“You take the blue pill,” Morpheus says to Neo in The Matrix, “and the story ends . . . . You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.” It’s a tempting offer, isn’t it? For at one time or another in our lives, we’ve all wanted to escape — from a dull and tedious job, an impossible relationship, from a world in which we often have so little control over what happens to us. Perhaps it’s for reasons such as these that our culture has become positively obsessed with the idea of transcending the confines of this world for the cool fresh air of another. Whether it’s by a red pill, a secret wardrobe, a looking glass, or a rabbit-hole, it doesn’t really matter. We’ll take it.

Of course, we don’t just want to know how deep the rabbit-hole goes. That’s a given; after all, it’s a portal to another world — “four thousand miles down, I think.” We also want to know how to make sense of what we discover when we suddenly land “thump! thump!” in Wonderland and pass through the looking glass. And Alice’s Wonderland is an oh! so curious place filled with both dangers and delights. Here we encounter blue caterpillars who smoke hookahs, babies who turn into pigs, cats whose grins remain after their heads have faded away, and a Mad Hatter who speaks to Time. There is a White Queen who lives backward and remembers forward, and there are trials in which the sentence is handed down first with the evidence and verdict given out only afterward. And you’d better be on your best behavior while there. As the Red Queen sees it, beheading is a punishment that fits every crime!

We’ve spoken of Wonderland’s dangers, but what of its delights? Why should anyone want to travel to such a world? As Cheshire Puss tells Alice, you must be mad “or you wouldn’t have come here.” Is Wonderland simply a land of sheer nonsense, or is there a method to Lewis Carroll’s madness? Well, as the Duchess wisely observes, “Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.” And the moral of the book you now hold in your hands is that there are deep philosophical riches to be had in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, answers to life’s ultimate questions, if only you have the proper guide.

You don’t have to be blue, a caterpillar, or under the effects of the hookah to ask a deep question like “Who in the world am I?” As Alice says, “That’s the great puzzle!” Indeed it is. How can I know whether this or that job is right for me, if I don’t know who me is? Indeed, how can I know what I can become in the future? (Hardly any of us, I dare say, is satisfied with who we are at present.) And to know the answers to these questions, I must know who I have been. I must remember. But that’s often my problem: I forget. What to do? What to do? The Alice-addicted philosophers in this book will clear the air of the hookah smoke and forward you the decryption codes for unlocking your personal identity. And you’ll be glad they did.

As you read on, you’ll be amazed to discover why nice girls don’t make history (and Alice is better than any Disney princess); what the Red Queen can teach us about nuclear strategy; whether we should do more with mushrooms than just eat them (and what sort of “trip” to expect if we do); and how Alice, procrastination, and the Spice Girls are all mysteriously connected. “What a curious feeling!” You can put it all together for the first time. So “Read Me.” Venture to taste this book, and if “finding it very nice,” we recommend that you “very soon finish it off.”

The above is an excerpt from the book Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser and Curiouser (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) edited by Richard Brian Davis with series editor William Irwin. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2010 Richard Brian Davis with series editor William Irwin, editors ofAlice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser and Curiouser (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

Richard Brian Davis is an associate professor of philosophy at Tyndale University College and the coeditor of 24 and Philosophy.

William Irwin is a professor of philosophy at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen and Philosophy.

The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series:
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and a healthy helping of popular culture clears the cobwebs from Kant. Philosophy has had a public relations problem for a few centuries now. This series aims to change that, showing that philosophy is relevant to your life–and not just for answering the big questions like “To be or not to be?” but for answering the little questions: “To watch or not to watch House?” Thinking deeply about TV, movies, and music doesn’t make you a “complete idiot.” In fact it might make you a philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching.

To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com, and follow the series on Twitter and Facebook.

Broccoli Corn Bread
Winfred Ewy
Newton, KS

Makes 8 servings

Prep. Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 6 hours
Ideal slow-cooker size: 3- to 4-qt

1 stick margarine, melted
10-oz pkg. chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1 onion, chopped
1 box corn bread mix
4 eggs, well beaten
8 oz. cottage cheese
1¼ tsp. salt

1. Combine all ingredients. Mix well.

2. Pour into greased slow cooker. Cook on Low 6 hours, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Serving suggestion: Serve like spoon bread, or invert the pot, remove bread, and cut into wedges.

The above is an excerpt from the book Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Revised & Updated: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes by Phyllis Pellman Good. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Reprinted from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. © by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2010 Phyllis Pellman Good, author of Fix-it and Forget-it Cookbook: Revised & Updated: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes

At all costs, I thought, I had to protect him from worry. For weeks, I’d known that my increasingly confident and ambitious demeanor had made Ben anxious. I knew he thought that I was becoming slightly manic, so I’d gotten into the habit of concealing things from him: I didn’t want his worry to restrain me from achieving my goals. Ben’s last boyfriend had had episodes of intense mania as well, so this only increased my desire to hide from him all signs of any behavior that he might wrongly interpret as manic.

For the moment, I could still wrestle my thoughts to a stand-still long enough to remind myself, every other minute, that it wasn’t life-or-death. If I missed the meeting with our counselor, Ben would be upset; very upset: but we’d get through it.

At the Renaissance Hotel on Highland, I tried to get a taxi, but the hotel staff ignored me. I became briefly and savagely furious with them until, once again, I managed to recall that my sense of urgency was self-imposed. But that thread of rational thought kept disappearing in the vastness; I couldn’t hold onto it for more than a few seconds at a time. Each time it slipped my grasp, my focus would return to the urgency of protecting Ben at all costs.

I wasn’t scared about myself, however, until I rounded the corner onto Hollywood Boulevard. And then I felt, just for a second, that it might be possible to drown in the deluge of my own thoughts.

I tried again to hail a cab. It was rush-hour; traffic barely moved, and all the cabs were full. I was, by now, almost panicking with the urgency of saving Ben. It had finally become impossible for me to have a rational perspective; I really was drowning.

I redoubled my pace, crossing through traffic to catch a cab in the other direction, anything. Once more I momentarily recalled the lack of real urgency, but only briefly, before crashing back, with increased violence, into a skewed sense that making the meeting with Ben and our couple’s counselor was life-or-death.

I steeled myself: ‘Calm down, there’s no rush.’ A second later, I looked at the time, and started to run. The clash of priorities began to feel like a pile driver in my head; then a constant thunder. I ripped my expensive watch – a sexy, masculine watch with a wide leather strap that Ben had given me – off my wrist, and threw it, along with my cell-phone, into a parking lot, hoping that if I could no longer tell the time, the raging confusion would cease. But it only got worse.

Dimly through the clattering chaos, I momentarily heard a shining clear note: instead of worrying about Ben, I should take care of myself. This was my own crisis now, not Ben’s: I was falling headlong into the void, and had to save myself. Moreover in saving myself, I’d save Ben too. If I lost my mind, Ben would shed far more than the few tears he’d cry at my missing our counseling appointment. It seems so obvious now; but that’s a symptom of mania: that you can get so consumed by something that it makes you blind to all other priorities. In this case I was so driven to protect Ben that I was quite literally driving myself insane.

That gleaming note I’d felt moments earlier disappeared again in the gathering murk; I felt my sanity slipping away; I knew I needed to medicate myself immediately, either with drugs or alcohol. I pitched into a Mexican restaurant.

‘I need a drink,’ I grated out to the petite hostess, who looked at me worriedly, taking in the contrast between my wannabe-superstar appearance – six-foot-six, hair spiked with blond highlights, dressed in a tight-fitting, black open-necked Miu-Miu shirt – and the desperation presumably written on my features.

‘You’ll have to wait for a table.’

‘You don’t understand, this is an emergency,’ I shouted.

She looked at me as if I were an alien, and then shrugged. I strode into the bar, grabbed a bottle of tequila, and walked out, ignoring the bartender’s flailing arms and angry shouts.

I was on Sunset Boulevard by now, just east of La Brea. I drank about a fifth of the bottle: it tasted foul. Vodka is my drink, I thought randomly. My mind was still falling into chaos; the alcohol wasn’t working.

I went into a 7-Eleven, where the cashier looked up at me, startled, seeing the open bottle of tequila in my hands, not exactly looking like a typical wino.

‘Call 911!’ I said, urgently.

The cashier barely even made eye-contact with me before switching back to his customer. I couldn’t understand why nobody could see my pain. I was running into intense alienation wherever I turned.

I shouted at him, ‘Call an ambulance, now!’

‘Get lost!’ he told me.

I was amazed that he didn’t seem the least bit scared of me. I slammed my fist onto the counter, and poured the bottle of tequila all over it.

‘Now will you call the police?’ I needed help, any kind of help. I knew I needed to be restrained and medicated.

A young gay customer yelled at the cashier, ‘Call 911!’ The kid led me outside.

‘Here, I’ll call them,’ he said, soothingly.

I tried to sit down, but I couldn’t keep still. He couldn’t get through to 911; he was on hold for ten agonizing minutes; I couldn’t wait. I crossed the street through moving traffic, and entered the strip-mall on the corner, which contained a Starbucks, nail salons, and some jewelry stores. I thought the police would come eventually, and I was concerned now that they’d think me dangerous, that bullets might fly.

The tequila was finally slowing down my thoughts. Somehow, I suddenly instinctively knew the worst of the crisis was passed; I’d saved myself. But there were still the consequences of my actions to deal with, and I was still far from being myself. I heard sirens, so I went into one of the salons to sit peaceably, my hands clearly visible so the police could see I wasn’t armed (although it’s not clear why I thought there was the possibility of a shoot-out). I was completely exhausted and intolerably thirsty. The tall Asian transsexual who was doing somebody’s nails, kept looking over at me, a half-smile alternating on her pretty face with curiosity. I prayed she wouldn’t say anything to me.

The police never came, so eventually I went outside. I still wanted to go to the emergency room, but maybe now I could do it without police involvement, I thought. I convinced a kindly Filipino security guard that I was having a medical crisis, and he lent me his cell-phone so that I could call 911.

He had, ironically, a blue-tooth headset, my first exposure to one despite my recent over-immersion in technology, and it took me a while to get it to work for me. But I couldn’t get through to 911 – I was kept on hold for even longer than the kid across the street had been. I knew Ben would be worried. It seemed impossible, but it had only been thirty minutes since I had left the Renaissance after failing to get a taxi there.

I finally gave up on getting through to 911, but I didn’t know who else to call. I didn’t want Ben to know what had happened – at least not yet. But Ben’s cell-phone number was the only number I knew by heart, and neither of my therapists had listed phone numbers, so finally I had no alternative but to call Ben. He was frantic. He’d been calling and calling, getting my voicemail. I told him my cell-phone was dead, and asked him not to ask me any questions; just come and pick me up.

At last I could let the tension breathe out of me. I thanked the security guard for the use of his phone and asked him if he could please find me some water. He looked at me dubiously, so I started to pull off my $300 belt to offer in exchange for a bottle of water. He relented and got me a bottle of water, declining the belt.

When Ben picked me up, I had to figure out how to explain to him everything that had happened that day (because, you see, this headlong rush through Hollywood was only the climax of an astonishing day.) I knew it wasn’t the right time to tell him anything about what had preceded his tearful call from our counselor’s office less than an hour earlier. Nonetheless, my mind was still racing, and there was the manic temptation to explain myself fully. I kept holding onto the fact that I couldn’t possibly tell him everything without scaring him; I had to simplify things. I kept saying to myself ‘breathe’, as a mantra to remind myself, through the haze of explanations yearning to be spoken, not to be driven to make Ben understand everything. I wrote ‘breathe’ on a scrap of paper as we drove home, because I didn’t trust myself. And once I got home, I wrote it out again, on more scraps of paper, so I’d see it everywhere.

Later that night, as I got ready to take a shower, I looked at the scrap of paper on the sink with the word ‘breathe’ written on it. I suddenly had the image of Ben finding it, picking it up, and thinking it was another indication that I was not entirely in my right mind. We had a decorative bowl in the living-room full of pebbles of green glass bought from Pottery Barn. So after my shower, I grabbed a few green pebbles, and left them in inconspicuous places replacing the pieces of paper. Now I knew that every time I’d see one of those pebbles, it would remind me of ‘breathe’, and I’d stop trying to put into words what was going on in my racing mind.

But would I still remember ‘breathe’ in the morning? I surreptitiously stuffed a pebble underneath the sheet on my side of the bed, knowing that whenever I woke up, the physical discomfort would reconnect me to ‘breathe’.

The next morning, things returned to a surprising degree of normality between us. We were both anxious about what had happened; but also eager to please each other. I felt sure that I’d never again let worry for Ben drive me to the edge of insanity. I also knew that it was going to take a lot of dialogue before he could fully understand what had happened the previous day. I had no idea there were even worse days to come; that the first, as yet undiagnosed, manic episode of my life hadn’t wrought, by any means, all the damage it held in store.

