Directions…

I was wondering the other day if my Android cell phone’s GPS works with artificial intelligence.  Turns out, it does: 

AI helps analyze vast data, identifies landmarks from images, and offers conversational guidance, making your journey more intuitive and efficient. 

                        AI 

AI talking about AI, hmm.  But I digress.

My curiosity was stimulated when leaving a parking lot after a recent book signing.  I was in an area I wasn’t familiar with so naturally, I turned to GPS (aka the machines).  It's directions started with only two words, “head south”.  Head south??!!  Like I have a compass handy.  It reminded me of this recent post on social media about how we humans give directions.  Did you see it?

I know we rely on the machines often.  Maybe too often.  And I know we’d like the machines to be fool proof.  Here’s the problem with that expectation: 

Naeser's Law: 

You can make it foolproof, but you can't make it damn-fool-proof. 

Unknown Sage 

If you think about it, how did Lewis and Clark navigate the wilderness in their time?  OK, they “drafted” help from Sacagawea.  But how did she navigate?  

Well, unlike us if one of them suggested they “head south” each of them would have likely known which way south was.  Just like today’s machines! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

Soaring…

I love to see someone’s joy!  His shadow makes an even bigger impact:

Joy – what a great feeling!  We often hear a pro athlete after making the “big play” say they used to dream about being in that moment during their childhood.  They used to imagine soaring.  Such joy is not limited to sports. 

Bill Gates’ marathon coding sessions to become the first to create an operating system for PCs (e.g. DOS, the Disk Operating System) are legendary.  Though a self-proclaimed introvert, I bet he was joyous when his operating system booted up for the first time.  Maybe he didn’t physically soar for a dunk, but I bet he was more than happy. 

The variety of sources that give us joy are further defined by experts.  In Daniel H. Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us ©, we find: 

The performance of the task provided intrinsic reward…  The joy of the task was its own reward. 

Harry S. Harlow 

Regardless of what we get paid to do, is the joy of the task our own reward?  Assuming we are doing something that drives us, of course.  Daniel H. Pink goes on to clarify: 

… true motivation comes from autonomy, the desire to direct our own lives; mastery, the urge to get better at something… 

What do you think?  Are we spending most of our time self-directed; autonomously pursuing and yearning for mastery?  Or, are we stuck in our daily routine?  Autonomous motivation is easy to write about, but it’s hard to soar in the real world, true?  Nonetheless, we are wise to heed this advice: 

If you're not enjoying the journey, you probably won't enjoy the destination. 

Joe Tye 

My friend Dom above reminds us of what joy looks like during the journey.  And who knows what his destination might be:  

See the similarities?

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

Discernment…

If you’ve read me for a while you know I continue to be more of a Luddite than a technology enthusiast.  Artificial Intelligence and the machines scares the GPUs, TPUs, and NPUs out of me.  Not familiar with what those are?  They’re just a few of the technology things that in a single data center consume more electricity than all of Lucas County Ohio, home of the city of Toledo.

What does that mean for the rest of us?  Exactly.  Our future living with the machines is a bit obscure in my mind.  Obscure?  Well, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers: 

Dark; Shrouded; Mysterious; not clearly seen or easily distinguished 

But Gary, you might think, what about all of our conveniences courtesy of artificial intelligence?  I get it.  And truth be told, I too benefit from the machines.  I’m simply trying to learn the full picture of how AI is impacting us.  It’s the full picture that scares me.  I’m aligned with this charter school in Lakewood, Colorado: 

We believe that ability to discern is what separates us from beasts and is worthy of lifelong study. 

Addenbrooke Classical Academy 

Discernment?  Back to the dictionary: 

the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary 

Ian Leslie in his book Curious © cautions: 

… digital technologies are severing the link between effort and mental exploration.  By making it easier for us to find answers, the Web threatens habits of deeper inquiry - habits that require patience and focused application… there are those who argue that by releasing us from the need to use our memories, the Internet is allowing us to be more creative.  But such claims fly in the face of everything scientists have learned about how the mind works.

What I’m curious about is why we the people are not more curious about the adverse impacts of  technology.  After all, most of us enjoy chocolate but we also know that over-consumption of it can adversely impact our health, true?  

Have you noticed the machines don’t eat chocolate?  My discernment skill makes me suspicious. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Warriors re-visited…

Welcome to 2026!  What kind of year do you think we’re going to have?  Whatever lies ahead, I think we’re ready for it. 

Back in 2023, I offered this when writing about warriors: 

Fate whispers to the warrior, "You cannot withstand the storm." The warrior whispers back, "I am the storm." 

Unknown Sage 

Girding as a warrior and fighting or calming the storm is one way to do it.  A while back I saw this modification: 

I like the idea of calming myself vs. getting all spun up to fight our daily trails, tribulations, and media headlines.  Too many times I find myself inclined to be the warrior and battle some thing or other only to discover those “storms” aren’t real. They often just exist in my mind (or in AI's mind!).  Eckhart Tolle in his book The Power of Now © offers: 

Nothing real can be threatened.  Nothing unreal exists.  Herein lies the peace of God. 

Speaking of the peace of God, we find the same advice in the Bible: 

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. 

Proverbs 16:32 

This year I’m going to revisit my warrior mentality.  Yes, we’ll face storms.  Yes, we’ll face adversity.  But everything doesn’t require waging an all-out battle, does it? 

