The Ties That Bind

I sometimes wear bow ties, especially when it’s not likely that anyone else will be wearing one. I think they’re one of the few things that can be both distinctive and understated at the same time.

My father-in-law, who would have turned 99 this week, wore them almost every day of his very interesting life. Here are just a few of the things about him:

• Served in two wars, including as a surgeon in a MASH unit in Korea (Bronze Star),
• Was a physician training other physicians for 4 decades,
• Had 9 children
• As a big guy with a handle bar mustache and a legendary (sometimes corny) sense of humor, he could be a presence in the room but could also sit and watch with the best of them..

Here is how he taught me to tie a bow tie:

“You tied your shoes, didn’t you? Well then, you can tie a bow tie.”

When I wear them , invariably people ask if it’s a “real” bow tie, which I suppose means one you tie yourself and not a pre-tied one. When I show them that it’s the former, they often say they don’t know how to tie one, which gives me an opportunity to quote my father-in-law.

The lesson is this: Often, something you DON’T yet know how to do, has much in common with something that you ALREADY know how to do. It just takes some thought and creativity to see the common threads. If you know how to do just ten things, you probably know how to do 100 things if you think about it.

For example, calls I get from clients often begin with “I don’t know if you know how to do this but…” or even better, “I was talking to so-and-so and they told me to call you because you are the one person who can do this.”

I like “outside-the-box” assignments and although I do my fair share of straightforward projects, it’s the difficult, puzzling ones that get me out of bed in the morning (actually, Milly, our Boston Terrier gets me up at dawn but that a whole other matter).

A couple months ago, I had one where I was asked to figure out the value of an early-stage tech company that had no revenue and did not expect to have any for a few years. The “product” wasn’t anything you could touch or take apart but after looking at the company, looking at it some more, thinking about it, and finally identifying the “value drivers” (fancy term for “why would anyone give a damn about this”), I was able to get it done.

In this one, I remember thinking “I get it; it’s a little bit like this and a little bit like that” and after some though, it just sort of came to me (actually, when I was out mowing the lawn). Take some experience, some basic math, and mix it with a little creativity and there you have it – and there you are. This is the stuff I enjoy doing and I’m thankful that people come to me to solve these “square peg” problems. It’s why I tell my clients “I sell answers, not hours.”

And now here are some words of wisdom from people who aren’t me.

• “Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems.” Rene Descartes
• “Creating something is all about problem solving.” – Philip Seymour Hoffman
• “You can’t dribble on a bow tie.” – Dr. Seuss

Be good and be well.