Keith Adams perennially wonders how an abnormally tall, working-class boy from the North Sea coast of England ended up in a house in Hollywood with two dogs, and his partner, a leading medical research scientist at UCLA. Although he writes for a living (computer code), he always hoped to do “real writing”, from experience. That opportunity came from being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2006, after a serious brush with insanity. At one point, he seriously believed he would be a combination gay superstar / epochal intellectual / latter day Messiah. Quite obviously, he became none of those things, but he did survive the inevitable crash to tell the tale, thanks to the support of friends and family.

His book, “Broken Whole: a California tale of Craziness, Creativity and Chaos”, a raw but entertaining memoir of mania, is available in e-book form from Chipmunka Publishing (paperback due later in 2010). Read additional extracts, and more about the author, at his website.

Introduction

It was April 2009, and I was just arriving at the London Book Fair at the Earls Court Exhibition Halls. I was intending on catching up with friends, my UK publisher, and having a general look at what was new in the publishing world. However, I knew that something remarkable had happened the minute I had arrived. An air of excitement and expectation filled the packed halls, and smiles were emanating from all around. Grown men were close to tears.

I instantly knew what had happened: the new Dan Brown book had been announced.

This was to be the start of nearly five months of manic preparation and debate. Clues and hints would be given out, opinions bandied about, and crazed supposition would fill thousands of web pages. However, let’s wind back the clock to the publication of Brown’s previous Robert Langdon thriller, The Da Vinci Code, in 2003.

Back then, Dan Brown was a semisuccessful author of several thrillers, one of which was the first Robert Langdon novel, Angels & Demons, published in 2000. Sales had been average to poor, and Brown’s publisher decided to take a gamble with The Da Vinci Code, sending out ten thousand free copies to bookstores and their book buyers, reviewers, and trade professionals. The plan worked, and soon sales really began to take off.

At the time, I was the editor in chief of a U.S.-based newsstand magazine called Phenomena. The Da Vinci Code was starting to cause quite a stir within the alternative-history genre that I inhabited; in fact, several authors that I had worked for as a researcher had their work credited as source material for Brown’s book. (Phenomena even ran an article “casting” the movie version of The Da Vinci Code, should it ever come to pass. For the record, not one of the actors we thought would be so terrific in the roles of Dr. Robert Langdon, Sir Leigh Teabing, and the book’s other characters was cast for Ron Howard’s 2006 film starring Tom Hanks.) Eventually a small London publisher approached me about writing a short guide to The Da Vinci Code. The book, Cracking the Da Vinci Code, went on to become an international best seller in its own right. I subsequently wrote Illuminating Angels & Demons, a companion to Brown’s other Langdon-based novel.

Intriguingly, the dust jacket of the U.S. hardcover edition of The Da Vinci Code seemed to contain clues hinting at the next novel in the series. This fascinated me, and I found out all I could about these clues and the secrets that they potentially held.

Time passed, and rumors began circulating that a title had been chosen. The new book was to be called The Solomon Key — an apparent reference to a medieval book on magic with the same title. Impatiently, I began researching all that I could about this centuries-old text, which supposedly was written in Italy during the Renaissance but claimed a lineage that went all the way back to King Solomon himself. Perfect material for a Dan Brown thriller, I thought. Brown’s publishing team registered a new website, solomonkey.com, and everything seemed poised for the new book to arrive soon.

More time passed . . . and more time passed . . . and still no definitive word about the new book, though plenty of fresh rumors abounded: Brown had scrapped the book; there would be no follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. Brown, exhausted from having fended off a high-profile copyright-infringement lawsuit in London, had decided to take an extended break from writing. It was even claimed that the 2004 movie National Treasure, starring Nicolas Cage as a treasure hunter seeking a mysterious war chest hidden by the Founding Fathers, had stolen so much of the forthcoming book’s thunder that it required a complete rewrite. The unsubstantiated allegations were completely fanciful, of course, but they replicated over and over like a virus on the ever-conspiratorial internet sites that monitored the story, sending the rumor mill into overdrive.

Then came the 2009 London Book Fair. Only a couple of months before, I had predicted to my UK publisher that the announcement would indeed be made at the London event. More in hope than expectation, it has to be said, but accurate nonetheless.

A press release was handed out by Brown’s publishers, and suddenly a new title presented itself. The Lost Symbol, to be published on September 15, 2009. What could such an enigmatic title mean? What was lost? Which symbol? The race was on, the game was afoot, and I rushed headlong into research-and-reading mode. What you hold in your hands before you is the outcome of that labor.

Before long, a new website appeared, at www.thelostsymbol.com, though nothing but a holding page was evident for quite a while. Then, out of the blue, the site added links to a Dan Brown Facebook page and Twitter feed. Excitement grew to fever pitch, as thousands of people became Facebook and Twitter followers of Dan Brown overnight.

Steadily, these new media outlets began to reveal tantalizing clues and tidbits of story line. With each revelation, I furiously took notes and researched everything I could find. It was as if a whole new world were opening up. It was a cornucopia of material, and I started ordering more new books for my library to cover some of the subjects mentioned.

Some of the clues actually gave coordinates to several locations, such as the so-called Bimini Road. This unusual underwater structure off the island of Bimini in the Bahamas is claimed to be a man-made edifice and a remnant of the lost island of Atlantis. I had spent two summers on Bimini a number of years back as part of my research for a book about Atlantis. “Great,” I thought, “now I have a head start on some of the material.” Coordinates were also given for the Great Pyramid of Giza, the last standing wonder of the ancient world and another place with which I was intimately familiar. Then there were coordinates to Newgrange in Ireland, a monumental passage tomb built around five thousand years ago. The stone structure is famous for its alignment to dawn on the winter solstice, when a narrow beam of light briefly illuminates the floor of the chamber. I had just visited Newgrange with the author and Freemason Chris McClintock.

Possible adversaries and secret societies were hinted at. Ciphers, codes, and cryptograms were revealed. Historical figures were mentioned. It was all adding up to a furious game of who could be first to reveal the answers to the clues. Websites sprang up detailing the background and history of some of the people, places, and groups being mentioned. It was an internet feeding frenzy.

Then I remembered something: Bishop Manuel Aringarosa, a character from The Da Vinci Code, whose name had a hidden meaning. Aringa is the Italian word for “herring”; rosa means “red.” Dan Brown liked to throw multiple red herrings into the mix. I began to look at the Twitter and Facebook clues in a new light. What if many of these were indeed red herrings? What if I were immersing myself in subjects that weren’t included in the published book? That’s when I stopped even looking at the Facebook and Twitter pages. After all, everything would be revealed on the day of publication, September 15.

Even this date, we were told, was part of the puzzle; chosen specifically for the book’s release. I began to check almanacs, history books, websites, conspiracy theorist blogs, but found nothing. Then it hit me: 09.15.09; 9 plus 15 plus 9 equals 33. So it was true. The Freemasons, and specifically Scottish Rite Freemasons, would be a central theme of the book — something that had been hinted at on the dust jacket of The Da Vinci Code years ago.

Then, before I knew it, publication day arrived. I began reading The Lost Symbol furiously. When I finished some twelve hours later, I realized that my suspicions had proved correct: many of the clues leaked over the previous months on Dan Brown’s Twitter and Facebook pages were indeed aringarosa — red herrings. There was no Morgan affair; no Aaron Burr; no William Wirt (and the strange story of his skull); no Knights of the Golden Circle; no substantial mentions of Albert Pike; no Benedict Arnold; no Confederate gold; no Babington plot; no Alexander Hamilton and the origins of the New York Stock Exchange; no Sons of Liberty; no Lost Colony of Roanoke; no Robert Hanssen, the U.S.-born Russian spy; no Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.

Cleverly, there was no Key of Solomon, either. Instead we have a family with the surname of Solomon, who hold the keys to the eventual outcome. The Great Pyramid figures in the story, though not prominently and not in the context that many had thought.

Dan Brown and his publishers had managed to pull off something of a coup, keeping the plotline of The Lost Symbol pretty much under wraps until the day of publication (although a couple of U.S. newspapers did print reviews the day before, in defiance of the publisher’s embargo). It was an amazing feat, especially considering that the book’s print run exceeded five million copies, and it guaranteed Brown a huge amount of media and public attention.

So: what did we end up with? Is The Lost Symbol a worthy successor to Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code?

The Lost Symbol is, in the end, a pretty good thriller that keeps Robert Langdon on his toes and involves some big themes and historical enigmas. However, it’s the deeper, more hidden elements of the book that I believe will have the most impact over time. Between the lines of the novel, Dan Brown has attempted to write something akin to a hidden Hermetic text. It’s a bold and ambitious undertaking, and one that I applaud him for. Indeed, the last ten chapters of the book and the epilogue are more or less an extended treatise on Deism, Hermetic thought, and religious tolerance.

The Freemasons are the secret society of choice this time around. I’m sure that there will be those who see Freemasonry as a covert, sinister movement intent on power and blasphemy. I see it rather differently. I am not a Freemason, nor will I ever be one. But I do know many Freemasons. Indeed, Ian Robertson, one of the chief researchers for this book, is a Freemason, as is my friend Chris McClintock, author of the soon-to-be-published Sun of God book series on the origins of the Freemasonry and its symbolism. Neither of them is in any way sinister, nor are the countless other Freemasons that I know and respect. I like the stance that Dan Brown has taken with Freemasonry within The Lost Symbol. Many commentators thought that the Masons would, in effect, be portrayed as the “bad guys,” but this is not the case. In fact, Brown makes a convincing argument for Freemasonry being a tolerant and enlightened movement with some interesting and forward-thinking ideas.

While it should be said that Freemasonry is a secretive society, it is not a secret society. Membership is easy to research and find out about, and most members are not shy about letting you know that they are within the craft, as it is called. Since the heyday of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, it has attracted men of a certain social standing and, to an extent, still does. But the group has become more welcoming as of late, and I hope that this trend continues.

One of the things I wanted to get across within some of the entries of this book is that maybe it’s not Freemasonry we should be wary of — instead maybe we should fear the real secret groups and societies of which we know very little or nothing. Then again, maybe we are simply chasing shadows, wisps of rumor and supposition that have tormented us for millennia; a fear of secret and hidden things that, in the end, may not be that secret or hidden after all. Another thing worth noting is that although many of the people mentioned in this book were not Freemasons (Pierre L’Enfant springs to mind), or at least we have no evidence that they were, they would have been intimately familiar with the society and its workings. Many of their contemporaries and peers would have been members, and the craft would have been all around. It seems likely, for instance, that Thomas Jefferson, though we have no direct evidence of his membership in a Masonic lodge, did have sympathies with the Masonic ideals of brotherhood, enlightenment, and religious tolerance.

Once again, like my previous guides to Dan Brown’s books, this book is laid out in an easy-to-read A-to-Z format. There are some sixty entries in all; fewer than in previous guides. This was deliberate, as I wanted to give you a much more in-depth took at some of the themes, places, people, and groups featured in the novel.

The BBC in the United Kingdom once called me “a historian of the obscure,” a title that I like very much indeed. I have aimed to bring you some of that history of obscure and hidden subjects within the pages of this book. If you feel the urge to look deeper and delve further into some of the interesting subjects highlighted here, take a look at the bibliography and start building your own library of esoteric and arcane subjects. Just make sure that you remember to sleep and eat while familiarizing yourself with the ancient mystery traditions — it’s an addictive pursuit but also a very rewarding one, and one that I hope many of you will undertake.

If you want to talk about, debate, or extol any of the subjects in this book or the novel itself, head over to my website at www.decodingthelostsymbol.com, where you will find a forum for debate and articles and blogs. If you want to contact me directly about any of the issues raised, I have my own Facebook page under my name and can be found on Twitter too (@FindSimonCox).

Writing this book was a lot of fun, and it has given me a newfound respect and admiration for the men who founded a new and fledgling nation in America, at the end of the eighteenth century. As a British writer and historian, it’s a period of history that I was not that familiar with and I have really enjoyed the research and subsequent writing about this tumultuous time. The Founding Fathers really were incredibly enlightened and forward-thinking men, who guided the formation of a republic with steady hands and an unwavering resolve. I will forever look at them, and this period of time, in a brand-new light from now on.

I hope you enjoy Decoding The Lost Symbol, and find its contents enlightening and interesting. I pass it on to you with the hope that you will find it as fun to read as it was to write.

