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Ground rule #2: When you aim for the top, you make important progress by just the aiming.

Chapter Two

What's It Gonna Take?

"We don't set out to produce lousy movies," Peter Guber told me. Peter is the former chairman of Sony Pictures and now chairman of Mandalay Entertainment. Peter has so many Oscars and Emmys and other awards that he's run out of wall space to display them.

"The producer and director and writer don't start out thinking they're going to create a lousy movie," Peter said. "The actors certainly don't, either. After all, a real bomb could set their careers back. It sometimes just happens that even truly talented people make a bomb. For whatever reason, the chemistry just doesn't work. Then there are other times when the chemistry works perfectly, even with a small budget, and everything is wonderful and profitable."

That got me thinking of my line of work. There's not a pro sports team owner I know of who starts out with the thought of creating a lousy team, no general manager who sets out to get ripped in the media or booed by the fans. Yet many of them have turned out some unbelievably lousy teams. Imagine how lousy they could have been if they had planned it.

There are twenty-nine teams in the National Basketball Association. Of these twenty-nine, only three or four, at the most, are thinking during the off season about winning the championship. These three or four teams ask themselves, "What's it going to take to win it all this year?"

Pat Riley, president and head coach of the Miami Heat, thinks championship. If the Heat goes to the NBA finals and gets beat, Riley considers the season unsuccessful. It's win the championship or nothing. Other coaches don't look at it this way. They think about improving their record or advancing one more round in the playoffs.

Hooray for those who think, plot, and dream to win it all this year.

Ground rule #7: When a rare big opportunity comes along and you can't test it, fly without a net.

Chapter Seven

Horse of Opportunity

Centuries ago, opportunity was sometimes envisioned as a horse with wings. Not one of those trained horses that kneel down so you can easily get on it; this winged horse was always flying, zipping past. Sometimes it would appear out of nowhere when you most needed it — in the middle of a battle, perhaps. But you had to be alert and bold and quick; if you let it slip by, the opportunity to save yourself was gone.

I read this years ago in a magazine in some waiting room. As I sat in the lobby, I thought about that winged horse. Picture it: The horse approaches; you trot alongside, grab the horse's wing, get a firm grip, and jump on. No sweat. Cowboys do it all the time (except for the wing). But if you don't see it coming, or if you wait too long to decide, the Horse of Opportunity slides swiftly by, and all you can do is grab for its slippery tail.

This Horse of Opportunity can represent a lot of different things — a job, a person, money, even peace of mind. But I've come to think of the Horse of Opportunity in terms of marketing.

Grab the wing of a flying horse? Sounds tricky, doesn't it? It's not. Here's why. First, you see the horse coming. When you see the horse, you can prepare to grab the wing. When you're prepared, all that's left to do is grab when the horse flies by.

How do you prepare? The first step is to understand that, in marketing, there really is a Horse of Opportunity. Once you've taken that step, you'll be amazed at how many Horses of Opportunity you see out there.

Unfortunately, many people never see the horse coming. Or they see it but don't prepare for it. Of they don't reach out early enough to grab the wings. Or they're afraid to hold on, not knowing where the Horse of Opportunity will take them.

I've been fortunate. I've seen the horse coming and grabbed the wings, more than once. I've had some wonderful rides and gone to some terrific places on the Horse of Opportunity. I highly recommend it.Try it, you'll have the ride of your life.

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