Burnt Sienna

 

I struggled with choosing a subject this week, that's why this blog is late--sorry :-(. This article in Newsweek created an inspiration. All through my childhood burnt sienna was my favorite color and remains so. My kids all kid (yes kids kidding) me about this; but i've stood my ground. Then several years ago the Crayola company held a contest in which voters could save one of five soon-to-be-discontinued colors from retirement. The candidates were burnt sienna, blizzard blue, teal blue, magic mint and mulberry. Burnt sienna won the contest and was saved from oblivion--not exactly the most stirring victory for mankind but...............

So what? Well, i was rewarded with some grudging acknowledgment from my family. But the most important result was a degree of self satisfaction for sticking to my guns. The same applies to business principles. If you have solid business principles and don't deviate, sometimes it's tough going, competitors are bending the rules and--perhaps temporarily but who knows--winning. The eventual, long-term winners must of course have a solid business plan and must execute well; but sticking to principles of integrity, not breaking moral or legal rules, adhering to exemplary conduct, and--well, sticking to your colors--is the most long-term rewarding approach.

Comments

[Nicholas]

Tom;

I did not even know--officially that is--of a color named "Burnt Sienna"! But, now that I do, you definitely seem like a 'burnt sienna' guy. It seems more difficult than ever to stick to your guns in the current economic conditions/business climate. Most people are just scrambling to save their own heads. Furthermore, in a day when mores seem to be constantly changing, it seems even more difficult to know precisely what the "right" course of action is. Many--if not most today--seem to define "right" by results, rather than principles. As Jason Bourne's lovely romantic interest in the first Bourne Identity stated emphatically: "No one does the right thing...." That seems to sum up post-modernism. The question is how can we define what is right? How do we know if we are doing the right thing--that we are truly 'principle-centered' vs. simply delunding ourselves into thinking we are better than we really are.

Tom, always the clear thinker, is typically 100% on the money, and I do not doubt his sanguine advice in this context. However, when there are many competing models--politically, socially, and in business--in existence, all laying claim to the throne of "righteousness", how can one select with any accuracy between them?