Tools and technique

In business and in golf , buying better tools doesn't immediately improve your results. (In spite of the advertising promises.) It's never that simple. Sometimes a new driver or a new ERP system just gets you into trouble faster and deeper.

It is important to have good tools. And newer technology can lead to better results. But every tool needs to be combined with good technique if you really want to achieve new levels of success. In golf that means ensuring you have good fundamentals and then build consistency through practice.

In business, that means managing the change process well, supporting it with training and assigning the right staff to get performance improvements.

Now go ahead and make the investment.

Recession hits golf too

In spite of declarations to the contrary, I think the recession is hitting the golf business too.

Some golf equipment manufacturers and course owners are bravely stating (or wishfully hoping) that golfers are too dedicated to their passionate pastime to be affected by the current setbacks to their business or portfolios.

I think the truth is evident right outside my window. I have been following progress on the new 9-hole executive course under construction in near my condo on Nun's Island in Montreal. Recent press reports have it opening "by end of this summer", but activity has completed stopped. I'm guessing the financing dried up and everything is on hold. The same is probably true elsewhere for equipment sales and for green fees.

Are you buying that new driver or playing more this year? I'm not.

Maybe hockey should be more like golf.

I was reading recently a commentary that the new rules in the NHL to avoid a tie are not true to the principles of sport. That is, forcing overtime and then a shootout to determine a winner for every game is simply not right. In real life, great effort, blood, sweat and tears can still result in no clear winner. It's an important lesson of life that we need to learn to accept. Why not in a hockey game?

In business and in golf it also happens that a great effort/shot do not always lead to great results. We've all had great drives off the tee, long and straight, but just ran a little too far into the water or under the lip in a trap. Dammit!

Very much like finally winning a big order from that customer you've been working on for so long - just before he goes bankrupt.

And how about that long, double breaking putt that stops, somehow, just behind the the hole. I think all those short tap-ins from inside 6-inches should just count for 1/2 a stroke. No gimmes, but not a full stroke! Just doesn't seem fair.

And that's the lesson for today. Life, business and golf are not fair. Get over it.

Golf is not like hockey

It's hockey playoff season ( and the Canadiens are already gone!) but I'm reminded that golf is not like hockey.

A recently retired hockey player (or one recently knocked out of the playoffs) was quoted as saying, "What I really like about golf is that after I make a great putt, I don't have to worry about somebody rushing across the green and cross-checking me in the head!" Now there's a difference you can appreciate.

Imagine hockey played by the same gentlemanly etiquette that is expected in golf.

• No blocking the shot, let me give you a clear line to the goalie.


• Excuse me, don't count that goal, I accidently kicked it in.


• You're up, so you go first from the face-off.


• Helmets off, shake hands and have a beer together after the game.

Somehow it just wouldn't be hockey.

Tiger's back

Now that he's completed the family foursome and rehabilitated his knee, Tiger has announced he'll be back on tour this week. (Added incentive for Phil Mickelson to win one on the weekend before the Tiger attacks again?)

The happy family-man will, I'm sure, return to competition with his usual Tiger-like determination and talent to put everyone else off their game. He's worth watching anytime.

Also worth mentioning that his class and character show off the course as well. A role model for us all - from his sense of social responsibility to his family values. Much more than just a great golfer.

Welcome back Tiger.

Roller coaster ride

I was reminded while watching the weekend golf that success in business and golf seems to require the tenacity and focus to survive the occasional rides up and down that seem to be out of our control. Hang on and ride it out!

Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Fred Couples battled at Pacific Palisades over four rounds to finish one, two, and three for winnings of $1.1 million, $680,000 and $327,000. Stricker went a very steady and impressive 68-66-69-67. But Mickelson and Couples took the roller coaster rides of 63-72-62-72 and 67-70-65-69. Hole by hole was even more stressful as they went from flying off the fairway into the trees to sticking it by the pin for birdie putts.

A great reminder that success at the end of the day can still follow some pretty discouraging results along the way.

Uncle Ralph's e2e forum Blog by Del Chatterson: Working like a dog?

Uncle Ralph's e2e forum Blog by Del Chatterson: Working like a dog?