Against the Grain

Author quote:  "And is there anything sweeter than going against the grain and realizing that the marks you leave behind are the new grain?  I think not."

Those words were used to identify 18 individuals and one group as subjects to devote a chapter in "Against the Grain."  Some familiar names, but some maybe not so well known and with an emphasis on their early struggles.  Included are those who overcame ridicule to make a positive benefit for the rest of mankind.

A lot of interesting people to choose from, but a blog is not a book.  A few highlights to make a few points.

 

Terry O'Reilly's background is advertising and he offers two examples of men who changed conventional thinking, Albert Lasker and Bill Bernbach.  One point for me was to see the advantage in the disadvantage such as used by Avis, the number 2 who tries harder and the small Volkswagen.  

As a blogger I will take this opportunity for my own advertising contribution.  I was a big basketball fan and managed to get involved with the inaugural idea of the Buffalo Braves playing some games at Maple Leaf Gardens.  They let me sell a few tickets in a reserved section.  Frustrated that it wasn't as overwhelming as I had hoped, I got the idea for a unique ad and asked if I could run it in the Oakville paper that I worked for as a district circulation manager.  Given the okay I came up with the idea that Canadians weren't aware of the 24 second rule that assured lots of action.  I got photos of Pete Maravich and Bob McAdoo opposing each other with the caption "24 second shoot em up."  Maple Leaf Gardens also copied it in their big Toronto ads.

Bogota in Colombia had a reputation of being one of the most dangerous cities in the world.  Antonas Mockus, a non politician had been in trouble, but he decided to run for mayor.  He used creative, even contra intuitive methods to deal with alcohol and guns.  He used ridicule to curb violence.  One example was to hire mimes stationed near high traffic accident areas to mock drivers who ignored rules.  His unorthodox methods dramatically reduced accidents, homicide rates and even water wastage.

Scientists are often thought of as innovators, but as in other professions there is an establishment that likes to protect itself.  O'Reilly gives us four examples of medical doctors who literally went through periods of being ridiculed before their innovations became normal.  One was the simplest task of washing ones' hands before delivering babies.  The others also helped save lives, literally millions of lives.

Suzanne Simard from a young age decided she wanted to be involved with forestry.  She worked for the government and for private business.  A standard practice was to replace cut trees with new commercially viable plantings carefully spaced apart so they would not "compete" against one another.  As she advocated a role for birch trees some critics labelled her "Miss Birch" to her face and likely switched one letter to her back.  Suzanne discovered that in fact different types of trees and even mushrooms interconnect to be healthier.  We have known for awhile that  trees soak up carbon dioxide and send out oxygen, but she found a mixed forest provided a healthy environment for humans and provided justification for the term "forest bathing."

Due to the popularity of "King Richard" even many non sports fans know Richard Williams played a critical role in the development of two world famous tennis stars, Venus and Serena Williams.  The story has a long background covering Richard's poor youth that including racism and poverty.  He was also involved in fighting.  He had almost no awareness of tennis when he saw a news item about a woman (from Romania) winning $40,000 in a tournament.  Venus and Serena were not yet born, but he became obsessed with the idea of making them international tennis stars.  Richard's strategy was more than just practicing the game itself, but required school discipline and encouraging them to earn money on their own.

These are just a few highlights not really conveying the struggles involved.  Some better known people are included like Taylor Swift, Norman Lear and Dick Fosbury.  A few lesser known others have contributed to society against odds.  A reader will find lots of inspiration and perhaps an openness to other people who have innovative ideas that might seem a little off the wall. 

Another interesting book by Terry O'Reilly was "My Best Mistake".  See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/my-best-mistake.html

My Best Mistake

 Is this compatible with my previous blog on Regrets?  On one hand this is about how people have overcome an obstacle/mistake to gain further success and claim they don't regret and in fact are glad for the obstacles.  On the other hand I would suggest they each handled a setback that most would regret in hindsight by dealing with it in a better manner.  Daniel Pink would tell you that problems offer opportunities.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/06/the-power-of-regret.html

The world of sports reveals many mistakes, particularly for a manager who has to decide who to draft, and who to play.  One example was Scotty Bowman, considered to be one of the best hockey brains made a mistake that could have ended his career before it got launched.  After an injury cut his hockey playing days short he had been given an opportunity to work with Sam Pollock.  One of his tasks had been to notify players that they didn't make the cut.  When a young Serge Savard showed up expecting accommodation, a few months after it was embarrassing and costly as he should have been notified.  It is hard to pinpoint who really made the mistake, but Scotty's job was on the line.  Before too long the mistake was  smoothed over and Serge went on to be a Montreal top player and Scotty went on to become one of the top hockey coaches of all time.

 Politics offers a lot of opportunities for mistakes.  It is very easy to offend someone and if you offend the wrong one it can be disastrous.  Bill Maher and the Dixie Chicks suffered for being outspoken.

Shortly after the 9/11 attack, a guest on Bill's show, Dinesh D'Souza made a statement that the attackers were not cowards.  Bill agreed , "We have been the cowards, lobbing cruise missiles from two thousand miles away.  That's cowardly.  Staying in the airplane when it hits the building, say what you want about it, it's not cowardly."  Sponsors backed out and critics led a charge that resulted in cancellation and blocked Bill's employment.  Eventually he returned to television as many did respect his honesty and he was able to maintain a provocative stance.

Steve Jobs is one of the most interesting characters discussed.  For me some new information was provided or maybe it was a reminder.   His birth mother requested her son be adopted by two college graduates, but initial effort failed and she had to be persuaded to accept two parents who had dropped out of high school, but turned out to be helpful for an innovator.  As usual it is difficult to read about Jobs without describing him as an "asshole," but he is deemed to have offsetting qualities.  After setting up Apple and proving his genius he offended board members so much that they forced him out of his own company.  Twelve years later he returned and helped launch Apple into its current maga status.  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2022/05/the-no-asshole-rule.html

Mario Puzo is best known for "The Godfather." (1972), but the main reason he wrote it was to pay off gambling debts.  Gambling would be a big mistake that just keep putting him in a deeper hole.  He had written two books that received good reviews and was able to eke out a living with magazine articles and editing.  He wanted to be taken as a serious writer and resisted turning an outline (presented to get some needed cash) into an actual book.  With his back against the wall he did do the book, but along the way made another mistake--he accepted a low offer for the movie rights.  Partly in compensation he was offered to write the movie script which won him his first of two Oscars. 

Farmer's Almanac had one secret formula and one incredible fluke (a fortuitous mistake).  A brother in law of mine used to quote their weather predictions, one of which was a little off.  Going back to the founder Robert B. Thomas felt he needed a weather forecast for his annual reference guide.  Surprisingly he was able learn about Galileo's observation about sun spots that affected our global weather in an 11 year cycle.  That  worked pretty good, but one year 1816, the owner had been ill and unable to write the forecast.  When pressed he joked there would be snow in July.  It was recognized as a mistake, but it was too late to destroy all the printed copies.  A massive volcanic eruption in the Dutch East Indies  and its dust circled the earth lowering temperatures which resulted in July snow in the United States.  This helped to consolidate the reputation for the Farmer's Almanac.

Other covered notable celebrities that overcame mistakes include Billy Joel, Brian Williams, Steve Spielberg and Seth MacFarlane.

While many of us wallow in our mistakes and failings others have learned, persisted and overcome them.  Some mistakes are actually innovative and good luck.