Insightful

I had an insightful observation yesterday at my meetings, which I would like to share. We met with the CMO, who we have not seen in years, and at one time was my GMM.  Numbers guy. We know that the stores hate the unpredictable nature of seasonal categories (our livelihood) and that ow/swim is maybe 2% of their total. It's not growing, but still we alone do $100 m there so it's a business. We were trying to understand their long-term vision (are they going to exit?) and how we could help improve the shopping experience.

This guy had aged 10 yrs since last time I saw him. Looked completely miserable and defeated. No energy, a blank piece of paper (did not even look up our business!), no opinion, not a single business question, no thought at all. We asked for advice or direction, and he said "I don't know."  Who gets away with saying "I don't know?"  He commented that they were up 2%, but Macy's was up 4% so that Wall St is killing them. Totally checked out.

Then we meet with the biggest seasonal buyer (lds ow, swim) and DMM.  This lady has a son at home, and works until 8 pm every nite. They are analyzing ever possible angle of the business, turning over every rock, making tough decisions, traveling - working their butts off.

And as an outsider,  I couldn't help but look at them and think that the CMO could give a shit about their business.  Everything they are working so hard on really is going to be successful or not with weather. They could get there working a normal day, and not giving so much blood.

I am not articulating this very well, but my insight was to find something that matters to you (and the community or world). It's not business - that is just the means, and needs to be kept in balance. Be passionate and give blood for something that has meaning and is fulfilling.

Does that make sense?  Having those two meetings back-to-back made it so clear to me!