FREE NEWSLETTER
Go to main Forum page »
Every now and then I come across an idea that is immediately both interesting and “feels right”. I recently came across one such idea in a podcast from Tim Hartford, his “Cautionary Tales” episode about Tony Hsieh, the billionaire CEO of Zappos. The concept is “obluiqity”, that the best way to actually reach a goal is often to not focus directly upon that goal.
The term was coined by the economist Professor Sir John Kay, who noticed that often when companies had a focus purely on profit, they were not that profitable. Regularly they failed and were sold off or went bankrupt. However when a company focused on being outstanding at providing their particular product or service, they were often far more financially successful.
As Mr. Hartford explained the idea of obliquity, I could see it in so many aspects of my own life. I never had any ambitions during my 20 year career as an engineer. I just got out of bed every morning and did the very best I could that day. That lead to a pretty successful career. Then I set out to run a small business with my Dad. We both just fell into that situation, and we had no plans for growth or profitability. We just simply provided the best customer service we could each day. And that worked out pretty well also – better than either of us expected.
From a personal finance perspective, I was reflecting after a visit with our financial planner about how we ended up in our current situation. We never had a plan for retiring at any particular age or having a certain amount in our investments. But it all worked out OK. I really was a bit puzzled – “how did we end up here?”.
I think that part of the answer is obliquity. We didn’t think about any grand plan. We were just careful with our spending each and every day. We have had some good holidays (vacations!) and purchased some nice things. But our daily purchases have been simple and minimal. And every spare cent went to either paying down debt or increasing our investments.
I feel like obliquity explains some of my past and might help to inform my future. And I think it can provide some direction for many of us … don’t worry too much about a grand goal, just get up every day and do the best you can.
I totally relate to your story. In fact, I just shared the same point with a young employee at a store we were in this week. I told him not to focus on retirement, but to focus on each day he has, be thankful for it, and treat every person/customer by the Golden Rule “Treat others as you want to be treated” . I did that and before I knew it I retired after 33 years of being a Hostess Cake/Wonder Bread route salesman. Of how time flies
Your point about customer service is key – treat every customer in a manner that you would like as a customer. Unless I know their name, I always greet customers with Madam or Sir – some look a bit puzzled, but it always gets the conversation started in the right direction.
LH, I think a lot of people don’t appreciate that it takes a certain skill set to be a good route salesman. We had to figure out some crazy and diverse, often hard to get along with personalities, (in your case and mine, probably some of the very same people). Not everyone can do that.
That skill helped me tremendously when I began my tax business.
Good advice, but I prefer the modified Golden Rule: “Do unto others as they would have you do”.
Tim Hartford’s clever use of the word ‘obliquity’, as well as your comment….we had no plans for growth or profitability. We just simply provided the best customer service we could each day, struck a chord with me.
I finished the rat race with a successful tax prep business, mostly by accident. Preparing taxes was one of four things I used while trying to gain some financial purchase after physical challenges forced me from a 30 year occupation as a beer truck driver.
At first I had few clients. I’m thin skinned about mistakes, so I took great pains not to make any. When I did make one, I owned it and fixed it, fast. I also used two monitors, one for me, and one pointed at my clients. I’d power it up when the return was complete, and would review and explain it line by line. Clients told me no one ever did that for them, and were very appreciative. I mailed newsletters that very much resembled the types of great articles found on HumbleDollar; sans shopping carts.😁
The accidental results were more clients than I’d ever dreamed of having, and a profitable business that I was able to sell when retirement time arrived.
That was a great article, Dan so great people are still talking about. Now, there is a new ad running on TV which uses the chaos created by guess what? Yup, saw it yesterday. I wonder if there are any HD readers in advertising? 😁
I like the transparency that you described. I think that approach helps in many, many fields to put people at ease. It’s easy to say “I’m acting in your best interest” but can be harder to actually demonstrate that fact.
One particular scenario that sticks in my mind is when we would recommend lower priced tyres to a customer and they would express concern that they would be driving around with poor quality, unsafe tyres on. When I explained that we just believed that these tyres represented best value-for-money and that I had them fitted on my wife’s car, it almost always turned into a sale. And often a “thank you” that we didn’t try to up-sell them to a higher priced tyre.
You definitely provided a niche in tax preparation. How did being a beer truck driver prepare you to be a tax preparer?
It’s a long story, Olin. I explain that transition in my first HD article, Beer to Taxes; https://humbledollar.com/2023/09/beer-to-taxes/
Thanks Dan, that was a good story!
Greg,
Your second to last paragraph describes our investment journey to a T. We just saved as much as we could, were not prolific spenders and hoped for the best, and luckily it worked out.
Glad it all worked out David. And as you mentioned, we all need a good dose of luck along the way.
I like your perspective Greg. Understanding the nature of the work, product, or service and striving to do one’s best speaks to personal integrity and satisfaction. Whatever our occupation, staying focused on delivering excellence for our clients or employers can yield the unanticipated outcomes you described. Thanks for reminding us to stay focused on what matters. I’m retired now after 40+ years in my industry working primarily for a state agency. I too was/am pleased at my financial security in retirement.
Pleased to hear that 40 years of work turned into a pleasant retirement for you.
I feel much the same about the blessings that have come to me. When I look back at my life, I realize that I had a very fuzzy idea of what I wanted at this point, but not a very detailed plan. I mostly just kept moving forward trying to make each day count. Of course, the framework that surrounded me was laid by folks who may have been up all night making certain all was in order…
I think we all need people around us to help us along. When success does come, it feels tempting to claim lots of credit ourselves. But usually it requires a lot of different people and a healthy dose of luck.
Your post struck a chord. When I began my business I didn’t do it for the money. Of course I intended it to be profitable. A well-run company provides a lot for employees, from insurance to profit sharing and retirement plans.
My overarching goal in 1978 was to build an organization that would be the best in the U.S. at what we did. Developing the processes, systems and people to accomplish that became my job.
Agreed Norm that well run company should bring advantages to employees. We also felt the same with customers and suppliers. Often suppliers are “beaten up” over price, delivery etc. but we always believed that our relationships with suppliers were critical to our long term success.