The WAY to WOW Shows
Tactical Loss Can Lead to Strategic Victory
January 28, 2025
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[0:00] who are you and where are you going what do you [Music] want hello and welcome to business lessons from the military I'm your host Kevin bemel and we're here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military history history Doctrine and the practices of great military leaders all by way of distilling lessons from

[0:37] them that we can apply to our businesses and professional practices so today is just two days shy of the 57th anniversary of the start of the Ted offensive uh one of if not the biggest battle in the Vietnam War lasted for a month or so and it really was the Turning Point uh for for that particular conflict and and you know in in any in any battle that's so important to

[1:16] to a war for example the Battle of the Bulge in World War II or um The Invasion in Normandy um the Battle of guad canal um going back to um uh World War I the elimination of the San mahel um Salient um so there these these kinds of pivotal events uh by by the way the Battle of New Orleans that we talked about uh earlier this year um in the War of 1812 uh a battle that happened is if you

[1:53] saw that episode after the war had actually ended but because communication in the early 19th century was not what it was today the combatants didn't know the war was over so anytime we have such a consequential battle it's it's really an opportunity for us to first of all learn something about human conflict um but then also to find lessons to to apply in our in our professional lives so uh I've mentioned

[2:29] this many times I don't think of um of business as the kind of existential um uh human endeavor the way war is um but nonetheless business oftentimes involves conflict um it it happens at the Strategic operational and and and tactical levels and so there are many connections we we can make and two and I I've been thinking about this uh quite quite a bit I'm I'm in the midst of reading two uh classic uh books um

[3:07] both of them uh fictional Works uh one is the bostonians by Henry James and the other is the brothers karamazov by Fodor doji and one of the things that strikes me about both of these books which were written in the late 19th century is how much they have to say about what's happening in the world and in particular in the United States today so the idea that um that that fiction has

[3:43] nothing to teach us which is uh um I think a belief held by a lot of people and especially um classic literature I I I think is a mistake we we need to look at what happens when and human beings um conflict um in order to learn better how to deal with those conflicts and perhaps more importantly how to avoid those conflicts so getting back on track now get off my my soap box so as I mentioned that the

[4:20] Ted offensive uh began on January 30th 1968 um it was um it was a surprise attack uh by the the NVA the nor North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Kong uh the VC which was essentially a Guerilla group um within North Vietnam um and against the uh um army of the Republic of Vietnam which was the South K uh South Vietnamese Army and and United States

[4:55] forces um and and like I said it was a it was a Sur priz attack on over a hundred cities towns and military bases throughout South Vietnam including Saigon which was the capital of South Vietnam and Hugh which was a historic city um one among the key targets was the US Embassy in Saigon which actually was temporarily breached which was just shocking to Americans and and and really people uh you know around the globe that

[5:32] um that that you know the the embassy of the most powerful country or at least one of the most powerful countries in the world could be breached by um the NVA and the VC um o over 880,000 uh communist troops uh were involved making it um the largest mil military campaign of the Vietnam War and and the purpose of the attack was to incite the South Vietnamese to civilians South

[6:07] Vietnamese civilians to rise up against the the us back government in South Vietnam and and in essence kind of join with um the North Vietnamese um in kicking out the South Vietnamese regime and hence the United States and uniting the country under uh North Vietnamese rule making it you know one Vietnam now the reason it's called the Ted offensive is it began during the Vietnamese lunar

[6:42] holiday known as tet which was traditionally a time when uh the forces were under a truce okay and and hence the surprise nature of of the attacks so um the the the city of Hugh um this historic City I mentioned was the scene of of some of the fiercest fighting and it lasted nearly a month um and during the Communist um occupation of of of Hugh um thousands of suspected South

[7:20] Vietnamese government sympathizers were were killed at what became known as the massacre at Hugh uh now not withstanding that the um South Vietnamese and the US forces were caught by surprise um they they they were able to regroup and Counterattack and although it took some some heavy fighting eventually um most of the towns and cities uh were were retaken and so in

