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Lessons From A Bay Colt Named Street Sense

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date : 12-June-2007

A lesson on making the right business decision at the right time with an example from a bay colt named Street Sense who won the Kentucky Derby.

Louisville, KY – 2007 – 133rd Kentucky Derby - It’s a mile into the race and Street Sense and Calvin Burel are in dead last by fourteen lengths...just in front, I’m a Wild and Crazy Guy; Hard Spun setting the pace by a length and a half; it’s No Biz Like Show Biz racing in 6th, Dominican on the outside; further back, Liquidity making headway on the outside; further back Circular Key starts to come on; it’s Hard Spun and Tiago, Tiago needs some room; further back it’s Scat Daddy and here comes Calvin Burel in high gear, he’s making his run; Street Sense coming from behind on the final furlough; goes right on by; it’s Street Sense and Calvin Burel by two in 2:03. What a race!

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - "A mile into the Kentucky Derby, all the other horses were motoring along in fourth gear when Street Sense kicked it into fifth. Then he zeroed in on his last challenger, Hard Spun, went wide, and burned up the final quarter-mile like a dragster."

There is a fantastic lesson in business from races like The Kentucky Derby, the Breeders Cup and the races that make up the Triple Crown. It seems to be all about big bets, millionaire breeders and social high life. The real lesson comes from the pursuit ensued by a team. It is a simple team combined of intelligence and power moving together in balance, in sync in conditions that changefrom second to second.

A race like this mirrors our decisions in life and in business. Sometimes we have to make decisions from the back of the pack, but the back of the pack does not matter if it is the right time, the right condition, the right moment. We constantly make split second decisions, and often the timing is just as important as the decision.

Even if you are not a horse-racing fan, it is magnificent to watch the one hundred percent effort of pursuit. We humans rarely pursue anything so vigorously unless we can intellectualize the rewards. Human beings have cognitive recognition of the rewards, while horses do not. No matter how you state your argument about “what” would motivate a human being to want to win, we must conclude that the human mind conceptualizes that winning is a “superior” concept with some type of gratification, while a horse does not have this advantage.

It is this lack of this gratification and the lack of conflict that allows a horse to win the Kentucky Derby. We think of our goals as assets, but our human conceptualization of the reward is often a hindrance in closing a deal; that is if the parties closing the deal have two separate concepts of the reward and the results.

Imagine if the jockey wanted the horse to make a break for the outside, but instead the horse slows down for the inside. You have two opposing goals, and a disjointed effort to forge forward toward the end, the finish line. If you watched Street Sense come from behind in the Kentucky Derby, so beautifully executed physically and strategically, or you watched the filly Rags to Riches come from fifth to the front of the pack and win the Belmont, you saw the deal of a lifetime in another dimension. This is the deal that is pure and harmonious with intention and execution; the motive, the timing, the quest.

Closing or executing, being analogous to winning is the objective in many of our businesses. We could say that all of the conditions and particulars in a deal must be addressed to close, and if we manipulated the perfect conditions, why do we not cross the finish line?

When our decisions are made without emotion, they occur from a point of stability. The moment we attach our emotions to the goal, the realization of happiness and loss enter into play. We cognitively understand and fear the consequences of finishing the race at the bottom of the pack. A horse cannot possibly feel any fear unless it instinctively feels that its safety or survival is in question. A horse can only interpret the guide of the master who leads them to their fate.

A jockey and a horse in mid-stream have the essential element and key to the success of any business deal or team. Together they forge forward on a path straight to the finish line. The horse runs without reservation in a perpetual motion moving the two forward. For the horse, this is without reason; he follows the master making the decision.

Business decisions, planned and calculated in this same condition, generally yield the best results. The jockey rides the horse and the jockey makes the decisions that literally propel the team forward. When the decision is made to break by one for the finish line, the miracle of purity must be engaged by both for execution, and this must occur at the exact right time.

“Most important decisions in corporate life are made by individuals, not by committees. My policy has always been to be democratic all the way to the point of decision. Then I become the ruthless commander and say, Okay, I’ve heard everybody, now here is what we are going to do.” Lee Lacocca (1924 - ) Autobiography, Lacocca, 1984.

Building the next great franchise or Fortune 500 from the inception of thought to the execution of the processes is like a horse race. During the next horse race you see, stop and watch the muscles of the horse all in sync in full throttle and power while the jockey leads him and watch a great business deal in the pursuit of closing. Take a moment to feel this race and capture a moment of reflection for your own race.

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ABOUT THIS EDITOR:

John Dietz is a strategic advisor at Trustmakers.com with a passion for client solutions that can encompass your business, your real estate, and your personal assets. Mr. Dietz serves to educate you on the latest in asset protection planning.

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