 | July 7, 2009 |
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People
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Monday, 06 July 2009 00:00 |
 I have been struggling for some months with baggy triceps, a ballooning bosom, burgeoning waistline, bulbous buttocks, and blossoming thighs. What to do, what to do…
At last, I have unwittingly joined the millions in our society who classify themselves as "plus." It's a whole new world: A kind of confirming nod we give to one another in passing, that not unlike pregnancy or having grey hair, reveals a secret society. We're all part of a certain bunch: Big beautiful women, and yes, men too (although it doesn't seem to faze them as much, if at all).
Anyone who is in the custom uniform business, tailoring, or alterations, is used to the steady trickle of folks who require a special fit – not infrequently because of oversize. Once in a while, my father would jokingly say that he would need to get a pattern from Omar the Tentmaker.
Lately, however, it's been one plus size after another, and sometimes entire orders. Recently, a group of Midwesterners ordered 60 polo shirts – half 2XL and half 4XL – all with 8" added to the length to cover the fronts and rears of strong, hearty farmhands who wear size 58 pants.
Men are weighing in like cattle, and the women are right there with them. This spring, alone, we had two different orders for military and fire personnel, where the gals had 67" waists. Waists! Image the chests and the seats.
We had a call for a size 72 coat from a Shriner. Another gent requested that we come to his house to measure and fit some jumpsuits, because he couldn't squeeze his way out the door to come to us. There's a cavalry order going out where the average frock coat for the battalion is a 48Long.
I'm not trying to make fun or ridicule. Rather, I'm pointing out where a significant portion of our population's sizing is headed. Just as so many of our manufacturers of ready-to-wear have, of late, instituted petites and very small sizes to suit a particular frame, they've also gone to bigger and bigger sizing in order to accommodate both men and women in the workplace.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 July 2009 13:32 |
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Economy
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Monday, 06 July 2009 00:00 |
 A fundamental question that was asked of us as undergraduates in economics class was to identify the difference between the short run and long run. My professor answered that no one lives in the long run. While a human may not live forever, corporations in theory can last forever. What lessons for success in the long run can be applied to the short run to which we are all allocated?
An organization in the long run needs a core religion or set of cultural values that will unite the current group of people and yet be able to transcend into the future. This concept supersedes what any one individual or leader can contribute. What are the values, rituals, and sets of behaviors and beliefs that will unite people and carry them past the current functions they need to perform? If no one lives in the long run, why should we align our companies to survive and thrive? Because the guiding principles will help assure success in the short run where you and I do live.
The role of the manager or leader is to develop a culture that will continue to assure a stream of profits. Whether you head a 'for profit' corporation or a nonprofit, in order to succeed your income must exceed your outgo or your upkeep will be your downfall. But focusing on profits is not the key to attaining them. Profits are an outcome of the properly invested energies, leadership guidance and assets of the organization.
What are the inputs then? Here's where we get to revisit some basic fundamentals of successful management. Fundamentals are those things that have not really changed in many years. My mentor, Jim Rohn, used to say, "beware of someone coming along and offering you new fundamentals." In this challenging economic environment where there is more talk of 'transformational' changes in the habits of buying, borrowing, saving and investing of consumers, reviewing the fundamentals may help guide us forward.
The good manager will first define the task or responsibility at hand by determining the needs of the clients to be served. These can be internal or external clients or customers depending on your role in the organization. But everyone has needs to be satisfied and satisfying those needs is why we have a job. A business cannot exist very long in the short run or certainly not in the long run if there are no clients to serve or sales to be made. I know that the targets may change quickly, regularly and quixotically but that's why managers or leaders are supposed to be paid the big bucks if they can keep up with the changes and remain ahead of the curve.
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Last Updated on Monday, 17 August 2009 19:32 |
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July 7, 2009
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