[7:58] terms of a a a tactical uh battle um the the North Vietnamese really didn't get anything out of it and indeed um and I'm going to talk about the casualty figures here in just a minute they paid a huge price um for mounting the Ted offensive um for really little if any territorial gain so and I remember a a as as a kid so I was uh seven years old when the Ted

[8:36] offensive was launched um not quite seven and a half years old and I remember watching on our black and white TV in the evening news my parents watched Walter kronite the you know the great newscaster of that time and the casually figures would be brought up on the screen each night and they always seem to follow the same pattern which was there'd be X number of us killed and wounded there'd be roughly like two to

[9:11] five times x um the number of South Vietnamese troops killed and wounded and then there would be kind of a 10 times or 20 times or more X number of North Vietnamese and Viet Kong troops um killed and wounded and the in the Ted offensive uh these these numbers played out really exactly that way so there were between 1100 and 1600 Americans killed um in the Ted offensive and about 7 to 8,000 wounded um with respect to

[9:49] the army of the Republic of Vietnam the South Vietnamese so they're about 2300 to 2800 killed in action what we called Kia and between five and 6,000 wounded so um you know much you about double the number killed around the same number wounded um but with respect to the uh NVA the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Kong killed in action was estimated at between 40 and 50,000 right so a factor of roughly 40

[10:28] times 30 to 40 times the number of Americans and uh 20 times um the number of South Vietnamese um there was never there's never been at least that I could find a a any kind of accurate figure on the number of wounded NVA and VC likely tens of thousands more and in fact um the losses were so large that they basically destroyed well destroyed is

[11:04] too hard a word but they they really um weaken the Viet Kong as a fighting force um and and thereafter the North Vietnam really had to rely on on the NVA as the war continued and did indeed continue for several more years so so you know again huge you know t of thousands of troops killed and wounded uh little territorial gain the major disabling of the Viet Kong

[11:41] right by by any measure a strategic loss for North Vet for the North Vietnamese uh and and a a pretty remarkable turn of events by the South Vietnamese and and the US forces and yet uh the Ted offensive was a significant e even Des well despite the defeat the the Ted offensive was really a significant psychological victory for North Vietnam first of all um the the US

[12:19] government had been projecting a very optimistic picture of the war up to that point and the surprise attack and and the large losses uh you know a thousand to 1600 US US troops killed and and and you know five times that wounded uh in one battle um that really undermined the the American public's confidence in the information that was coming out of the American government about the war and in particular the

[12:57] progress um the in of the US Embassy in Saigon as I'm sure you can imagine dramatically undermined this idea that the war was progressing on American terms um and as well um the images of violence um in in particular there was a the execution of a vetcon Kong prisoner in Saigon that was covered by the media really intensified the anti-war sentiment in the United States

[13:34] so we tend to think of the Vietnam war in the context of Americans were always against the war that was not the case at all the majority of Americans were in favor of the Vietnam War um for the for the first SE well for the first several years there was there was um kinetic combat now there were advisors in Vietnam uh from the time of of uh um Eisenhower um and then and then Kennedy President Kennedy um up the

[14:11] number of advisors um and then eventually it spilled over um and became uh you know as when it became a hot War America sent uh combat troops ships planes Etc um to support the the South Vietnamese government so um and and Americans largely supported the war um and and it was really in the beginning a somewhat radical Fringe that opposed the Vietnam War but confidence in uh the American

[14:47] government and in particular in President Johnson was being chipped away chip chip chip chip chip and and and the Ted offensive really marked kind of a turning point at at and and it was after that that uh significant uh portions of Americans uh turned against supporting the war and so from the north vietnamese's standpoint the Ted offensive really marked a strategic Victory so because it led to increased demestic

[15:23] American domestic opposition uh to us involvement in Vietnam uh that that was a that was a tremendous strategic victory for for North Vietnam um and the and the fact of the matter was um while uh President Nixon once he was elected um uh in in 1968 and then pursued at during the first few years of his presidency the what he called the Viet Viet Vietnamization of the Vietnam War

[15:59] meaning the idea that America was going to pull out and and the South South Vietnamese were going to pursue the the war without at least On The Ground American Support um it it was pretty clear I think that the South Vietnamese were were not going to be able to um you know defend themselves and and the Ted offensive I think showed that that that the North Vietnamese could uh you know invade the

