Master the Moment

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FINISH THINGS

talent; the flip side of this thinking is that you view failure as an

indication that you lack some of the talents you thought you pos-

sessed. The outcome is all the more important and maybe even

something to be dreaded.

Cutting your losses is at least as difficult, especially when you

have to admit a degree of failure. We naturally tend to avoid any

admission of failure, so it’s tempting just to let things continue

in hopes that somehow a turnaround will occur. It’s also hard to

let go of something you’ve started and maybe taken a liking to –

consequently you have trouble giving it up. When stopping

something means disappointing other people who have a stake

in the project, the emotions run even higher.

Let’s take a closer look.

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE

Les Hirsch received national recognition for his tenacity in keeping

Touro Infirmary operating in New Orleans in the aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina. Les told me: ‘I can’t overemphasise the impor-

tance of sticking with something and getting it done. So many

people have the right ideas, get started working towards them,

and may even get most of the way there. Then they lose sight of

their goal and give it up before completion. What a waste of time!’

1

Steve Hansel, former CEO of a large bank, added his ideas to the

discussion. ‘I always tell people that the ultimate productivity is

to do it right the first time. To do it right the first time, you have

to finish it.’

2

But, according to Dan Packer, ‘Everybody has trouble finishing

things. I’ve had problems finishing things for one reason or another.

I’ve always thought I had a reason – an external reason – but the

reality is there’s usually an internal reason and an external reason.

You might also call the external reason a “compelling event” that

forces you to make a decision you had already been working over

unconsciously.’

1

Exclusive discussion with Les Hirsch, March 2008.

2

Exclusive discussion with Steve Hansel, March 2008.

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MASTER THE MOMENT

TIP #37

Time spent working on something you don’t bring to completion

is probably time wasted.

‘Take for example, the period in my life when I stopped school the

first time and joined the Navy,’

Dan said. ‘My father just had a

heart attack, and both my sister and I were in school. My sister

had a scholarship, and I was on a partial scholarship. We still

depended on my Dad financially. He was working three jobs and

my mother was working two jobs.’

‘This was in the 60s,’ he continued. ‘We both chose to go to private

schools. My sister went to Xavier and I went to Tuskegee. It was a

very tumultuous time in the United States. One semester – just

after Martin Luther King got killed – we took over the campus.

George Wallace’s wife, Lurleen, was officially the Governor, but

George was really the one running the state.’

Dan, who is African-American, explained, ‘The Alabama National

Guard, which was all white at the time, came on campus with

tanks and personnel carriers. I can tell you that was a scary time!

Somehow we finally got that all straightened out. Everybody went

home, took a breather, then came back. We had been out five or

six weeks. I was an engineering major. That next fall I was wor-

ried about my Dad and I thought maybe what I should do is leave

school.’

Dan went on: ‘The political climate was hard and my Dad had just

had a heart attack. I added it all up and decided to leave. I could

have added it all up and decided to stay. Other people might have

done that. I’m not sure which way was right, but that’s what I did.

I left, joined the Navy, and got married.’

‘Sometimes I think about it and say that others who were with me

finished school and got their degree on time,’ Dan said. ‘Then again,

they may not have had the family problems I had. I thought Debo-

rah, my sister, was smarter than me. I thought it would be easier

for me to go in the military. I just wanted to stay out of Vietnam.

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