Tom Peters says there are four principles that help create sustained business success: “(1) Hire Great People (Resilient, Passionate) (2) Try a Lot of Stuff (S.A.V.-Screw Around Vigorously/R.F.A.—Ready. Fire. Aim.) (3) All ‘Wow’ All the Time (Shoot for the moon—in every circumstance) (4) Enjoy It While It Lasts (And it ain't gonna last forever, so you might as well keep swinging.)” Think about these principles - any one of them will make a positive difference in the success of your business. And you'll have more fun too.
Participants in our industry have recognized that for many years we have had a shortage of trained engine and equipment technicians. And from that concern the Equipment and Engine Training Council (EETC) was created in 1996.
The EETC is comprised of manufacturers and their service and training personnel, technical school instructors, equipment distributors and their education and service personnel, equipment dealers, OPE associations, and other industry and educational associations and leaders. In this unique organization competitors leave their egos at the door and work together for the good of the entire OPE industry.
The EETC had accredited more than 80 schools and certified the competency of over 8000 technicians. While not perfect, the EETC has made a huge positive impact on this industry and its future success.
Yearly membership for dealers is only $50.00, $750.00 for distributors and $1,700 for manufacturers. There aren’t too many other organizations around that make such a positive impact on our industry and our businesses.
Participants in our industry have recognized that for many years we have had a shortage of trained engine and equipment technicians. And from that concern the Equipment and Engine Training Council (EETC) was created in 1996.
The EETC is comprised of manufacturers and their service and training personnel, technical school instructors, equipment distributors and their education and service personnel, equipment dealers, OPE associations, and other industry and educational associations and leaders. In this unique organization competitors leave their egos at the door and work together for the good of the entire OPE industry.
The EETC had accredited more than 80 schools and certified the competency of over 8000 technicians. While not perfect, the EETC has made a huge positive impact on this industry and its future success.
Yearly membership for dealers is only $50.00, $750.00 for distributors and $1,700 for manufacturers. There aren’t too many other organizations around that make such a positive impact on our industry and our businesses.
If you're not a member of the EETC, why not? For more information, visit the EETC's WEb site at www.eetc.org.
“Thanks to technology, people have never been more connected – or more alienated.” Thus began a recent Forbes magazine article entitled “Can You Hear Me Now?” whose premise was that we have created a communications culture that has decreased the time available for us to sit and think, uninterrupted.
The author states that “it’s a growing reality of our lives that we live in the presence of screens, whether on a laptop, palmtop, cell phone or BlackBerry. One female respondent had this to say about her BlackBerry: “I look at my watch to see the time. I look at my BlackBerry to get a sense of my life.”
The author posed the following questions: “Are we leaving enough time to focus on the things that matter? Are we willing to turn off our devices, and disengage from the always-on culture? What kind of people are we becoming as we develop very intimate relationships with our machines?”
I contend that we could possibly gain attributes that make us more machine-like and lose attributes that make us more human-like. And that my friends, is very, very scary.
Charlie Munger, the 84 year old business partner of Warren Buffet, told a story about Max Planck and his chauffeur in a commencement address that Munger delivered on May 13, 2007 at the USC Law School:
“After winning the Nobel Prize, Max Planck toured around Europe giving speeches. His chauffeur memorized the speech and asked if he could give it for him in Munich, pretending to be Planck, and Planck would pretend to be the chauffeur. Planck let him do it and after the speech someone asked a tough question.
“The real chauffeur replied that he couldn’t believe someone in such an advanced city like Munich would ask such an elementary question and as such, he was going to ask his chauffeur (Planck) to reply.”
Mr. Munger went on to say “In this world we have two kinds of knowledge. One is Planck knowledge, the people who really know. They’ve paid their dues, they have the aptitude. And then we’ve got chauffeur knowledge. They have learned the talk. They may have a big head of hair, they may have a fine temper in their voice, they’ll make a hell of an impression. But in the end, all they have is chauffeur knowledge. I think I’ve just described practically every politician in the United States.”