[16:34] South like I said a hundred cities and towns and and Military sites including Saigon and Hugh um even with American you know ground troops there um and and American control of of the Skies I I think led a lot of people to conclude that the the the South Vietnamese on their own um were were not going to be able to Prevail and yet um and and so that so in essence America was kind of on the losing side if you will um the other the other thing that

[17:12] happened was um president Lynden B Johnson's approval rating just collapsed um at least partly as the result of what happened in the Ted offensive um and it was it collapsed so dramatic ly that in March of 1968 uh Johnson announced that he would not seek uh uh reelection as as president so if you if you recall uh Johnson became president after President Kennedy was assassinated he finished the

[17:48] last part of Kennedy's term but according to the Constitution because he filled out less than less than half of Kennedy's term and then served one one elected term himself he was eligible to run for another term in office uh but but Johnson concluded that his approval rating was so bad it did not make sense for for him to run for reelection now you might have say well gosh you know backing out March of 1968 when the election was in November that that you

[18:25] know what what good did that do well I mean the fact the matter is elections were a lot shorter then than they are now um and and uh and so um in in many ways uh Johnson's action was was a statesmanlike move I and I think that that's was part of his motivation was to say okay you know clearly the American people do not want me to run again he even said I need to concentrate on the matters at hand um and and not be uh you know barnstorming the country in a

[19:01] reelection bid uh and and so um that too um was uh somewhat of a strategic Victory um for for the North Vietnamese um because uh Johnson had been uh such a strong supporter of the war um and and he was among that segment of the democratic party that supported the war war and and and by Johnson choosing not to run the anti-war part of the of the democratic party the George

[19:38] McGovern wing of the party uh really was able to become a Ascendant in many ways um and and as and as a result um a huge section of the American uh population essentially joined the anti-war camp and and and as well the Ted offensive and and the Dynamics that it that it started really set the stage for uh the eventual peace talks and and and finally the withdrawal of US forces

[20:14] from Vietnam which of course ended uh and if you've ever seen the the iconic images of helicopters rescuing people from the rooftops of the US Embassy uh inside gone as as the final Americans left South Vietnam and and and essentially shortly thereafter North Vietnam invaded the South they they they they defeated the South Vietnamese army they deposed the South Vietnamese government and Vietnam was United under

[20:50] what what was what was the um communist Vietnamese government of the north and and into one country again just of of Vietnam um and and it is by the way um you know speaking of the the um you know tactical losses but strategic wins it is it is interesting to note how things have played out over the succeeding you know half plus Century in that um what was feared was Vietnam would be would come under

[21:27] the sway of communist China um and and and and um you know really become part of that block um but actually that that didn't happen um although communist China supported Vietnam North Vietnam during the war um and provide material logistical support and even non-combat troops roughly o over 300,000 I think about 300,000 320,000 um non combat troops in North Vietnam um when when nor when Vietnam

[22:04] invaded Cambodia um that was not to China's liking um and and indeed China wanted to avoid direct conflict with the United States as had happened in Korea um and North Vietnam actually end up ended up aligning itself closer with Russia um and and Russia and China were not on the best of terms at that point and so the the sort of alliance between Vietnam and China never really materialized in the way that um the United States had feared um and and and

[22:39] in fact um um here we are like I said more than a half half a century later and or a half century later I should say and Vietnam has strong economic ties with the United States um some of the decoupling of manufacturing between the United States and China is moving to Vietnam which is considered u a a friendlier um environment um in which um the United States um is doing business and uh and and there um you

[23:15] know if you've ever if you follow in this news you've seen there have been uh sort of Rec reconciliation reunions between Americans and and um you know Vietnamese troops against whom they fought Etc so um from Vietnam from Vietnam's perspective um the Strategic defeat um by the North Vietnamese at tet or in tet um really led to a long-term strategic Victory um both militarily and economically for for the country um and