Simon Cox
Bedford,
United Kingdom
September 2009

The above is an excerpt from the book Decoding The Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Expert Guide to the Facts Behind the Fiction by Simon Cox. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Simon Cox, author of Decoding The Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Expert Guide to the Facts Behind the Fiction

Simon Cox, author of Decoding The Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Expert Guide to the Facts Behind the Fiction, was the founding editor in chief of the successful newsstand magazine Phenomena. Having studied Egyptology at University College London, he went on to work as a research assistant for some of the biggest names in the alternative history game, including Graham Hancock, Robert Bauvel, and David Rohl. He splits his time between Britain and the United States.

You can visit his website at www.DecodingTheLostSymbol.com.

Every journey has a beginning; this one starts out in a small town southwest of St. Louis , Missouri back in the early 1960’s. Times were different back then; it seemed like everything was easier, more enjoyable, and everyone was a lot less competitive. In this town you knew all of your neighbors. As a child you could play outside alone from sunup to sundown. And it was much easier to develop lifelong friendships because there seemed to be a genuine sense of caring amongst everyone. Even though people were more communicative back then, there were still secrets kept which would never come to life. People enjoyed sharing the good times together; for the most part they kept the bad to themselves.

I was the oldest of three children that my parents brought into this world. As soon as I was born the people around me knew I was different. I was the center of attention, liked to laugh, enjoyed “moving” to the music, and loved being in the spotlight. I was always told that I had a special gift; a natural ability to make others feel good. When my brother was born, three years after me, I had to learn to share the stage. And seven years later, I had to share it even more when my sister was born.

In the 1960’s the typical family consisted of a stay-at-home mother, a working father, and some kids. As you grew up you were exposed to an equal amount of boy things and girl things. In my world that never happened. We three kids were raised by a divorced mother and her side of the family. For reasons I did not know, my father deserted the family when I turned eight. He was also on his own journey of self-discovery; it just took him longer than the average man to realize it. He left us kids with a mother who had no skills and no money. Mom could have just given up and slipped into a world of denial. Instead she decided to learn a trade, get a job, and she tried to give the three of us a decent childhood. In my eight-year-old eyes, she was a hero. Especially between the ages of eight and fifteen my mom was my voice of reason. I idolized her, I respected her, and I hoped to one day marry someone just like her. Between her and her side of the family we were taken care of, loved, and given the nurturing we needed to hopefully become normal, productive adults.

And yet my life took a bad turn after my dad left us. The effects of the separation and eventual divorce felt like it cut deep wounds into my insides. I can remember nights that the four of us would huddle on the couch and cry our eyes out because of what we were feeling. Being the oldest, I naturally took it the hardest. I wanted to help and support both my mom and my brother and sister. Here I was only eight and I was told I was the man of the house now. I always thought I was to blame for my parents’ divorce. Because of this my personality changed drastically. I went from being the center of attention to being extremely introverted, spending hours upon hours alone, in my room listening to music, reading books, and just thinking. The music I liked was not normal for a boy my age. I got absorbed into old country music with it’s songs about loneliness and hard times. Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn were my favorites. Even at my young age, I already felt attached to those feelings.

My grandmother was of Bohemian descent and family was very important to her. Although we never heard the words, “I love you” flow from the lips of any family member, we knew that we all cared for each other by the loving symbols that we saw. Her house was full of them, mostly evidenced by the presence of flowers, roses in particular. There were always fresh red roses which meant love and beauty; pink ones for appreciation, yellow ones meaning “I care” and friendship, and most importantly white roses which symbolized remembrance and respect.

My grandmother also made sure that religion and faith had an important role in our life. Because of this, wine–both red and white– also played a big part in our upbringing. She truly believed, “Drinking wine brings you closer to God.” And that sign hanging on her dining room wall that read, “God Works in Miraculous Ways ,” had to be true.

Every Sunday my mom would wake us up early, help us get dressed, and off we would go to church. We were Catholic, so each week we would listen to a sermon about what God wanted us to do, how He wanted us to behave, and what was right or wrong. These messages came from a priest who I felt never really understood the meanings. He was an older man, who according to Catholic law, could never marry, never have sex, never have kids, and should never do anything wrong. How could he deliver messages about things he never lived? I sensed this man was not the real deal. I never understood how adults could put so much belief into one religion or one person. Later on, this same priest who taught us about right and wrong was removed from the church for stealing money, drinking, and molesting young alter boys. This was the second man who I felt had failed me in my young life. I always believed that there was a higher power, but I had more faith that what you did was much more important than the type of building that you did it in. I treated people the way I wanted to be treated; I tried to be nice, while also being sensitive to everyone.

After church we would go back to my grandmother’s house for a big dinner with even more extended family. One person I really connected with was my great-grandmother, I called her Nana. The two of us could sit and talk about anything for hours. She would tell me stories about when she was growing up. At first I didn’t believe her when she told me, “We had no television, no electricity, and no indoor plumbing. Living on a farm, there weren’t that many other kids around either. I spent most of my time reading and doing chores. My favorite pastime was making noodles with my mom.”

There was a feeling I got around Nana that I felt nowhere else in my life. It was calming and relaxing. Part of that came from her distinctive smell. It was a woodsy aroma, not really feminine but not overly masculine either. It reminded me of the faint, almost sweet odor of fertilizer. Nana said, “What your nose detects is years of working on a farm and then spending all summer working my gardens to make them beautiful to look at.” Whatever it was, it worked on me.

I got along so well with her that my mom would let me spend all of my summers with her and my great-grandfather up at the cottage they owned in rural Wisconsin . The smells there were special too. The air was always filled with fresh cut green grass, the charcoal scents of a hamburger cooked on an open campfire, and the brackish seaweed that lay on the beaches in the early morning. It was a great place for me to be alone with my thoughts. I would spend most of the morning fishing on the small lake with him, the afternoons lying on the grassy hillside next to the cottage looking aimlessly into the sky, and then the night talking to Nana as we sat in two rocking chairs on the screened-in porch that overlooked the lake. We would share the night by sharing life.

As we sat together, drinking homemade lemonade and eating special sweets that she’d made during the day, Nana became my first exposure to the occult, ESP, UFO’s, and the afterlife. Anything that others thought of as abnormal was normal to her.

Her lemonade was really the part I enjoyed the most. She always floated a sprig of mint on top. I hated the taste of mint, but loved the smell, so I would take the sprig out of my glass and put it in my pocket so I could enjoy it later.

On the subject of religion, she reinforced my conviction that it does not matter how or where you worship God, as long as you believed in Him. She said, “Treating people with the respect they deserve is the best way to get into heaven.”

We also had another ritual which I still do to this day. Whenever the smell of rain came to the air–you know the smell–we would wait excitedly for the storm to hit. As soon as it did, there were the two of us out dancing in the downpour. Nana told me, “Rain is the cleansing agent God sends to wipe away your sins.”

She also taught me the first lesson of my journey: “You are going to meet many people throughout your life and if you want them to remember you, you must always be a little different, you must be sincere, and you must make them feel special, especially the girls.”

Philip Nork, author of Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male lives in Henderson, Nevada and is already working on the second book in his series, Sensitivity 102: Choices. Visit his website at www.philipnork.com to read more from the book and about him. You can also follow Philip on facebook at www.facebook.com/philipnork.

We hope you enjoyed that! You can find more book excerpts at The Cuckleburr Times by a variety of authors here.

Lifers seem to sense — seem to have learned, from years of hard-won experience — that the wicked stepmother has much to teach us about who we are and, counterintuitively perhaps, that she has a lesson or two to impart about surviving stepmotherhood with our self-respect intact. The happiest, most successful women with stepchildren, it seems, have first of all accepted the ugly truth that we will, some days, be ugly — jealous, resentful, and angry. Slowly, the women who succeed at marriage to a man with children learn that these charged feelings are not only terribly taboo; they are also grounded in reality. Jealousy, as stepfamily expert Elizabeth Church writes, comes from feeling powerless, and stepmothers are certainly often that. Resentment indicates that we are feeling unappreciated and that our overtures of kindness are going unreciprocated — another common and maddening reality of stepmother-stepchild relations. Anger may be a sign that our unrealistic expectations of stepfamily harmony have been dashed. Or it may be a healthy response to feeling spurned and unsupported for years on end, and it may eventually motivate us — and our husbands — to take constructive action.

Like the classic wicked stepmother, the happiest lifers no longer seem hobbled by the need to be liked by their stepkids. If things work out, that’s fine. And if they don’t, well, the lifers shrug as if to say, It’s okay to stop trying if you know you gave it your best. Some battles just can’t be won and aren’t worth my energy. Nor do successful lifers seem gagged by the fear that stepkids, husbands, friends, or the world at large will think of them as stepmonsters if they speak up about wanting respect and civil treatment, or to be treated as a person rather than an obstacle in front of Dad or a maid. Such fears and the need for approval are likely the biggest obstacles a stepmother must overcome in her quest to put her own happiness on a par with that of the rest of the family. It may be difficult or frightening at first to assert ourselves, feeling like outsiders in the family hierarchy as we likely do, but the alternative is worse. Again and again, women with stepkids showed me that it is a quick slide from “I bite my tongue when his kids say something rude or mean to me because I don’t want to get into an argument with them” to “I’m afraid to lay down the law in my own home.” Next stop is “I nag my husband to get his kids to act better and be nicer to me, and then he and I have a huge fight.” Then on to “I hate being a stepmother” and, finally, “I just can’t do this anymore.”

It might just be that some of the strategies of the classic wicked stepmother — toned down but essentially gleaned straight from her ostensibly evil behavior — can pull us back from the brink and even make marriage to a man with children pleasurable. Every day, for example, the wicked stepmother looks at her reflection and asks, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” The real life lesson here is not to be a homicidal, envious narcissist, of course, but to put yourself first. Stepmothers, as we have seen from the studies of their rates of burnout and depression, constantly lose sight of their own needs — arguably even of themselves — as they deal with, blame themselves for, and attempt to fix stepfamily dynamics. Giving yourself a little love will counterbalance the powerful but unreasonable cultural imperative that you must put his kids first. And a little vanity is the best antidote to the typical step-dilemma of becoming so consumed with the unhappiness that sometimes surrounds you that you forget you are an attractive woman, an appealing wife, and a compelling, sexy person — that is, that you have an identity apart from being a stepmom. As a stepmother of two teens told me, “Love thyself, because your stepkids won’t.”

The wicked stepmother does more than gaze at herself in the mirror, of course. She schemes, pulls strings, and consolidates her power. Real stepmothers have no need for any of that. Mostly. But it does pay for a woman with stepchildren to be canny, to observe, and to be strategic in her dealings with her husband and his kids. For example, there are worse things than helping your husband see that you are on the receiving end of quite a lot of bad treatment from his kids (whom he may naturally but unrealistically idealize until you help him see the truth about their behavior) and that it hurts you. It helps to remember that men generally have an easier time dealing with a wife who is sad or pained than one who is aggrieved and angry. Learning to show what is underneath your alienating fury — vulnerability and sadness — will not hurt your efforts. And as for power, don’t forget that you are, in fact, the queen of your household. Pandering and kowtowing to stepchildren of any age who do not respect you as one of the two people who rule your roost will not get them to like you, and it will not make them easier for you to like either. Lifers know that everyone wins when you can find it within yourself to say “Please don’t be rude to me in my home.”

The classic wicked stepmother is, of course, cold and unfeeling. She is emotionally stingy. And she may just have a point — sort of. After all, for a lot of good reasons, your stepkids are extremely unlikely to appreciate, let alone thank you for, your efforts with them. In all likelihood, neither will they gratify your desire to be loved. Your response should be never to give too much. Don’t give stepkids the opportunity to break anything of value to you, including your heart. Lowering your expectations of them and maintaining your focus on your own life — a toned-down version of being cold — will create a pressure-free environment in which a friendship might eventually take hold and even flourish.

Perhaps most notoriously, the wicked stepmother loves her own children best and doesn’t hesitate to put them first. The lesson here is not to be spiteful or petty, of course, or to overtly play favorites. But lifers and experts concur: don’t try to pretend that you love his kids and your kids the same, and don’t buy into the destructive belief that you should. His kids aren’t yours, you likely didn’t know them when they were beguiling babies or toddlers, and they are probably not making an effort to be lovable now. No guilt and no self-flagellating, then, when those without a clue observe, “You probably love them like they’re your own,” and it makes you want to roll your eyes. The expectations of the uninformed — especially regarding “maternal” behavior — are a particular burden for stepmothers. But others’ hopes needn’t become your obligation. Knowing the difference between what you can realistically achieve and what others think you ought to be able to do is the equivalent of a lifeline for women with stepkids.

The above is an excerpt from the book Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin, Ph.D. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Wednesday Martin, Ph.D., author of Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do



Wednesday Martin Ph.D., author of Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do was a regular contributor to the New York Post’s parenting page for several years, and her work has appeared in a number of national magazines. She earned her doctorate in comparative literature from Yale and taught cultural studies and literature at Yale, the New School, and Baruch College. Martin, a stepmother for nine years, lives in New York City with her husband and their two sons.

