UNCONVENTIONAL THINKING BLOG

I have had two clients who have fallen from fabulous wealth and rarefied success to abject poverty and searing shame. Men who allowed their positions atop the human hierarchy to deceive themselves into thinking that they were affixed there for eternity: heroes of their private Rushmores.

Both built and ran major businesses. Both started from scratch and propelled themselves to the apex. Both were risk takers–the way all fire eating entrepreneurs are– and both made the intoxicated mistake of betting the ranch and watching the dealer remove all of the chips from the table when they lost.

I have always preferred the company of women over men. I believe they are smarter, more interesting, often stronger and despite conventional wisdom, more decisive.

I don’t profess to understand anything about them (they are a complete and wondrous mystery to me) but I do know that they fall into two categories: the sweet and the dangerous.

I have always had a certain disdain for professors, clergymen, politicians– anyone who stands before a dais and spews forth enlightened pronouncements.

The first time my parents escorted me to a house of worship, all tingly and respectful, I made a silent promise to myself that the first time would also be my last. I could see through the charade the way a lover looks at a partner who is lying to them.

Everyday, I see business people, real and wannabes, juggling the hand grenades of risk and reward that are fundamental elements of entrepreneurship, of commerce.

There are more questions than answers.