Well, I guess I should start off with a clarification of my location. I am not in Australia right now so you can stop sending letters to the State Department about keeping my “deportation” on permanent status! Maybe one day, but for now, I am on a mission. Not like an Apollo mission but close in a way that resembles Kennedy’s vision of putting a man on the moon. Believe it or not, I think that might be easier than moving the Kitchen and Bath Industry forward at a speed that is measured by one degree faster than a crawl” 😊

And actually, if I had a choice of which one I would tackle…. let’s just say “To the moon, Alice!” (In the famous words of Jackie Gleason. If you have to ask…don’t!)

I thought long and hard about which subject to dive into today. After considering some of the topics such as Supplier Partners, the Team, Leadership, etc. I stopped on one that reflects my mind set on August 30^th and that thought is “change”.

None of the other things I have mentioned mean much unless we decide to embrace the word “change” instead of fearing it. No one really likes to consider “change” because it requires us to think and even more importantly, behave differently. Not an easy thing to do, especially when you are talking about the old tried and true that got you or your business this far. Hard to argue with success, right?

Now that football season is upon us, I thought I would share something that I heard many years ago. A coach said he didn’t like passing the ball because there was only a 33% chance of success. The outcomes were limited to an interception, a dropped pass, or a completed one. How long do you think that coach would be around these days with the way football has evolved? Probably for the same amount of time he considered changing the way he approached the game. Not long.

When people are faced with change in the business world, they seemingly have no problem finding reasons that it won’t work. “Too busy” is one of my favorites. It’s kind of funny in a way if you think about it. I can just hear them saying, “Don’t bother me with other routes, can’t you see we are busy marching towards obsolescence?”

And you know what? There isn’t a damn thing you can do about it if they don’t want to change., That’s why I prefer the company of people that aren’t close minded because you can learn a lot more from them than the same ole song and dance, folks.

Well, I promised to keep this short (or shorter) but before we exit stage right, I did want to tell you why August 30^th is an important day for me. It’s called sobriety. I am not one to typically share personal parts of my life, but I can’t help but think that maybe someone out there reads this and decides to share their challenge with others, or somebody sees a co-worker, friend or family member who is struggling and reaches out. It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and wouldn’t have been possible without the love and care of my wife and friends. The world is a much better place without having to carry that 900 lb. gorilla on your back as you journey through life.

So, is change hard and sometimes scary? You can bet your arse it is! But in the long run, it can also be one of the best things that can happen in life!

Until my next blog…take care and find that secret door that will lead you out of your comfort zone. You never know what awesome things you might find on the other side! thad