For more information please visit www.WednesdayMartin.com.

ARIES
March 21-April 20

Strengths: Independent, Honest, Energetic
Weaknesses: Self-unaware, Demanding, Pushy
Interactive Style: Purposeful, Focused, Dynamic

The Aries Relationship

Aries romantic partners can be counted on for their honesty and desire to maintain a close involvement. However, their dynamism is so great that you may not be able to meet their constant demands on your energies. Although they are extremely independent — and most likely will encourage you to be so also — they will also want to have daily contact with you, whether virtual, auditory, or physical. They would hate being called needy, since their self-image is one of total independence, yet they are in fact very dependent on their boyfriend or girlfriend, at the very least to listen to them, take their advice seriously, and obey their commands.

TAURUS
April 21-May 21

Strengths: Loving, Caring, Involved
Weaknesses: Overpossessive, Controlling, Manipulative
Interactive Style: Forthright, Frank, Giving

The Taurus Relationship
Tauruses tend to be very possessive in matters of love. They will look at you as belonging to them as much as their home, their car, or their clothes, and they will consider this a great compliment to you. Problems arise, of course, if you do not entirely agree with them, insisting that you are your own person and have the freedom to do as you wish. They may even seem to agree with you, since it only reinforces their belief in their own fairness and shows how secure their love for you really is. But, in fact, they will never want to share you or give you up when their feelings go deep enough.
 

GEMINI
May 22-June 21

Strengths: Fascinating, Spicy, Sparkling
Weaknesses: Unpredictable, Abrupt, Misleading
Interactive Style: Oblique, Persuasive, Flirtatious

The Gemini Relationship
Having Gemini boyfriends or girlfriends will certainly bring some spice into your life, as well as a good dose of uncertainty, since it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict their behavior. Changing moods guarantee few dull moments but can also put a crimp in your plans or undermine the structure of your relationship. Making appointments can be particularly difficult since, although they usually arrive on time (when they do show up), the greatest danger is that they will abruptly cancel an appointment they never really intended to keep anyway. Exasperating but fascinating, these ephemeral creatures will lead you on a merry chase.

CANCER
June 22-July 22

Strengths: Affectionate, Kind, Giving
Weaknesses: Irritable, Selfish, Withdrawn
Interactive Style: Self-protective, Accepting, Dependent

The Cancer Relationship
Cancers enjoy being in a steady relationship. Very much creatures of habit, they get used to having their partners at their beck and call. As a result, they will count on them for everything from financial help to sex. Liking things to go well, these folks are affectionate and kind, as long as they get their way. When denied their wishes, they get very crabby and irritable, often withdrawing into their shell and striking out in anger and resentment. Like their symbol, the crab, they are highly self-protective but are also no strangers to pain.

LEO
July 23-August 23

Strengths: Confident, Enthusiastic, Supportive
Weaknesses: Career-oriented, Ambitious, Egotistical
Interactive Style: Proud, Demanding, Pushy

The Leo Relationship
Leo boyfriends/girlfriends are involved, committed, enthusiastic, and, in general, supportive of your relationship with them, up to a point. They can be counted on not only on weekends but occasionally during the week as well, as long as you do not interfere with their ambitious career plans. Avoid situations in which they must choose between devoting time to you or to their job, since even if they choose you it may be because they feel pressured to do so. Remember that although Leos may hate to lose you, they are always confident in their abilities to find a replacement.

VIRGO
August 24-September 22

Strengths: Structured, Orderly, Prepared
Weaknesses: Compulsive, Tight, Unyielding
Interactive Style: Calculated, Precise, Orderly

The Virgo Relationship
The fringe benefits of Virgo boyfriends/girlfriends become apparent when scheduling travel, making arrangements and reservations, and planning for the future. Virgos will leave little room for error in their shrewd calculations and need to put such matters in order. Sometimes you will wish they did not need to pin down everything so precisely and left a bit of wiggle room for last-minute changes, but for the most part, they will spare you a lot of time and trouble. Generally speaking, Virgo boyfriends/girlfriends serve the relationship rather than their partners and do their best to preserve its integrity as well as its limits.

LIBRA
September 23-October 22

Strengths: Giving, Affectionate, Loving
Weaknesses: Unhappy, Needy, Selfish
Interactive Style: Selective, Expectant, Affectionate

The Libra Relationship
If you are to be Libra’s boyfriend or girlfriend, you had better talk, act, and look good. Libras are very choosy when it comes to those they want to be seen with in public; they also expect to be treated well and shown a good time. You can expect rewards from Libras, but it will be clear that your constant appreciation of them is expected without any thought of receiving anything in return. That said, Libras are very giving in relationships, and those who have their love and full attention are indeed blessed. Problems arise when Libras become unhappy, and these difficulties should not be ignored but addressed as soon as possible, before things get out of hand.

SCORPIO
October 23-November 21

Strengths: Caring, Protective, Interested
Weaknesses: Jealous, Possessive, Angry
Interactive Style: Involved, Serious, Self-contained

The Scorpio Relationship
Scorpio boyfriends/girlfriends can be both jealous and possessive. They fully expect your unilateral involvement with them, and at the first signs of your interest in someone else, they are likely to either lash out in anger or become silent, withdrawn, and depressed. Scorpios figure that because they give a lot they should also get a lot, and that you are lucky to have them. But beyond that, for a Scorpio, love is a territorial thing — they just don’t like someone messing with their chosen one. Also protective, they have a real interest in the well-being of their loved ones and can show quiet concern over them in times of illness and need.

SAGITTARIUS
November 22-December 21

Strengths: Ardent, Good-humored, Positive
Weaknesses: Disappointed, Hopeless, Abandoned
Interactive Style: Optimistic, Philosophical, Improving

The Sagittarius Relationship
Sagittarians make ardent and intense boyfriends/girlfriends. Yet they can also be quite relaxed, enjoying conviviality, good humor, and delighting in the many pleasures of life. Their positive orientations and excessive energies make them a valuable partner, one who will always seek the best in any situation and bring out the best in you, as their partner. They are not good at handling disappointment, however, and may sink into deep depressions when things are not working out. Easily disappointed, their positive orientations can plummet when rejected, leaving them feeling hopeless and abandoned. However, their buoyant spirits revive quickly, and their philosophical orientation urges them to do better next time.

CAPRICORN
December 22-January 20

Strengths: Selective, Efficient, Deep
Weaknesses: Opportunistic, Snobbish, Picky
Interactive Style: Serious, Demanding, Direct

The Capricorn Relationship
Capricorns are likely to treat sex in a very matter-of-fact but also highly natural manner. A typical Capricorn attitude is “I got into bed quickly with the other person to get that out of the way; then we could get to know each other better.” Although they are very physical beings, going beyond sex is important to a Capricorn, who usually prefers to develop a serious and deep relationship rather than a brief, superficial one. Capricorns are quite capable of holding back until the right person comes along. Thus their innate efficiency and selectivity keeps them from wasting time and energy on losers.

AQUARIUS
January 21-February 19

Strengths: Fun, Interesting, Exciting
Weaknesses: Drifting, Noncommitted, Unfaithful
Interactive Style: Bright, Cheerful, Open

The Aquarius Relationship
The Aquarius boyfriend/girlfriend is faithful up to a point — that point usually being when something more interesting comes along. Thus if you can manage to keep Aquarians’ faces turned toward you and can satisfy their prodigious and often kinky needs, you stand a chance for longevity in the relationship. Invariably you will have to be forgiving when they do inevitably stray, and be able to laugh off some involvements as being trivial. Your own self-assurance may be the one most important anchor for the ever-drifting Aquarius ship. Needless to say, Aquarians can be more fun than a barrel of monkeys, albeit just as difficult to keep under control.

PISCES
February 20-March 20

Strengths: Passionate, Seductive, Romantic
Weaknesses: Possessive, Controlling, Fearful
Interactive Style: All-involving, Uncompromising, Committed

The Pisces Relationship
Pisces boyfriends and girlfriends give their all in any full-blown romantic relationship. Even the most ordinary or prosaic pairings are given new life and suffused with the profound emotions of a Pisces partner. Those involved with them will attest to their demanding, possessive, seductive, controlling, and passionate natures. Even the most fickle or independent of boyfriends or girlfriends will find it difficult or impossible to carry on other relationships at the same time, and long after their Pisces friend is gone they may well remain in an exhausted state of shock for some time to come.

The above is an excerpt from the book Gary Goldschneider’s Everyday Astrology by Gary Goldschneider. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

©2009 Gary Goldschneider, author of Gary Goldschneider’s Everyday Astrology, Quirk Books

Gary Goldschneider, author of Gary Goldschneider’s Everyday Astrology, is an astrologer and the author of several best-selling books, includingThe Secret Language of Birthdays, The Secret Language of Relationships, and The Secret Language of Destiny. He has studied astrology for forty years and frequently lectures and writes on the subject. An accomplished pianist and composer, he has performed in concerts and recitals worldwide. He lives in Amsterdam, where he writes a regular astrology column for AvantGarde magazine. Visit him on the Web at mypersonology.com and goldschneider.com.

The financial crisis that began in 2008 continues to unfold in unprecedented ways, thereby presenting business leaders with incredible challenges. How does one manage in such a crisis-laden environment? Here are “Ten Things To Do” based on my 40+ years in business.

#1 — Get the truth out on the table. You need to begin with an open, honest, candid assessment of the facts. Sometimes the truth can be ugly, but you’re not in a position to deal with it until you get it out on the table. Making unrealistic assumptions only will prompt inaction, with things getting worse before they get better. Get out in front of the problem.

#2 — Establish standards for the new reality. When markets collapse, you can’t be sure how far they will fall, but you can establish an expectation for how your company will perform relative to whatever happens. At Saatchi & Saatchi, even though our revenue may be down year to year, we expect to outperform the market by 50%. This sets a high standard for our people. We also recognize that there will be margin pressures, but we expect to “draw the line” at X%”, in order to preserve our financial profile for the future. This implies tight management of costs at the same time we aim to outperform the market.

#3 — Think long term; Act short term. Downturns in the economy present the opportunity for far-sighted companies to go for share of market. Inevitably, some of your competitors will pull back when times get tough. Take advantage of this to position your enterprise to gain when the inevitable market rebound takes place.

#4 — Communicate, communicate, communicate. This is the time to increase the frequency of your internal communications and heighten your personal presence in front of the organization. People are understandably nervous and sometimes scared during uncertain times. Now is the opportunity to rally the troops and give them reassurance that your company will be out in front in dealing with what needs to be done.

#5 — Get “All hands on deck.” Tough times call for extraordinary efforts on the part of every employee. You can’t get the job done alone. Now is the time to enlist every person in doing whatever must be done to ensure survival and prosperity. Outhustling your competition is the surest path to gaining share of market.

#6 — Get out with customers. Heightening your interaction with customers will keep you tuned in to their needs and give you constant feedback regarding where the environment is headed. Meeting customer needs and exceeding expectations are the two sure pathways to success.

#7 — Stay true to what made you great in the first place. Most high performing companies got that way for a reason. Now is not the time to lose sight of this. Toyota has achieved success in the U.S. car market through innovation and continuous improvement. Despite the current downtrend in auto sales, they are innovating by introducing the Venza, and putting into the marketplace the third generation improvement for the Prius. These are the kind of actions that will keep them out in front.

#8 — Reframe value for the new environment. Marketers should reassess their messages for relevance in the current economic conditions. Tide always has been the best laundry detergent, but in this environment, it doesn’t hurt to remind consumers that its color integrity feature keeps new clothes looking new longer. For Olay it’s relevant to mention that the cost of Olay pales in comparison to more invasive or surgical procedures.

#9 — Add/Reduce; Create/Eliminate. Despite the economy, it’s likely that your company needs to add some new positions and create some new capabilities in order to meet the demands of the marketplace. You should press ahead in these areas, but you need to have the organization simultaneously thinking about how it reduces and eliminates things as well. Tough times force trade-offs.

#10 — Set tight priorities. Now, more than ever, is the time to set tight priorities. Decide what is core, and what is non-core, and focus your time and attention on the critical few things that will make a difference.

Tough times can bring out the best in organizations and prompt actions that will position your company for future success. Follow these ten things and you will do well.

Copyright © 2009 Bob Seelert, author of Start with the Answer: And Other Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders.

Bob Seelert, author of Start with the Answer: And Other Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders, is Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, a leading global ideas and advertising company. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, he has been CEO of five companies, has built brands and businesses, been a party to two mega-mergers, and enacted numerous turnarounds. He has served on boards of directors of companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut.

