Winners win; they don’t whine

The longer I write about furniture — and I have been doing it for more than 20 years — the more I realize that we are an industry full of contradictions. 

For example, most of us would agree that until recently, we’ve generally been old school in our approach to the business. Think back to a time when your company was facing a decision that required some significant level of change. I’d be willing to bet one of the responses from at least one of the decision-makers was, “But we’ve always done it this way.” 

Let’s be real here. As a mature industry, we tend to very set in our ways. And yet, there’s also a very childlike aspect to the way we operate. If any of you have kids, I know you’ve heard this from their mouths: “No fair!” 

The other standby, usually preceded by the stamping of feet, is, “I’m not going to do it, and you can’t make me.”
When those two phrases came out of the mouths of my sons, I initially tried to explain as lovingly as I could that they were partially correct: The world is seldom fair. As for the “you can’t make me,” mindset, depending upon the situation, I would often tell them that they were right. They could choose to be unhappy, especially if the problem at hand was non-negotiable. 

So, what’s my point? Simply this: We sometimes act like our kids. 

I’m serious. I know I’ve heard variations on the following statements more than once during conversations with industry colleagues: 

“It’s just not fair that a competitor opened a store across the street from me.” 

“It’s not fair that we don’t manufacture as much here as we used to.” 

“It’s not fair that they sell my products on the Internet now.” 

Or, how about this one? “I know I should freshen up my product mix, but I’m not going to do it. 

Or, “I need to reinvest in my backroom operations, but I’m just not going to do it.” 

You get my drift. We all know that it’s tough out there. But even so, some of you are winning.
 
And from what I see, the winners win because they don’t whine. And as for the whiners, well you can finish that sentence on your own.