assets at my disposal to help me find it.

People like to tell themselves that crimes are committed randomly by strangers.  If you ask a cop, he will tell that you that is a self deluding crock of shit that lets everybody sit around the table at Thanksgiving and Christmas and smile and pretend that the people sitting across from them are not the cause of their heartbreak. When cops investigate a theft, the first people they look at are family members, friends and neighbors.  In the case of petty theft and burglary, they especially look for family members, friends and neighbors with a drug problem, or money problems or both.

I know that many of my family members and friends from around the neighborhood at the farm read this blog and my Facebook posts.  I will post this several times until I am sure the word has gotten around.  This is not a threat or even a warning. It is a fact.  If you ever have the misfortune to illegally enter a residence that I am occupying by either stealth or force, I will be in reasonable fear of my life or great bodily harm.  At that point, Oklahoma law allows me to kill you where you stand.

I don't care if you are Aunt Jenny's favorite nephew, my cousin fifteen times removed or the bastard son of poor little Suzie Jane.  I don't care if you came from a broken home and didn't get brand name sneakers while you were in Junior High.  When you illegally enter my residence you are nothing but a threat and a target. In the split second before my bullets rip into your chest, you can curse your parents for refusing to discipline you and allowing you to grow into a worthless piece of dung.  Or you can curse your grandparents for bailing you out time and again when facing some consequences might have saved you.  Or you can just scream and die.  It won't make a lot of difference because you will have finally stepped across a line where there are consequences that you can't get out of.