Good stuff. Fascinating history on Manischewitz. I'm also a fan (and a lapsed Protestant - an untapped market, perhaps?) thanks to my (Jewish) hubby. Is Gary S signing copies of this one for his friends?
I'm here! With autographs and questions. What is Malaga? Who knew Manischewitz came in gallons?! Can bad taste marketing be good marketing (suckering NYers into a really, really bad parlay)? Who knew Manischewitz came in so many flavors (where can I get my hands on Cherry or Cream Peach?)? Can you guess the flavor notes of Cherry?! (A: cherry, refreshing, crisp--why complicate it?!) Also, the flavor description on DRIZLY: A full-bodied sweet but balanced wine. Aroma and taste is reminiscent of fresh baked cherry pie. Who doesn't want that? Did you know it has a flavor finder, both in store and for dining out? Dining out?!?! Who's up for a taste testing?
The other book is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. It's probably 30 years old. It's a business book, but it's written like a novel, which admittedly is weird. The basic idea is that you have to think about the business holistically - basically that anything you do to optimize one thing will have effects - often unintended - on other parts of the business.
But there are 2 things in it that I think about fairly often in a business context:
1) Put the slowest part of the process at the front of the operation. If you don't, the improvements you make in other parts of the process will be undone by the fact that a slower part of the process will hold everything back. You should optimize the slowest part (in the book - and it's been ages since I read it, so this may not be exact - he tells the story of boy scouts going on a hike, and the slow kid is in the middle. They have to stay in a single-file line. No matter how much faster the kids at the front get, the kids at the back will always be held back by the slow kid in the middle. That's a metaphor :)
2) The goal of business is to optimize for net profit, return on investment, and cash flow. If you only focus on one of those things, it will often screw up the others. I've thought about it this way: You can try to buy growth by lowering your price, but that will screw up your net profit (tho it may help your cash flow if you get paid up front). The bigger thing is that someone has to be thinking about all 3 things - marketing may be pushing to spend, or operations may want to invest in new equipment, or whatever, but ultimately someone has to be thinking about all 3 things (probably the CEO and CFO, though I don't remember if that's what the book suggests).
Annnnnnnnndddddd, that's why I didn't bother mentioning the second book :). Though it's incredibly valuable! People still read the book 30 years later because there are so few books about how to think about the business as a whole system (they're usually just about one piece).
Good stuff. Fascinating history on Manischewitz. I'm also a fan (and a lapsed Protestant - an untapped market, perhaps?) thanks to my (Jewish) hubby. Is Gary S signing copies of this one for his friends?
Gary S has put the "s" in "suspiciously silent." Gary S, wtf? Karen wants an autograph.
I'm here! With autographs and questions. What is Malaga? Who knew Manischewitz came in gallons?! Can bad taste marketing be good marketing (suckering NYers into a really, really bad parlay)? Who knew Manischewitz came in so many flavors (where can I get my hands on Cherry or Cream Peach?)? Can you guess the flavor notes of Cherry?! (A: cherry, refreshing, crisp--why complicate it?!) Also, the flavor description on DRIZLY: A full-bodied sweet but balanced wine. Aroma and taste is reminiscent of fresh baked cherry pie. Who doesn't want that? Did you know it has a flavor finder, both in store and for dining out? Dining out?!?! Who's up for a taste testing?
I will give you space to write a bonus Gobbledy newsletter where you review Manischewitz wines. But only Manischewitz.
But now I want to know the name of the other of the only two business books you’ve found valuable… Crossing the Chasm and….?
Cliffhanger!!!!
The other book is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt. It's probably 30 years old. It's a business book, but it's written like a novel, which admittedly is weird. The basic idea is that you have to think about the business holistically - basically that anything you do to optimize one thing will have effects - often unintended - on other parts of the business.
But there are 2 things in it that I think about fairly often in a business context:
1) Put the slowest part of the process at the front of the operation. If you don't, the improvements you make in other parts of the process will be undone by the fact that a slower part of the process will hold everything back. You should optimize the slowest part (in the book - and it's been ages since I read it, so this may not be exact - he tells the story of boy scouts going on a hike, and the slow kid is in the middle. They have to stay in a single-file line. No matter how much faster the kids at the front get, the kids at the back will always be held back by the slow kid in the middle. That's a metaphor :)
2) The goal of business is to optimize for net profit, return on investment, and cash flow. If you only focus on one of those things, it will often screw up the others. I've thought about it this way: You can try to buy growth by lowering your price, but that will screw up your net profit (tho it may help your cash flow if you get paid up front). The bigger thing is that someone has to be thinking about all 3 things - marketing may be pushing to spend, or operations may want to invest in new equipment, or whatever, but ultimately someone has to be thinking about all 3 things (probably the CEO and CFO, though I don't remember if that's what the book suggests).
Annnnnnnnndddddd, that's why I didn't bother mentioning the second book :). Though it's incredibly valuable! People still read the book 30 years later because there are so few books about how to think about the business as a whole system (they're usually just about one piece).