[23:53] and uh you know whereas um uh China has essentially um taken over Hong Kong and made it a part of mainland China in a way that was not supposed to be happening at least for another roughly 20 years or so um you know Vietnam remains a strongly independent country from China and and really uh I I think has um you know as as much concern about China as as does you know Japan the Philippines Taiwan Etc

[24:28] which really redounds to the benefit of the United States and all of these other countries that I named so so this is the this is the history of the Ted offensive and uh sorry I I keep glancing over there because i' I've been hearing a noise and it's all of a sudden heating up in my house which given what's going on here in Los Angeles seems a little bit creepy but um I don't smell any fire so I think I'm okay um so I I've I've distilled five lessons uh from from the Ted offensive that we can apply um to

[25:05] our our our business and professional lives um and and I'm not in necessarily any um order of importance but um but but things I think we we should we should keep in mind as we run our businesses so first of all uh um again this question of the Tactical wins versus strategic losses or really tactical losses versus strategic wins which is really what the the Ted offensive shows us so from south from the south vietnams

[25:41] and the US perspective we won tactically but we lost the war strategically right and and South Vietnam as as an entity um eventually went away now and so the the the short-term strategic picture for the United States was we suffered a military defeat it was an embarrassment um and and it led to kind of a a malaise in the United States that really didn't um lift until um President

[26:17] Reagan um you know won the presidency um but the reality is um tactical wins and losses aren't nearly as important as strategic wins and losses so the Tactical loss by the United I mean the Tactical win by the United States although there was a short-term uh loss led to a long-term strategic win and more so for the North

[26:53] Vietnamese although they lost tactically their their strateg Ric victory was both kind of a a shorter term strategic victory in essentially winning the Vietnam War and what turned into strong um economic ties um with the United States over the long term so when we look at what happens in our businesses and professional practices we are sometimes going to um suffer tactical defeat

[27:30] and that that's just a that's just a factor of of how business works right what we need to do is is keep our eye on the long game now that can be tough to do especially if you're in a a a um a publicly traded company where you have to report quarterly earnings and and the analysts are all you know looking at that very closely or if you're a company um that's that's funded by VCS or even Angel and Seed Capital where you've got people scrutinizing what you're doing

[28:06] very thoroughly keeping close tabs on you one of the lessons is to remind those investors that a tactical loss doesn't necessarily mean that you're not going to meet your strategic objectives um the the two are not nearly as closely ass Associated as we think they are um and and you you see this for example when for example a pharmaceutical company they you know they don't pass a particular uh uh test with um with um

[28:44] the um uh uh with the FDA sorry I kept thinking FAA which is not the wrong way with the FDA the Food and Drug Administration right they'll have some kind of experimental drug that they've app that they've applied for approval it doesn't pass some test and oftentimes you'll see you know the stock drop on on that uh for for that particular pharmaceutical company so the fact the fact of the matter is um failing that one particular test doesn't necessarily mean anything with respect to the longer

[29:20] term prospects for either that particular drug or for the company itself right so we need to look Beyond tactical losses and VI but by the way passing the test doesn't necessarily mean uh that a drug is going to be successful unless the test is final approval well and even then just because a drug gets final approval doesn't mean it's going to be uh you know it's going to be successful in the marketplace so I think we need to look Beyond tactical wins and losses in in our businesses and professional practices and and

[29:58] understand those things from a operational and strategic perspective okay and that's the main thing and and that's why it's important to have strategic goals okay or what I call um conditions of success okay because conditions of success let us know that we're on track or off track but on a Continuum basis rather than oh I missed this you know short-term objective oh no what am I going to do okay or I lost this client oh no what am I going

[30:33] to do okay it's it's good to develop a Long View and then adjust that Long View as necessary based on strategic wins and losses okay next is the power of strategic surprise so or even tactical surprise um in the case of the Ted offensive it was launched during T the Vietnamese Lunar New Year which again was a a a time normally that there was a truce okay and

[31:08] so neither the the South Vietnamese nor the US forces were expecting any kind of offensive by the NVA and the VC and so um as a result the the the North Vietnamese forces were able to gain some early um tactical advances um and and and and and there was concern of course that that you know this this was very very serious right and oh no what are we going to do okay so um while in the end um the North