So here’s to our 2026!  May we all calm ourselves and worry less about the storms. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

Creative closing…

Closing deals before calendar year-end stimulates a salesperson’s creativity.  I’ve written about it before (see ABC).

The Me or My Successor Close was born out of necessity.  So was the It’s My Day Close that my colleague combined with the high risk-high reward Camp Out Close. 

Although they go by varying names, permit me to share other popular closing techniques. 

• The Trial Close can be effective but only when used skillfully.  Use it too soon or too often and it does more harm than good. 
• The Expiring Discount Close is popular this time of year.  It can easily backfire however when negotiating with an experienced B2B buyer.  Once you put that discount on the table it’s nearly impossible to take it away no matter when they finally buy.
• This time of year also reminds us how Amazon perfected the Convenience Close. Last minute shoppers depend on it; especially next day delivery.
• When employed early enough, the Calendar Close is effective with clients that have a January 1^st “start date” need.
• For clients that balk at a big transaction, the Alternative Close can break the deal down into smaller “pieces” or “phases”.  Of course, the contract needs to be structured so the client ultimately buys all of the smaller pieces.
• The Assumptive Close was perfected by legendary sales trainer Tom Hopkins and his Approve the Paperwork Close.
• Speaking of old school, there’s the Ben Franklin Close; a T-graph listing the pros of buying on the left side and the cons on the right.
• I witnessed Dan Callahan of Integral Systems (the best closer I ever saw) skillfully employ the Client Advisory Committee Close.  Of course, a prospect could only be on said committee if they buy and became a client.
• Back in 1992, ADP National Accounts used the Like for Like Close with Carnival Corporation.  Carnival outsourced payroll to ADP and in turn, ADP held a President’s Club trip on the inaugural voyage of the Carnival Fantasy cruise ship.
• I still use the Puppy Dog Close during my book signings.  If a prospect stops and briefly peruses my book they wind up buying it more times than not. 

Then there are those nefarious closing techniques that give the sales profession a tainted image: 

• One of my sales reps years ago was being trapped into a No Clothes Close by her prospect.  She didn’t fully understand what he was up to.  That is until I did a sales manager ride-along for a meeting he requested after business hours.  He was certainly surprised to see me!  Thankfully, she didn’t close the deal.
• The Side Letter Close was popular in the 1990s; giving the client an off-contract “out”.  The accounting community ultimately closed that creative sales loophole.  Although I never used a side letter I did benefit once from something similar. 

While a National Account Rep for ADP in Denver the Jiffy Lube account committed to a $300K deal only to call me a week later and cancel.  Not my proudest moment.  My Vice President of Sales along with his Vice President and General Manager employed a little known “UBV” accounting provision to make the cancellation just disappear! 

I didn’t get paid commissions on the deal but the quota credit qualified me for ADP’s President’s Club trip on none other than that Carnival Fantasy cruise!  Oh, and that deal qualified my two VPs for Club, too. 

UBV – Unexplained Business Variance.  Now that’s what I call closing creativity! 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

 

Bad decisions…

I just finished the first draft of my new book, Extraordinary Tales of an Ordinary Salesman.  In Chapter 5, I Quit, I relate the story about the worst business decision I made in my entire career. A bad decision that literally cost me millions of dollars.

It was an emotional decision.  I let my ego take over.  I broke all of the rules: 

Rangnekar's Modified Rules Concerning Decisions 

• If you must make a decision, delay it.
• If you can authorize someone else to avoid a decision, do so.
• If you can form a committee, have them avoid the decision.
• If you can otherwise avoid a decision, avoid it immediately. 

The outcome served its purpose I suppose.  I learned to change from arrogant to grateful.  Oh I kept my competitive edge. I was still hungry; still a sales “hunter”.  But that one bad decision contributed to changing the course of my entire life.  There were other contributions.  A diagnosis; a couple of accidents; a few bad phone calls.  Before I knew it I became more grateful; less win-at-any-cost, egotistical. 

It took a while, but I finally learned how to make a good decision: 

The single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude. 

Charles R. Swindell 

Today, I choose to look for the positive.  That is, until my emotions and my ego hijack me.  That one reckless driver who cut me off.  That one political post full of vitriol.  That one-too-many criticisms.  Happens to us all, true?  Those emotions put me on the path of making bad decisions.  And when I find myself on that path I try think back to Charles R. Swindell: 

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. 

So here’s to overcoming the hijackers; here’s to avoiding bad decisions; here’s to the 90% vs. the 10%; here’s to the peace and power of a positive perspective. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Christ’s birth...

Wishing you and your family a day of peace, hope and joy.  Today reminds us that Christmas should last the entire year, yes?  

Whatever our spiritual beliefs, may each of us find long-lasting meaning in our life.  May we be reminded of that which is important and that which isn’t. 

A banker reminds us to be tolerant of our youth: 

A little boy received a new drum for Christmas.  Shortly thereafter, his father came home from work and the mother told him, “I don’t think the man upstairs likes to hear Georgie play his new drum, but he’s certainly subtle about it.”  “How do you know”? asked the father.  “Well, this afternoon he gave Georgie a knife and asked him if he knew what was inside the drum.” 

Herbert Prochnow

The gospel reminds us to recognize our blessings: 

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are – no more, no less.  That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. 

Matthew 5 

A novelist reminds us to be thankful for our “fortunes”: 

Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. 

Charles Dickens 

My present blessings from God reminds me to say to you and yours from me and mine: 

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” 

GAP