For more information please visit www.StartwiththeAnswer.com

Don’t miss our Cuckleburr Times review of Start with the Answer right here.

Nancy took out a disciplinary referral form and wrote Michael Tayler at the top. “Now tell me exactly what happened.”

Everything was fine in homeroom. Michael was jittery, but at least he wasn’t acting out. Maybe Anna was right, and he was just stressed about being in a new school without a peer group. Since I had lunch duty, I checked to see if anybody was sitting at his table. There’s nothing that spells “Loser” like sitting alone in the cafeteria. At first, Michael was the only occupant at a six-seater in the back corner. Then Jessica Corcoran came in with her friend, Chelsea Hopkins, and they sat on either side of him. Jessica is one of those kindhearted types who would probably take in a stray skunk. It must have bothered her to see Michael sitting by himself. All that female attention perked him up, and soon the three of them were chatting and laughing like old friends.

About five minutes before the end of the period, I was making a final clean-up check when I passed Michael’s table. The girls had cleared their places, but the area in front of Michael was littered with crumpled food wrappers, a half-filled bottle of Snapple, an empty potato chip bag, and a pile of used paper napkins.

“Michael, the bell’s going to ring soon. You need to throw away that trash.”

I’d never seen someone look down their nose while looking up, but somehow Michael managed to do just that. “I think you’ve got me mixed up with the help,” he said.

Help? If you don’t lose the attitude, you’ll need help picking your teeth up off the floor. I decided to count to three before I responded.

Jessica and Chelsea turned to him with identical, appalled expressions, but his eyes were fixed on me.

I glared back at him. “Unfortunately,” I said, “in this school you’re expected to clean up after yourself.”

“Why?” he asked. “Isn’t that what janitors are for?”

My fingers itched to slap his insolent face. Before I could respond, Jessica came to the rescue.

“C’mon, Michael. Chelsea and I will help you.” She started gathering the paper napkins, and Michael’s eyes broke away from mine just as the bell rang. He wadded the rest of the trash together, picked up the Snapple bottle, and followed Jessica to the trash can.

I didn’t see him again until the kids were at their lockers. He was talking to Jessica when Bryan Grant and Alex Benitez came down the hall. They were horsing around like they always do, shoving each other as they walked. Alex pushed Bryan into Michael, and Michael dropped his binder. Papers went flying.

Bryan looked surprised. “Yo, dude. My bad.” he said.

Michael spun around. “You stupid asswipe!” He punched Bryan in the chest, knocking him into the bank of lockers across the hall. Bryan didn’t even have time to react. Alex dropped his books, ready to jump to his friend’s defense.

I grabbed Michael by the shirt. “Michael, calm down.”

“Let go of me, you bitch!” he shouted, trying to twist out of my grasp.

Wanna see a bitch? I’ll show you a bitch. I tightened my grip on his shirt and yanked as hard as I could. Luckily, Charlie Donner was nearby. He helped me separate the boys before a full-scale fight broke out. Then we marched them to the office and turned the matter over to Don Clayton.

Don is the vice-principal in charge of discipline. He’s an intense, quiet man, built like an NFL linebacker, with skin the color of mahogany. The students call him “The Enforcer.” They’d be surprised to learn that he spends Saturday afternoons mentoring homeless kids. Don has one of the toughest jobs in the school. He spends half his time dealing with problem students and the other half trying to reason with irate parents who insist that their little darlings couldn’t possibly be to blame. Talk about the job from hell. Whatever he gets paid isn’t nearly enough.

Charlie and I left the boys with Don, and I went to the guidance office to file a discipline report.

Nancy finished writing. Then she pushed her glasses up onto her head and looked me in the eye. “So it’s your opinion that Michael overreacted, and the other boy was not at fault.”

“Seemed that way to me.”

“You realize this could mean an out-of-school suspension for him.”

Boo-freaking-hoo. Suspension was one of the most serious penalties in Morrison’s discipline code, the result of a new “zero tolerance” policy enacted to eliminate school violence.

“I know,” I said. “But as much as I’d love a few Michael-free days, I wouldn’t let that color my judgment. Michael just lost it. Bryan and Alex may be itches, but they’re relatively harmless. I’ve never known them to harass anybody. They’re too busy annoying each other.”

Nancy pinched the bridge of her nose. “Please don’t think I’m questioning your judgment. I just want you to be certain of your facts. This could become a little—volatile.”

“Meaning?”

“Do you recognize the name Bennett Tayler?”

My gurgling stomach was interfering with my brain’s capacity for higher-level thought, so I popped another animal cracker to clear my head. “Sounds vaguely familiar. What’s the connection?”

“Bennett Tayler is the president and CEO of TechTron Industries. He also happens to be Michael Tayler’s father.”

Bad news flash. The synapses in my brain started firing on all cylinders. TechTron was one of the biggest employers in Morrisonville. Bennett Tayler was one of our town’s major VIP’s.

“Bennett Tayler has friends in high places—including our school board,” Nancy continued. “And judging from the info I’ve squeezed out of Elgin’s guidance department, he takes a dim view of anyone who criticizes his son.”

Just what we need around here. Another screwy parent. Suddenly I wasn’t hungry anymore. “Now I see where this is going. But it doesn’t change what happened. Michael was definitely the instigator. Bryan didn’t even throw a punch.”

“I’m not saying we should give Michael special consideration. You know me better than that. I just want to make sure you’re protected in case this gets nasty.” Nancy set her pen down. “It seems Mr. Tayler caused some massive headaches for the Elgin staff. One of Michael’s teachers was even forced to resign. I couldn’t get Michael’s counselor to give me any of the details, but he hinted that it had something to do with a dispute between the teacher and Bennett Tayler. So I want you to go into this with both eyes wide open.”

The animal cracker I was chewing had turned to sawdust in my mouth. I swallowed hard as I considered my response.

“Well, I saw what I saw. If Bennett Tayler wants to dispute that, let him try. I was there. He wasn’t. And the day I bend over to some pushy parent is the day I hand in my chalk.” With any luck, I sounded braver than I felt.

Nancy shook her head. “I knew you’d say something like that. But sometimes being right isn’t enough. Can I give you some friendly advice?”

“I’ve never been able to stop you before.”

“Start documenting every encounter with Michael. Get a notebook, and write down dates, times, places, and everything that was said and done. Start with homeroom yesterday, and try to remember every detail up to and including today.” She shrugged. “Who knows? We may be lucky, and this whole thing will blow over. If that’s the case, your notes might still be useful. Maybe we can find some pattern in Michael’s behavior that will help us figure him out.”

I took another handful of animal crackers and gave Nancy a hug. “You’re the best. What would I do without you?”

“One thing for sure—you’d have to find another source for your animal cracker fix. Now get going or you’ll be late for seventh period. We’ll have to reschedule our lunch date, unless all those crackers you ate count as lunch.”

I popped a lion into my mouth. Then I went back to my room and searched through my desk until I found a notebook I’d bought in Disney World. It had a big, grinning picture of Goofy on the cover. I opened to the first page and started writing.

The conversation with Nancy had unnerved me, so I had to force myself to stay focused on my last two classes. The seventh period kids were so bright and motivated, they didn’t seem to notice. Michael Tayler was conspicuously absent from my eighth period class, and rumors were flying. I heard the police took Michael away in handcuffs. Bryan had to go to the hospital— they think he has a concussion! Bryan’s parents are suing the Taylers for everything they’ve got. Bryan’s head was split open. There was blood everywhere! Alex and Bryan are gonna jump Michael on the way home from school. That’ll teach him to mess with Morrison boys.

Practically the only thing I didn’t hear was that Michael was abducted by aliens, but I could understand why they wouldn’t want him. Anyway, I knew better than to pay attention to the flurry of gossip. High school kids bore easily, and today’s high drama would be tomorrow’s old news. By the end of the week, everyone would most likely have forgotten the Michael Tayler affair. Everyone, that is, except me.

After the dismissal bell rang, I opened my Goofy book and checked that each detail I’d written was accurate. I was so lost in thought, I didn’t hear Chris come in.

“Earth to Jenna.”

I jumped as if he’d jabbed me with a cattle prod. “Dammit! You almost gave me a coronary.”

“Hey, calm down. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He looked like a puppy caught chewing a new shoe.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “It’s not your fault. I’ve just got something on my mind.”

“Want to tell me about it? Might make you feel better.”

I considered that for a moment. “You know, it just might. I would like to talk, but not here.”

“Why don’t I cook up some dinner and bring it over to your place? We can talk while we eat. I’ve got a great new recipe I want to try, and I need a guinea pig.”

“Where did you find a recipe for guinea pig?”

Chris laughed as he sat down on the corner of my desk. “Not what I meant, but I’ll bet I could even make a guinea pig taste good.”

“I may have skipped lunch, but I’m not that hungry.”

“Probably because your stomach’s full of animal crackers.”

“So you’ve been talking to Nancy.”

“I happened to pass her in the hall, and she said you needed feeding.”

Nancy the Matchmaker strikes again. She’s decided that Chris and I belong together, and she never misses an opportunity to pair us up. Not that I’m complaining.

“I need feeding, huh? What does she think I am—some kind of zoo animal?”

Chris stood up and looked at his watch. “I’ll come by around seven. Make sure you throw a cover over Mongo the Killer Bird.”

“Make Brutus an extra serving of whatever you’re cooking, and I’m sure he’ll do his best to tolerate you. And bring a bottle of wine. Or three. It’s been a long day.”

Chris arched an eyebrow. “This is beginning to sound promising. Shall I bring candles too? And massage oil?”

“Don’t push your luck. Now go. I’m starving.” I shoved him out the door, fantasizing about the massage oil.

Once I got home, I had to forget about Bennett Tayler. The house looked like the “before” version of a home makeover show. A film of dust dulled the hardwood. Fingerprints smeared the glass-topped coffee table. The tan microfiber sofa was barely visible under a heap of unfolded laundry. An impressive spider web adorned the ceiling fan, and unwashed dishes filled the sink. A nearly empty glass of root beer was stuck to the crumb-covered kitchen table. If my grandmother wasn’t already dead, she’d die of shame.

To make matters worse, Brutus had expressed his indignation over missing breakfast by flinging parrot food onto the living room floor. The colorful pellets crunched under my feet as I walked toward his cage.

“Hey, buddy. Sorry I ignored you this morning. Want to come out and play?”

Brutus wasn’t letting me off the hook that easily. He turned his back and gave a shake. One golden feather floated to the bottom of the cage.

“Come on. I said I was sorry.” No response. This called for heavy artillery, so I reached for a walnut.

“Want this?” I wiggled the walnut under his beak.

“CRACKER.” He stepped onto my arm, and all was forgiven.

“You are such a nut-whore,” I told him. He looked at me and grunted.

“Now we have to have a serious talk. Chris is coming over tonight, and I want you to be nice to him.” Brutus pretended to study the walnut. “I mean it. Chris is my friend, and you have to behave.”

I carried Brutus into the kitchen and placed him on his perch while I performed my not-so-merry maid routine. He crunched into the walnut, crumbling shells onto the white linoleum. When I took out the vacuum cleaner, he froze.

“I know you don’t like this, but you made a mess.” As the vacuum roared to life, Brutus let out such a skull-splitting screech that I immediately switched it off.

“Okay, you win this time. But only because the last thing I need right now is a headache.” I put the vacuum away and took out a nice, quiet broom. After sweeping the floor, I gathered the loose papers that littered the room and crammed them into my bottom desk drawer. Then I wiped the kitchen table, covered it with a flowered tablecloth, and set it for two. Not bad, even without the candles.

I was touching up my lipstick when I heard odd thumps coming from the front door. Yanking it open, I narrowly missed being kicked by Chris’s left foot. His day-glo orange oven mitts cradled a steaming pot that released a heavenly fragrance. My salivary glands kicked into high gear.

Chris elbowed me out of the way. “Move over. I’ve got to put this down. These mitts are heating up.”

I followed him into the kitchen like a bloodhound tracking fresh meat. “Smells great. What is it?”

Chris removed the mitts and rubbed his hands together. “Beef Bourguignon. It’s a classic French stew made with burgundy wine. You said you wanted wine, right? And there’s a bag in my car with a couple bottles of Chianti Reserve and a loaf of French bread. Could you get it? I have to put the finishing touches on the stew.”

I hurried out to the car and wrapped my arms around the large brown bag in the passenger seat. It radiated warmth and a marvelous bakery aroma. I tried not to drool on it as I carried it inside.

“Okay, let’s eat.” I set the bag on the table.

“Don’t you have a bread basket? I made this bread myself. It’s too good to be served from a paper bag.”

I rummaged around in the cabinet under the sink until I found a tired-looking wicker basket that once held a floral arrangement. “How’s this?”

