Naturally, one might chuckle over Groucho Marx’s quote. After all, even in today’s day and age, 135 years after his birth (to the month), when it comes to the world of politics, nothing much seems to have changed. That said, this is a circular about the world of business – not politics. So why Marx’s quote? Well, two reasons. First, one could easily apply his comment to the realm of commerce. And second, with the amount of chaos and stupidity swirling around us these days, it is critical that we do not lose focus on our business goals. After all, it is totally understandable for hard-working, smart, senior executives to fume over watching governments in many countries fritter away billions on green energy initiatives alone – never mind all of the rest of the hair-brained ideas they often have. It is especially true in Canada. Consider Quebec putting $500M+ into a battery plant only to have the business go bankrupt; or a federal, $1B green technology fund that was closed down for being a total failure; or multiple billions ($9B+) spent by Ottawa on carbon capture programs that did not deliver; or the close to $1B spent through the Canadian Emissions Reduction Fund with no meaningful gains – all the while China opens up 2, I repeat, 2 coal-fired generating plants a WEEK! Bottom line! Stay focused! It is more important to do so now than ever. All of the stuff above, including how accurate Marx’s quote was, is just noise! You, as a senior executive may well have learned to tune out the distracting “uproar.” The question is whether your team has done so as well!
Perform better!