[31:46] Vietnamese tactically did not succeed um this is a good lesson and and uh it's something that we that we in business uh should really take a look at so um there's a tendency for example to um not do things in the summer like the summer is kind of the the doldrums of the business season right to launch new initiatives maybe after the first of the year or um you know or or during pardon

[32:22] me the the holiday season okay but there may be there may be an advantage to launching a product when nobody else um is launching products or or to for example release a movie um when most other um Distributors are not releasing a movie um because we have a lot less competition if we do it uh well we might be able to gain a lot more attention because all the noise of other

[32:58] companies competing with us is reduced um if not eliminated by looking at a time when this is not typically done right so uh this is you know something to think about and the example I I mentioned I think about movies being released so we tend to see movies new movies released in the summer for the big summer season and at the uh holiday season toward the end of the year those are the two big movie goinging times of the year right but if you've got some

[33:33] kind of um you know media project uh you know maybe releasing it in the spring you know or the sort of late winter early spring or in the fall makes more sense when there's much less competition from other forms of of of media like like movies like you know even these days even the well the network television schedule is not nearly as important as it used to be um you know when I was much younger you know you had the new fall lineup that was a big big thing you didn't want to

[34:09] compete against that but these days maybe that's not quite as important but for your particular business if if you thinking of launching some kind of strategic initiative what time of the year is kind of the Dead time and what kind of gains could you expect by by um you know pursuing your initiative then uh when there is much less or or no competition what how might that work out to your benefit so so the power of strategic surprise okay um next is is

[34:48] the importance of perception so although the South Vietnamese and the Americans want the the the Ted offensive for all I mean they did they you know the the North Vietnamese really made little territorial gains they had huge Personnel losses but in some way the especially United States the 10 offensive was looked at as an American loss okay we were so badly surprised um the the

[35:25] brutality um that that was on on display um by uh South Vietnamese forces um the uh um the fact that um Americans came to conclude that our government was not um telling us the truth with respect to what was happening um in dur in the Vietnam War all of those made it feel to a lot of Americans like like we lost the Ted offensive um even though in fact tactically we won and so um these

[36:02] Perceptions in the end loomed larger than the reality and that's why the North Vietnamese won this strategic Victory right and so um in our businesses in our professional practices how we're perceived is as important as what the reality is especially in the kind of media drenched environment in which we live and and and even for a small business or a small practice when you

[36:38] have Yelp reviews and Google reviews and all these kind of things they can have a very big impact on our businesses uh e even though you know we're not whatever Coca-Cola or AT&T or whatever okay we're not some big huge company but but people do check those Yelp reviews and so as we run our businesses and professional practices we really need to keep an eye out for uh how are the other um I I don't like this word so much but but but

[37:14] stakeholders the other you know the customers investors employees how are how are all of them perceiving our businesses how are they perceiving our leadership and so having an effective Communications and PR strategy is very very important in order to manage those perceptions so if you're in a business where uh people let's say you're in a restaurant business where people post online reviews about your food and the quality of your service and such whether

[37:49] you want to or not you really ought to be following those reviews and or or have someone following them for you and if you get a negative review uh respond to it reach out to um the the people um and see what what could be done to get them to maybe take the review down or or post a retraction or something like that so so perception is important there's just there's you know there's no

[38:25] uh excuse me there's there's there's no denying that I think I cut off the last part of that in order to avoid coughing okay next is you we need to know our audiences so one of the things the North Vietnamese recognized is while they probably were not going to defeat you unit US military forces in Vietnam they didn't necessarily need to what they needed to to do was um gain uh not control but but but

[39:05] um um create a shift in US public opinion against the war they didn't even need us public opinion to be favorable to North Vietnam and and indeed US public opinion was not favorable to North Vietnam it was against being involved in the war right but that was enough to eventually Force the withdrawal of US forces and allow the North Vietnamese uh to be successful and and in fact although I