“It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess it’ll have to do.” He lined the basket with a white napkin. “There, that’s better. Now where’s the corkscrew? This wine has to breathe.”

“Breathing wine? Sounds like something from a Stephen King novel.”

Chris gave me the look he reserved for students who couldn’t add. “Red wine needs to be uncorked for at least fifteen minutes to allow the full flavor to develop.”

“Fifteen minutes? Are you kidding? I’ll starve to death.”

“Trust me—it’ll be worth the wait. Have a piece of bread.”

He ripped off a hunk of the warm, spongy bread and held it to my mouth. Before I could get my teeth into it, an angry tirade erupted from the living room.

“BAD. NO-NO-NO-NO.”

Brutus’s feathers were standing up like blue and gold daggers, and the pupils of his eyes had shrunk to pinpricks. Both wings were outstretched, and he was shifting from foot to foot as if to say, Okay, pal, bring it on.

“Oh, look,” I said. “Brutus is saying hello.”

Chris waved his arms at the infuriated bird. “Hi there, Psycho. Happy to see me?”

“DAMMIT,” Brutus shrieked.

“Stop teasing him. Why don’t you try to win him over instead?” I pointed to the bread.

“What? Give my gourmet creation to a bird?” Chris was interrupted by a high-pitched screech.

“Rather listen to that?”

Chris took the bread to Brutus’s cage. Brutus hissed, eying it as if it were some kind of bird-eating snake.

“It’s a peace offering,” Chris said. “Want it or not?”

The aroma must have been irresistible because Brutus smoothed his feathers and poked the tip of his beak through the bars. Chris pinched off a small chunk of bread and gingerly passed it to him.

“There,” I said. “Now you two can be friends.” They both looked at me as if I’d beamed down from the Bizarro World. Then Brutus tore into the bread, and Chris hurried back to the kitchen.

“Dinner is served.” Chris placed two steaming bowls on the table and handed me a glass of wine. I inhaled the rich, fruity fragrance and took a sip, feeling warmth kindling in my stomach. Then I dipped a chunk of bread into my bowl, blew on it, and took a bite. The burst of flavor made my eyes roll back into my head.

“Oooh, this is unbelievable. What’s in it?”

Chris rocked back on his heels and smiled. “A good chef never reveals his secrets. But since this is just between you and me…”

I listened in awed silence as he described the intricacies of French stew construction. Since my idea of cooking is nuking a frozen dinner, I’m fascinated by people who can prepare food from scratch.

When Chris finished, he smoothed his napkin on his lap. “Now that I’ve told you my secret, tell me yours. What’s bothering you?”

“Are you sure you want to hear about it? It’ll probably spoil the mood.”

“If things get too heavy, we’ll have more wine.”

I told him about Bennett Tayler, the fight, and the problems at Elgin. He listened without saying a word.

“So,” I said, “now you’ve got the whole, ugly story. Any nuggets of wisdom to offer?”

Chris drained his wine in one swallow. “Jen, this isn’t something to take lightly. You’re not a tenured teacher. This kind of trouble could put your job at risk.”

“Are you saying I should ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away, or blame it on another kid to keep Bennett Tayler off my back?”

“No. Just be cautious and logical. I know that’s hard for you. Nancy gave you some sound advice. Document everything.”

“Done.”

“And try to keep out of Michael Tayler’s way.”

“How can I? He’s in my homeroom and my English class.”

Chris thought for a moment. “Keep your interactions with him to a minimum. Don’t give his father any ammunition to use against you.”

“You make this sound like warfare.”

Chris refilled the wineglasses. “That’s exactly what it might become.”

After Chris left, I was too wired to sleep, so I decided to read for a while. Then I spotted a stack of ungraded papers on my desk—the cinquains from my eighth period class. I tossed my Dean Koontz novel onto the bedside table, figuring that poems about pet cats and dogs would put me to sleep a lot faster. I flipped the top paper over and, sure enough, the first line read, “My dog.” Smiling beagles frolicked around the border, and my eyes started to glaze over.

After grading fifteen more papers, I felt like I had a head full of cotton balls, so I put my red pen down and called it a night. I was about to switch off the light when I noticed “Mike Tayler” scribbled across the top of a ragged-edged sheet of notebook paper. My curiosity got the best of me, and I pulled the paper free.

What I saw blew all the cobwebs out of my brain. The illustration at the bottom of the page showed a gaunt face surrounded by a mane of wild, red hair. Two tortured green eyes peered through splayed fingers. Spinning outward from the sides of the face were black, writhing tornadoes. Flecks of yellow swirled through the design like angry hornets. The motif snaked around the perimeter of the paper, its effect eerie yet strangely powerful. In the center of the page, written in Michael’s barely legible scrawl, were these words:

My thoughts

Scattered, restless,

Bouncing, spinning, whirling,

Their static buzzes in my brain.

Mind-bits.

The raw intensity of the work hit me like a hammer to the chest. I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I read the poem again. What was going on here? And as I read his words, Michael Tayler, the surly, irritating little brat morphed into a tormented, desperate boy crying for help.

Jackie Minniti is a retired teacher and education writer. She is  currently a columnist for The Island Reporter, a publication that  serves the South Gulf Beaches in St. Petersburg, Florida. Jackie lives on nearby  Treasure Island with her husband and two rather noisy macaws. Project June Bug, her first novel, has garnered a Royal Palm Literary Award, an  Eric Hoffer Book Award, a Cordon d’Or Award, a Next Generation Indie Book Award,  and four Parent to Parent Life Buzz Awards including “2009 Top Ten  Products”. For more about Project June Bug, including ordering information,  you can visit the author’s website at www.jackieminniti.com

This excerpt is from Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman. The chapter is entitled Living and Working with Purpose.

Everything that arises in your life is there for one purpose only — to teach you to exercise an underutilized aspect of your life. Because work involves contact with other people, the underutilized aspects of your life can become more apparent as you compare and contrast yourself with others. Of course, this can only happen when you’re present. Sometimes this can be particularly painful; it’s a natural reaction to resist and avoid those aspects of ourselves that are weak. But sometimes the most painful lessons are the ones that have the most benefit in the long run.

First, there has to be a you, and then there is your job. Similarly, as a parent, although you are responsible for the development of your child, you are still you. The previous chapters have helped you look at that being who is you; this chapter takes it one step further in helping bring that inner self to the workplace. The most important aspect in doing that is congruency — striving to match your inner self with your outer self and creating harmony between your heart and your head. When we look at the outer world, we don’t see the world as it is; we see it only as we are at that moment. Yes, you’re going to have to work, but if you can see that when you change your beliefs, you change the world around you, the chances of your creating congruency increase exponentially.

Here’s a simple way to think about changing your beliefs and how doing so changes the world around you. Have you ever bought a car and then suddenly noticed how many cars the same as the model you bought are on the road? It’s a pretty common reaction. But there aren’t really any more of those cars on the road (except yours): what has changed is your awareness of that particular make and model of car. By purchasing the car that you did, you changed your vested interest in the car, and you brought a new level of attention to it, thereby changing your view and belief about that car.

The discussion of work in this chapter is divided into seven sections:

1. Why work?
2. What are you “supposed” to do?
3. What are you doing?
4. You are going to have to struggle.
5. You are going to have to develop discipline.
6. Success isn’t easy or self-sustainable.
7. Are you going to be the CEO?

These sections cover work from the inside (how do you approach work) to the outside (what does your work have to do with you).

Why Work?

When you sit down and think about your life, think about this: the question is not what or why, but how are you going to live? Work is an integral part of how you’re going to live and how you are going to be in the world. A fulfilling life is passion driven and a big part of that life derives from the work that you do. It doesn’t matter what the work is. What matters is the passion that you have behind it and that you put into it. The same applies for the rest of your life.

Each one of us has a reason for being and a contribution to make; why not strive to make these more than financial survival? Yes, finances are important, but if you work at a job that just pays the bills without providing an outlet for your passion, then the ultimate cost to you is far more than the bills that might be due. The cost is compromising and stifling your creative intellect and wasting your time — a whole lot of it. Know that you can be in control, at the helm of your own destiny, by the decisions you make in all aspects of your life — especially regarding the work that you choose to do and how you choose to do it. Remember that everything counts: you will be at your happiest when you are expressing your essential nature and creating your mark on the world through the work that you do.

Do you always seem to have a “bad boss” or “never get a break” at work? It may have something to do with what you are presenting to the world. Your outer working life has to reflect your inner organization. Make sure that you have your personal values and ethos in order, and then take them to the workplace. The reality is that there are no bad bosses, and there are no bad breaks. And there are no victims — unless you choose to become one. Stop! Take a moment to re-read this paragraph. It’s easy enough to read, but really understanding the content can take a lifetime. Give yourself an advantage and contemplate it now: what you bring to your work makes all the difference.

What Are You Supposed to Do?

Each of us has our own specific “true calling” — an answer to the question, “What am I supposed to do?” At the most fundamental level, we each need to feel like we are doing something worthwhile and that we are making a positive contribution to the planet. We need to be able to leave work at the end of the day, feeling tired yet energized because we’ve done something that matters and that our work outside the home has meaning.

How do you figure out who you are, what your place in the world is, and what you’re “supposed” to do? If you grew up in a supportive family, you were told that you could be anything you set your mind to. That’s a lovely message, but it’s pretty nonspecific. If you grew up in a household with less support, non-specificity is the least of your problems.

Figuring out what you’re supposed to do is actually simpler than you think: do what brings you joy. Stop! Think about that right now. If there were no negative consequences — financial or otherwise — what do you see yourself doing for work that would bring you joy? Is it possible for you to be doing that “thing” at this moment in your life? Perhaps not, but you’ve taken one important step in getting to that “thing” by identifying it to begin with. You can begin the process of getting there right now.

Is it easier said than done? Sure, but if you pay attention, your intuition will guide you. Sometimes it’s tricky to differentiate between the voice of your ego and the voice of your soul. The voice of your ego is the one that tells you what you “should” be doing, based mostly on voices and opinions that you have heard and continue to hear from the outside world. This is not a helpful voice. The voice of the soul is the one that will keep gently drawing you to the things you love. When you follow your heart’s desire and listen to your intuition, work turns into pleasure. Will it always be this way? Probably not, which is why paying attention — being present, quiet, and calm — is also imperative in your work life. What you’re sure you should be doing at this stage of your life might end up being what you need to be getting away from five years from now. Times change, and people change. Getting quiet not only helps you find your self, it also helps you find your right place for the right time, by trusting your own inner voice.

What Are You Doing?

As you’re contemplating what you’re supposed to be doing, also ask yourself this question: “What am I doing with my life now?” It is certainly a pretty big question, and it’s one that you have to pause and ask yourself often. Time, that old enemy, is moving on, and if you don’t stop and ask the really tough questions, you’ll find yourself very old and very upset that you’ve spent your time doing “work” that you didn’t want to do.

When was the last time you woke up in the morning and were really excited about the work that you’re about to do? Take a moment to really think about that question. Was it this morning? Yesterday morning? Maybe it wasn’t even last week or last month. If it was last year, then it’s past time to take a hard look at what you’re doing. And read on.

If the work that you do is diminishing your ability to live an abundant life rather than adding to it, it is time to make a change. By identifying your unique skills and talents, you can discover the true meaning in your life and live more authentically. You won’t be able to do this if your work is taking from, rather than adding to, your life.

If you’re currently employed and wondering about why you’re there, ask yourself the following questions:

• Is the work inspirational as well as perspirational?
• Are you inspiring others?
• Are you leaving others in a better condition than you found them?
• Are there people in the company that you admire?
• Do you admire the company?
• If you weren’t working there and it was possible to avail yourself of your company’s product or service, would you?
• Is the work complementary to the rest of your life?
• Is it using your abilities to develop greater capacities?
• Is there a place for your beliefs and values?
• Are your little idiosyncrasies welcomed, tolerated, or outright shunned?
• Does it just plain feet right?

If your answer to most of these questions is no, then you need to take a long, hard look at what you’re doing. First, make your best effort to change your own position, and even take a stab at improving the culture around you. If you feel that you’ve done this to no avail, you need to develop your exit plan. I’m not advocating that you turn in your resignation tomorrow — there are bills to be paid and responsibilities to be met — but for your own well-being, you need to begin to work in the direction of leaving your current work and finding something else that has more meaning for you.

If you are a student in college or graduate school and you feel that you’re in a rut or have answered no to many of the above questions, then you need to reevaluate your situation. Again, start from a place of changing the current situation — don’t let “bail” be the default answer. Maybe the no answers have to do with what you’re doing when you’re not in class, or not studying. You’re the best judge.

