“There Is Love”

Vivian C. Soballe

11/29/1913 – 2/10/2011

This picture was cropped from Mom and Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary photo. Mom was only 76 at the time – but this is how I want to remember her. I was with my folks the day this picture was taken – indeed, I had made all the arrangements for it. I shall cherish the memory of that day always.

Dad passed in 1997 – and not a day has gone by that she hasn’t thought of him and hasn’t missed him. Finally, they are together once again.

If I had only one word to describe Mom it would be “Love”. It is amazing how many people considered her to be their “real mom” – every one of our spouses and almost all of our close friends. They all wept at her funeral as if they had lost their own mother.

It only seems appropriate, therefore, that in thinking about Mom, this old Peter Paul and Mary song comes to mind:

The Wedding Song

He is now to be among you at the calling of your hearts
Rest assured this troubadour is acting on His part.
The union of your spirits, here, has caused Him to remain
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is Love. There is Love.

Well a man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home
And they shall travel on to where the two shall be as one.
As it was in the beginning is now and until the end
Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again.
And there is Love. There is Love.

Well then what’s to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it Love that brings you here or Love that brings you life?
For if loving is the answer, then who’s the giving for?
You believe in something that you’ve never seen before.
Oh there’s Love, there is Love.

Oh the marriage of your spirits here has caused Him to remain
For whenever two or more of you are gathered in His name
There is Love. Oh there’s Love.

The Quixotic Entrepreneur

I mentioned that I am reading the biography of Sam Walton. This particular biography was written 1988- 1989 (copyright 1990),  while Walton was still alive.  The author, Vance Trimble, states in the Forward that Sam refused to be interviewed or in anyway contribute to the book because he was, at the time, working on his own autobiography. Sam’s publisher would not allow him to participate in another treatise on his life. They viewed it as competition to their own book.

In fact, Walton’s autobiography was not published until 1996 – 4 years after his death from a particularly aggressive form of blood cancer (multiple myeloma).

Sam had a reputation for being pretty stubborn – to the point of being pigheaded. However, in interviews with his top lieutenants, Trimble states that while Sam was incredibly persistent – he was always open and willing to change. He was intent on constantly improving. Trimble quotes Clarence Leis who worked with Sam for nearly 30 years:

“He could have us all going one way today, have second thoughts. And then have us all going another way tomorrow. He still does that! He probably did it five times a week for twenty years.”

Trimble goes on to say:

“Sam Walton has, over the years, demonstrated quixotic tendencies and an occasional contrariness that has left observers with the notion that the Wal-Mart boss was riding north and south at one and the same time.”

Sounds like just another typical entrepreneur to me! But why is it that entrepreneurs seem to be so quixotic?

I’ve just returned from a two day seminar conducted by Marshall Thurber. (If you don’t know who he is, Google him – or better yet, You-Tube him. There are several videos of him available.  Marshall is a once-in-a-generation mind!) Marshall spent a considerable amount of time sharing with us his thoughts about the innovation process. He was explaining the process of creating what he terms “Dy Val” – short for dynamic value. One way to come up with something that offers “Dy Val”  is to ‘mash up’ disparate pieces and put them together in a new and innovative way. (Snowboarding is an example. It takes a surf board and applies it to skiing.)  However, creativity is a messy process. It is not going to be smooth and easy-flowing.

And so, in Sam Walton’s desire to offer ever more “Dy Val”, he would go one way one day – and then reverse directions and go another way the next. The important thing is that Walton was not afraid to fail. Failures provide a valuable lesson in teaching us what doesn’t work. On the way to discovering what DOES work, we may experience a lot of  failure. It is part of the learning process. A classic example is that of a baby learning to walk. How many times does a baby ‘fail’ by falling down. Until s/he learns to walk! I believe it is Napoleon Hill who says, “You only fail if you quit.”

So if you experience a failure, the best thing you can do is dust yourself off as quickly as possible and say, “NEXT!” The sooner you can get past the failure, the sooner you will be able to achieve your success.

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[An interesting historical footnote: Trimble mentions that Sam was ahead of his time in promoting women in his organization. In fact, he even allowed a woman to serve on his Board of Directors - the wife of the Governor of Arkansas: one Hillary Clinton. "We've come a long way, baby!"]

The Pursuit Of Happyness

I have been reading the biography of Sam Walton and how he created the Wal-Mart empire. Even as a teenager in high school, he seemed to have ten times more energy than anyone else. As he was coming up, he had his failures, of course.

He lost his very first store by making a freshman mistake. Sam bought an existing Ben Franklin 5 and 10 (and its lease) from its previous owner.  He spent 5 years making the business more wildly successful than anyone ever thought possible. So when the lease came up for renewal, the landlord wanted the business for himself. The landlord simply refused to renew the lease. And just like that, Sam was out of business.

But rather than cave in to defeat, Sam began scouting new locations to re-open – which is how he ended up in Bentonville, AR. This was in 1951. The whole idea of discount super-stores was 10 years away. Ten years later, Sam had a chain of Walton’s 5 & 10′s. He was well off, but not affluent. His success was by no means certain or in anyway guaranteed.

Jumping into discounting was risky – a new idea that Kresge, a 100 year old company, experimented with in the form of the K-Mart concept.  Sam Walton did not have the deep pockets necessary to compete with Kresge and K-Mart. His genius was to take the discount concept to small towns and rural communities where K-Mart did not play. Nonetheless, it required a large leap of faith and determination to make it work.

Being young helped, of course. He had lots of energy and enthusiasm that comes with being young. And he was building his empire while America was enjoying post-war prosperity. None of that detracts from his accomplishments: his vision, drive and persistence in the face of adversity.

We may not enjoy Sam Walton’s luck, timing or level of success in our endeavors. But there is nothing to prevent us from applying his drive and persistence to the pursuit of our dreams. Or, ala Chris Gardner, our “happyness”.