A degree is important, but if it comes at the cost of boredom, then it’s an expensive lesson, both financially and spiritually. Perhaps you’ve chosen the wrong major; know that it’s never too late to right that wrong. Perhaps you’re trying too hard to graduate in X number of years and have overloaded yourself with courses; that decision is another wrong that can be righted. Maybe you’re just burned out with school. Most colleges make it pretty easy for you to either take a leave of absence or to cut back on your course load. Take advantage of that flexibility in any way you can.

If you’re a parent who feels like you have stayed at home too long, you have choices as well. How old are your children? Do they need you 24/7 or is there a way that you can get out of the house during part of the day to do something that challenges your intellect a little more? For that matter, given the wide range of possibilities on the Internet, you can take a course, start a business, or be involved in something greater than yourself from your home at any hour of the day — even at sporadic naptimes. You just have to make the commitment to do it.

The questions “What am I doing?” is not a question that you can ask yourself once in life and then be done. It is a question that you should ask yourself often — maybe daily. It’s far too easy to get stuck in a situation where you are comfortable, where asking any question, especially, “What am I doing?” involves way too much risk. Well, know this: the risk, the penalty, for not asking the question often enough is far greater than the reward for ignoring the question. If work is indeed the portal to the rest of your life, and the way you can bring out your unique qualities, then you need to ask the questions to ensure that you are being and doing the best that you can. If a path feels like a struggle, is part of the struggle because it’s not the right path for you? This is not to say that the path will be easy, but if the obstacles come from within, they may be telling you something you need to pay attention to.

And finally, one of the ways to find out what you “should” be doing is to discover what you shouldn’t be doing. I suppose this is code for get a job! One way to find out what you like is to discover what you don’t like, so don’t be dismissive of jobs that you don’t think you’re going to like. And be careful of becoming a “professional student.” Several members of my advisory board indicated that they were going to school because they hadn’t figured out what they wanted to do with their lives. An undergraduate degree is important, but unless you know what you want to do with a degree beyond that, be careful. School is very expensive and very time-consuming; some breathing room and exposure to the working world after so many years in school is probably a good thing.


The above is an excerpt from the book Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Richard E. Goldman, author of Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World.

Richard E. Goldman, author of Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World, started working on the sales floor of a small clothing store, it had annual sales of only a few hundred thousand dollars. Over the years he helped grow that one store into the emerging and now omnipresent Men’s Wearhouse. By the time Goldman retired early in 2002, there were 680 Men’s Wearhouse-affiliated stores across the United States and Canada, the business was known nationally and internationally, and had annual sales in excess of $1.27 billion.

Widely recognized as the marketing mastermind behind the success of Men’s Wearhouse, Goldman has also been a quiet force in business, education, and volunteerism. His luck — luck that he has actively created — has expanded his life in ways and directions well beyond anything he might have imagined as a child in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, or later, as he began contemplating the larger world and his future in it.

To learn still more about Luck by Design, how you can incorporate luck into your future, and to share your own “lucky” experiences, visit www.richiegoldman.com.

This excerpt is from Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman. The chapter is entitled Success Isn’t Easy, and It’s Not Self-Sustainable.

Decide right now that you’re going to be successful, and decide right now that you’re going to be able to handle that success when the time comes. “Ha!” you might say — “I should be so lucky! I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.” If you want to design your own luck and put yourself on the path to success, start planning for it now. The graveyard of successful people who didn’t know how to handle their success is full. There’s no need for you to join them.

What really is success? Maybe a good place to start is to articulate what success isn’t. It’s not a big house, a fancy car, or a bunch of bling. It’s not the American Express platinum card or the limousine. Success isn’t easy, and once you have it, there is no guarantee that you’ll keep it. So prepare for success by accepting that success does not equal significance or security. Success is, quite simply, peace. Peace of mind that you’ve done the best that you can. Peace of heart that you are part of something — perhaps a family — whose members support you, love you, and will always be there for you.

What might success look like? Is it giving your all? Is it doing your best? Is it getting the job done? Again, it’s none of the above. Success is much more about the journey than the end of the road. It’s about the experience of your passion. It’s the satisfaction you can get from planning and then doing, and then watching the seeds of your planning and doing take root and create something that wasn’t there before. Real success is the ability to embrace the discoveries and enlightenment you encounter along the journey in whatever it is that you do. Crossing the finish line is inconsequential. Or, as late singer Harry Chapin once wrote, “It’s got to be the going, not the getting there that’s good.” You will never arrive; you’re always, and only, just “here.”

Who defines success? We all measure success differently. The best measure and the only one that really counts is how you define it. Before beginning a project, decide what you think a successful outcome might look like. Use that as your barometer — nothing else.

Then, what are you going to do once you’re successful? Once you’ve done well, redouble your efforts to do good. Once you’ve become successful, you might have the money to give some back. You’ll certainly have the expertise, so part of what you can give back is the knowledge that you’ve gained on the way to being successful.

At any point on the trail to success, and at many points after, there is always the temptation to take the easy way out. If you’ve achieved some success, chances are you already know that there aren’t any shortcuts. But once you’ve achieved this success, you have to remind yourself of how you got there in the first place; surely it wasn’t a single-handed effort. Remember to thank, appreciate, and reward the people who have helped you along the way. Have the self-discipline to do the right thing, rather than the easy thing, and hopefully integrity will intersect the two.

With success comes privilege. While I would love to contest that, it’s a reality that is far bigger than I am. It’s important to keep in mind that the greater our privilege, the greater our obligation to avoid acting special — more importantly, to avoid even feeling special. If you’re successful, then good for you! But just let it end at that. And move on. Nobody’s that special.

Sometimes the road up the corporate ladder can be so consuming that you miss your original goal. You push and push to get that next raise, that next promotion, and one day you turn around and you’ve lost touch with yourself — and in many cases, you’ve lost touch with your family. You don’t always need the next toy, that bigger house, or that office with the big window and great view. None of it is worth it if in the process you lose sight of who you are or lose your connection with the people most important to you. All of that is a danger if you subscribe to the theory that success equals money.

Are You Going to Be the CEO?

Just as money doesn’t buy happiness, if you think being the CEO will bring you happiness, there’s another bubble to burst. If you’ve envisioned yourself as the Big Kahuna, don’t bet the farm. So many people want (or at least think that they want) to lead. But the numbers are against them. By definition, there is only one captain, one quarterback, or one CEO and a limited number of teams and companies. Given that, what do you do? Realize that there are leaders and there are followers. For the vast majority, the question is, how can you be a good follower and still have that role be consistent with the rest of your life? How can it be consistent with your values and your dreams? A great way to start is to attach significance before you attach meaning: be absolutely clear about what your objective is when you’re getting into a job. If your values and your dreams are more important to you than a title, then it should be pretty easy to accept that you’re not going to be the CEO.

It also helps to know a little about group dynamics. Whether it’s a class, a fraternity, a club, a company, or a nonprofit, whenever you get a group of people organized under one name or entity, group dynamics are critical. In any group, the work that you do is an exchange between you and the group. It is an exchange of ideas, values, time, effort, energy, and sometimes money. The difference between successful and unsuccessful groups is the ability to keep the exchange open and productive. If people are free to ask questions and know what they can expect from each other, they are more inclined to be productive and content in their roles, to trust one another, and to want to share in a commitment to a common vision.

In any group, people will sift out to a leader, an additional person or two who lead in certain areas, some willing followers, and some followers who are less than willing, to say the least. If most people become followers, how do you become a great follower? To begin with, you have to learn to shelve your ego. There will always be times that you think you know more or can do more than the leader. What do you do then? You learn to make your point, state your opinion and move on.

Some other tips on not only living with but also being great follower:

• Recognize that being a follower is not a failure — it’s a function. It’s a necessary function, just as any and every other part of a team.
• One day, you are going to be a leader, just not the leader. (See chapter 6.)
• Within any organization, opportunities exist for any one person, regardless of rank, status, or title, to shine.
• Oftentimes being a follower means acting like you’re the leader when faced with any and everything that you do. If it’s your project, then you’re the leader.
• You can be a follower without abdicating your self In fact, being a follower can help you in defining your self — it’s a terrific lesson in learning how to put your ego in neutral.

In thinking about being a follower or a leader, consider that it may be a matter of perspective. Are you looking up the ladder to see who’s above, are you looking at the rung you’re on to see who else is there, or are you looking at the rung below? Instead of worrying where everyone else is, try to reconcile yourself with the possibility that you are in the right place, making the absolute best of the resources you have available to you on that day.

Lesson Learned: Work, not Rachmunus

For several years, I was the person who planned out the buy for suits, sport coats, and slacks; went out and bought them; scheduled the deliveries; decided what merchandise was going to what stores; and finally, presented the buys to our employees in the stores. Needless to say, it was an intense job, but it kept me close to merchandise and close to the stores. I always believed that figuring out why something was selling was easy; the hard part was trying to figure out why something was not selling. To know why products weren’t selling, I needed to stay close to the stores, and talk to the people who were dealing with customers on a daily basis.

There was a particular manufacturer (not the Stinky Suits vendor) from whom we bought many suits. This vendor’s suits were some of those that just didn’t sell well — year after year. After speaking to the employees, I found out that the biggest problem was the inconsistency in the manufacturing of the product: sometimes the suits fit well, and other times, they fit poorly. Sometimes the fabrics were great, other times, poor. The sales force had basically lost confidence in the product, thus not showing it to customers, resulting, of course, in poor sales. I had told the president of the company on several occasions that the suits were not selling well. He was a good friend, with whom I often shared more than business reflections, so when I had to inform him that we weren’t going to buy any more suits from his company, he wasn’t entirely surprised.

That night over dinner, he acknowledged that he was also concerned about the problems that I had discussed, and he told me that he was considering leaving the company because of his frustration and because he felt like he wasn’t being heard. He had an offer from another company and wanted to know my opinion about leaving. The owner of the company he was working for was a very tough man, and I could only imagine his frustration in working for him. I thought the job change was a good idea and told him as much.

A few months later, my friend became president of the other company. He called and asked me to see him on my next trip to New York. I did and looked at his clothing and found that it wasn’t really a good fit for Men’s Wearhouse. Why? I had an issue with the quality and the price. He countered by suggesting that I buy something as a good-will gesture to him — the Yiddish word he used was “rachmunus.”

I told him that our friendship was one thing and that our business relationship was another. I went on to explain that when I bought suits for Men’s Wearhouse, I was putting my reputation and the reputation of the company on the line. My reputation was at stake because I knew that I had to “sell” the suits to the store managers in order to get them behind the product. The reputation of the company was at stake because the managers and the sales people had to sell the suits to actual customers. I went on to explain that when a Men’s Wearhouse store manager wanted to know why we were now carrying that particular suit, I didn’t think “rachmunus” was going to be an acceptable explanation for the manager or the customer.

What happened to our relationship? There is bad news and good news. The bad news is that we didn’t speak to each other much for a few years, and when we did, the communication was tense and short. The good news is that time — as is so often the case — heals all wounds. After a few years, and after the suits by his new company had greatly improved in quality, we became friends once again, and Men’s Wearhouse began to sell the suits. And after a drink or two at an apparel show, my friend looked at me, winked, and said, “You were right. Thanks.” I wasn’t sure what I was “right” about, but having my friend back meant more to me than knowing that particular answer.

It’s clear that the work part of your life is going to take center stage. And once that you’ve entered that arena, the next hurdle is management — both management of yourself and yourself as a manager. After all, one day, somehow, some way, you will be called upon to manage. There is no time like the present to start preparing, as you’ll see in the next chapter.

The above is an excerpt from the book Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Richard E. Goldman, author of Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World.

Richard E. Goldman, author of Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World, started working on the sales floor of a small clothing store, it had annual sales of only a few hundred thousand dollars. Over the years he helped grow that one store into the emerging and now omnipresent Men’s Wearhouse. By the time Goldman retired early in 2002, there were 680 Men’s Wearhouse-affiliated stores across the United States and Canada, the business was known nationally and internationally, and had annual sales in excess of $1.27 billion.

Widely recognized as the marketing mastermind behind the success of Men’s Wearhouse, Goldman has also been a quiet force in business, education, and volunteerism. His luck — luck that he has actively created — has expanded his life in ways and directions well beyond anything he might have imagined as a child in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, or later, as he began contemplating the larger world and his future in it.

To learn still more about Luck by Design, how you can incorporate luck into your future, and to share your own “lucky” experiences, visit www.richiegoldman.com.

This excerpt is from Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman. The chapter is entitled Managing Yourself First.

To help you learn to manage yourself, I offer a set of dont’s: habits and traits to watch. If you find them in yourself, learn to take control of them, and make sure that you manage to best advantage. Conquer these dont’s with the recommendations given here and you’ll be a better person, a better manager, and a better leader.

Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Teach You

Practically whatever the task, if you teach it to yourself, you’ll learn it better. The easy way out is to have someone sit down and parse information to you, kind of how toddlers are fed before they learn to manage using spoons on their own. The harder way is to go out and figure it out by yourself. This might require a bit of research on your part; you may need to end up asking a bunch of questions. It may be time consuming — and it’s the right way to go. Just keep in mind that the only “stupid” question is the one that you don’t ask.

When you’re done asking and researching and when you’ve figured out something new, whatever it is, the next thing that you have to do is to share the knowledge — pass it along. Learn to be a mentor and to be helpful in having the next person gain the knowledge.

Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Give You a Choice; Choose for Yourself

If you have to wait for someone else to make choices for you, in likelihood, you’ll have poor ones to choose from. If you’re unsure about your choices, make the best possible choice given the information you have in front of you. Whether the decision is right or wrong, making your own decision will still be better than letting someone else make the decision for you. It’s part of the process of learning.

Don’t Settle For Less; Follow Your Dreams

Every dreamer pays a price, but so does everyone who fears to dream. The price for not dreaming or ignoring dreams is much higher. Every now and then, sit down and let yourself imagine. Let your mind go, and let all of the inner voices have a rest. Think about what the world might look like if your contribution to it was unfettered, if it was pure and simple and unbiased. Daydreaming is an important part of your creative process; allow yourself to do it often. It is the way to open your heart and to shut down your head. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. Your head has all the “what ifs” — the obstacles, the speed bumps, and the warning signs. And yes, it’s important to be conscious and present, with your eyes open and in protective mode most of the time. But it’s equally important to do the exact opposite: to let go and put no limits on yourself. After all, it’s only a daydream.

Here’s a good way to encourage yourself to daydream: every day, spend at least five minutes looking at something that’s several miles away, or even better, looking into infinity. Most of our day is spent looking at objects that are merely a few feet in front of us — like computer screens and cell phones. For many of us, the farthest that we might be looking over the course of the day is the distance that we look while we’re driving. You don’t have to live in the mountains or on the beach in order to look out at nothing — sit back and look at the sky. Let your eyes focus on nothing; it will help open your mind to doing the same. After your mind has done this, daydreaming becomes much easier.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short — Ever

Don’t doubt your abilities, and don’t doubt your talents. Forget about what you’ve been led to believe by the media or people in your life. That’s a journey that’s not productive. As the American psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, “Learn to become independent of the good opinion of other people.” Recognize your strengths, and listen to your inner voice; believe your inner voice over the voice of advertising or of others. Eliminate “I can’t” from your personal lexicon.

Don’t Accept or Expect Mediocrity

Expect excellence of yourself to begin with; then, with others. The minute you expect less of yourself is the same minute that your inner self will get the compromised message and start delivering less. Push yourself — always.

Push others, as well, in a gentle, affirming way. Push yourself as a consumer out in the marketplace. Let’s say you walk into a fast-food restaurant. You’re probably hungry and not expecting a lot. Does that mean you have to put up with something less than courteous service, a clean environment, and a warm meal? Absolutely not. As a consumer, you are entitled to great service wherever you go, and when you don’t get it, speak up! The people running any business you frequent can’t be at every location every day, and they can’t always see what’s going on, so they really want and need constructive feedback.

Don’t Worry about Being the Best

Believe it or not, you just have to be better than the people around you. Do you think that Men’s Wearhouse assembled the smartest and the best retailers on the planet? Not quite. The company did assemble the people who demonstrated the want and the desire to succeed. And the company did everything just a little better than the competition. There’s a wonderful joke that relates to this:

Two men were walking through the forest when in the distance they saw a bear approaching them. The first man started to run away. The second man stopped and put on his running shoes. In disbelief, the first man called, “What are you doing? The bear is running after us!” The second man answered calmly, “I don’t have to outrun the bear; I only need to outrun you.”

Just learn to outrun everyone else. Instead of trying to be the absolute best, strive to be the best that you can be at that particular function on that particular day. It’s the experience of trying that really counts.

Worrying about being the best can also prevent you from even trying new things or taking on new responsibilities. Let new things just be that — new — with no personal judgment attached and no preconceived notions of how they’re going to proceed or work out and with no worries about how you might look.

Don’t Ask for a Favor; Bring an Opportunity

A long time ago, my gut told me not to accept Bob Day’s opinion that I wasn’t ready to be hired by his advertising agency. In a nanosecond after hearing him say, “No,” I was able to come up with a “yes” scenario and an opportunity that cost him nothing and ultimately helped both of us. The next time that a problem comes up, stop and look at it and let yourself contemplate the first solution that comes to mind — no matter how crazy. The worst thing that’s going to happen is that you’ll ultimately decide against it. Learn to look at problems as opportunities for learning and for expanding your universe.

Don’t Hide Your Strengths; Develop Them and Use Them Well

You undoubtedly have some aptitudes you were born with and more that you’ve developed. Use them all. Develop your confidence in them and in yourself. Know your weaknesses, and use your strengths to overcome them.

Why do many of the most successful people succeed? Confidence. Learn how to act confident, even when you might not feel confident. Confidence is the result of the most important relationship you will ever have: the relationship with yourself. Like all relationships, it begins with trust. The ability to trust yourself draws out of you an emotional power that reflects outward as self-assurance. Being confident is reflected in the expression of your creative abilities and is demonstrated in your power to create. Confident people are in control of themselves, exude composure, and are emotionally secure relative to trusting their own ideas. One of the many tests of true confidence is the ability to stand in your truth against all odds. When you know something is right while everyone else is saying “No! No! No!” — that’s confidence. Your self assurance, coming from the trusted place within you — deep down inside — is your truth. You will be tested many times.

Remember: if you know why you feel very confident about your idea, decision, or direction, even if the solution is not yet visible, know that your confidence will illuminate the path to the next step.

Don’t Be Afraid of Your Own Power and of Using Power

Power is one of the most misunderstood ideas. Many of us have had the experience of power, both personally and through the observations of others and dramatization through the media, and have been led to believe that power is a bad word. The misuse of power — the use of power over someone or something else — deserves a bad rap. The power that I refer to here is the power that is inside of you: your ability to use your energy to influence outcomes. Find your power and use it wisely. When you find your power, it’s . . . powerful. Honor your own gift. Don’t run away from it just because it’s outside your comfort zone. Enduring power — power from the inside out — sustains and maintains. After you have found and honored your power, you then have to find the fine line between power and humility. The question is — can you be both powerful and humble? The answer is — you have to be. The alternative — being powerful with no humility — easily slides into arrogance.

Don’t Be Afraid to Share the Credit; Get a Partner

Don’t buy into the ideas behind the old expression, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” There are always many more options than those three, and decisions are not black or white, do or die. You’ll learn a lot when working as a team. Or as Grover from Sesame Street said, “We’ll have fun and get things done when we cooperate.” The bottom line is that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole when there is teamwork. Successful players on a team are eager to ask questions and will get help from others around them in order to improve the team. Team players seek to motivate and inspire, and they put the needs of the group before their individual well-being. Your ability to ask for help, and other people’s willingness to help you will affect your success more than you can alone.

Be part of a new paradigm of cooperation. Winning is something that you can do with a team. With a team, each member has a piece of the puzzle that can fit perfectly into what is needed. And the team doesn’t have to be big. To make the most of your talents and time, recognize that you can’t know everything, and take on a partner or build a team that’s strong in the areas that you don’t know. With a bit of synergy, you’ll be able to create and accomplish more, and you’ll find that the rocks in their heads fit the holes in yours.

Don’t Just Succeed; Succeed by Helping Others Succeed

Success is not a one-person venture. Real success is inclusive of other people and also means helping other people succeed. Be sure to let other people shine. Successful leaders know how and when to delegate, as well. Successful delegation is about surrounding yourself with great people, knowing what their special skills are, and making best use of those skills.

It’s quite a list. Certainly it’s one I wish I’d had (and paid attention to) much earlier in life. As one example, time management somehow seemed unimportant and without consequences or penalties before my working life. So I have another recommendation to add to the list: Don’t wait for any further explanation of these don’ts. Instead, make a point of practicing these ideas now, before more time passes. That’s what it takes, as I learned early, and on the job at Men’s Wearhouse.

The above is an excerpt from the book Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World by Richard E. Goldman. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.

Copyright © 2009 Richard E. Goldman, author of Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World


Richard E. Goldman, author of Luck by Design: Certain Success in an Uncertain World, started working on the sales floor of a small clothing store, it had annual sales of only a few hundred thousand dollars. Over the years he helped grow that one store into the emerging and now omnipresent Men’s Wearhouse. By the time Goldman retired early in 2002, there were 680 Men’s Wearhouse-affiliated stores across the United States and Canada, the business was known nationally and internationally, and had annual sales in excess of $1.27 billion.

Widely recognized as the marketing mastermind behind the success of Men’s Wearhouse, Goldman has also been a quiet force in business, education, and volunteerism. His luck — luck that he has actively created — has expanded his life in ways and directions well beyond anything he might have imagined as a child in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, or later, as he began contemplating the larger world and his future in it.

To learn still more about Luck by Design, how you can incorporate luck into your future, and to share your own “lucky” experiences, visit www.richiegoldman.com.

In each case, they were companies that had fallen on hard times, but there was a belief that they could rise again like a phoenix from the ashes. Additionally, the fact that the companies were not doing well was by no means a secret to the employees, who were always eager to have the leadership that could bring it all back together and get things moving again.

Here are my ten rules for a successful turnaround:

Rule 1. When formulating goals, start with the answer and work your way back to the solution. Do not get bogged down in the morass of yesterday. Get going toward where you need to be in the immediate future. At Cordiant, we developed a five-year financial forecast within three months of arrival that we used as the basis for refinancing the company. Subsequently, we exceeded every benchmark of that forecast.

Rule 2. Get out in front of people immediately and position yourself as the new leader in the company. Tell them who you are, what you believe in, why you are there, your perspective on the situation, and how you intend to proceed. At Cordiant, I visited all the principal people and major locations in London and New York in my first two days.

Rule 3. Bring an extraordinarily high sense of urgency to what you are doing, but also look before you leap. People are anxious for results, but this is no time for dead ends. Think carefully about everything you do, but keep moving. At Topco, we immediately commenced development of a line of environmentally-friendly products because there was an obvious niche and need in the market for them.

Rule 4. Do not sit around headquarters! Get out to where the work is done — plants and field offices. You need this input, and you need to be a motivating force for people. At Cordiant, I got around to offices accounting for 60% of our revenues in the first six months.

Rule 5. Go out and listen to customers and clients. At Kayser-Roth, one of my first visits was to Wal-Mart. They told me, “Mr. Seelert, we are concerned about the viability of your company as a supplier.” Two years later, we were named their vendor partner of the quarter. If I had not personally gone there to listen and learn, I doubt that this would have happened.

Rule 6. Listen to everybody in the organization who offers an opinion about the business — don’t just hang around with the people who report to you. There are two sides to all coins and stories. You need to understand both. If you can, meet with your competitors or the heads of similar organizations. When I went to Cordiant, I met with the heads of other holding companies, agency networks, consultancies, and service organizations.

Rule 7. Recognize that you cannot get the job done alone. Open communications and clearly assigned accountabilities are essential. Your visits to locations provide the forums for rallying and directing the teams, as well as quickly identifying the true talents across the organization.

Rule 8. Lay out your vision, purpose, values, beliefs, objectives, strategies, and plans for accomplishment as quickly as possible. People cannot really get going until you set the right direction. At Cordiant, I laid out my initial vision on day one. to be the “World’s Best Creative Communications Resource.” I indicated that I would be a good listener and that
together, we would drive the vision forward from there.

Rule 9. If you do not have the internal resources to get the jobs at hand done, do not be afraid to use outside resources. At Cordiant, we employed Price Waterhouse Business Turnaround Services, At Kayser-Roth and Topco, we hired Luther & Company.

Rule 10. Develop the short list of critical priorities and stick to it. At Cordiant, it was two things: stabilize clients and staff, and refinance the company. Accomplishing these two goals set the stage for everything else.

BOB’S WISDOM: Turnarounds are intensely difficult 24/7 situations. Follow the ten rules and you will prosper.

(The above is an excerpt from the book Start with the Answer: And Other Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders by Bob Seelert. The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.)

Copyright © 2009 Bob Seelert, author of Start with the Answer: And Other Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders.

Bob Seelert, author of Start with the Answer: And Other Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders, is Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, a leading global ideas and advertising company. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, he has been CEO of five companies, has built brands and businesses, been a party to two mega-mergers, and enacted numerous turnarounds. He has served on boards of directors of companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. He lives in New Canaan, Connecticut.

For more information please visit www.StartwiththeAnswer.com