[39:41] wouldn't describe the North Vietnamese effort as a Guerilla War this is the point of Guerilla Warfare in general and especially uh terrorist activity it's it's to so demoralize uh your opponent that they want to give up the fight uh rather than keep suffering the losses that are necessary in order to gain Victory right and so when we look at our businesses and our professional practices okay we need to

[40:16] know who are our who are our uh crucial constituents okay uh is it our our customers yes to some degree is it our employees yes to some degree right our shareholders um our suppliers right so who among those groups are the keys to the success of our business now you might say well you all of them are well yes and no the fact of the matter

[40:52] is for a large company like McDonald's no single employee is really key to their success okay really MC McDonald's employment model is to provide enough employees satisfaction that they'll always be able to F have enough employees to you know run the restaurants um either the company owned ones or the franchisee owned one okay indeed um getting customers to come in is more important than

[41:27] um you know then then and then having employees now there's obviously there's a balance there because poor employees you know would would discourage customers from coming in but employees can be replaced with automated ordering um stations for example I saw those when I was in Israel okay and so you know McDonald's audience first and foremost is its customers okay suppliers too can be changed no individual supplier is

[42:03] probably uh you know that important and you might say well no individual customer is important well that's true to a certain extent but but customers as a group are the most important constituent of McDonald's uh so where is that in in your business so I can tell you in my business one of the very difficult uh as aspects of it is navigating the reality that there's a small number of Judges who hear who who operate in the probate courts and to

[42:40] alienate one of those judges could be disastrous really for a a a professional fiduciary like me or for a probate attorney uh because um if the judge does like you it's inevitably you're going to you're going to have another matter in front of that judge and now you're starting with kind of you know one one arm tied behind your back on the other hand we act as fiduciaries and so to let a judge get away with a ruling that's clearly not in

[43:17] the best interest of an estate um or the beneficiaries to an estate really puts puts I know for me it it puts me at odds with what how I perceive my fiduciary duty and in fact I have a situation like that coming up uh later this week and it it's you know while while judges you know are my audience in that sense um the real crucial audience for me is is actually

[43:54] the beneficiaries okay because if I fail to fulfill my fiduciary obligation to them uh and and they complain I could lose my license so uh it's it's a difficult uh line to walk um and and uh I I I received an email just before this broadcast that maybe in this particular case the situation is going to get resolved so I don't have to walk that line later this week uh but I may and if so I'm going to have to let the lawyers know look here's what's going on and my

[44:30] fiduciary duty is X and so I'm going to have to either either you as my representatives are going to have to let the judge know X Y and Z or I'm GNA speak up and say your honor I I I I would I'd like to speak and I'm gonna have to say X Y and Z myself so so it is important to know your audience and to really know your audience uh so knowing them and knowing their sensibilities knowing how they'll receive messages all of these are crucial to not knowing not only who your

[45:05] audience is but how to speak to them in a way that will motivate them to uh to act or to perceive things in a way that is beneficial to to you and your business or professional practice okay finally and I think we've talked about this um on on shows before but I do want to wrap up with this and that is the value of resilience so um the North Vietnamese suffered tremendous losses in in the Ted offensive uh as I

[45:43] mentioned a while back to the point where the the VC basically were not much of a fighting force thereafter and yet they stayed in the fight and eventually won the war and and and and even more so have have you know become economic partners with the United States which was their military enemy half a century ago right so so that kind of resilience is what it takes to work through challenges and

[46:18] eventually achieve success and this is absolutely true in our businesses as well we have to know we are going to suffer defeats we are going to have setbacks okay and and this is why it's so important that we have our conditions of of success uh our our our long-term objectives so that we can learn from those defeats and uh build more uh you know build more toward um or

[46:53] keep going toward our our our um our conditions of success and our long-term objectives without resilience it is unlikely that we're going to meet those long-term objectives and so you know we need to be building resilience always and uh look I'll I'll be the first one to admit there are times when I want to throw my hands up and just I'm done I'm done I've had that happen in my life you know many times I felt you know absolutely defeated um sometimes you

[47:30] know I just had to take some times to metaphorically liit my wounds before I could re-engage other times through uh the help of friends and loved ones I've been able to turn around My Mind Set uh relatively quickly and and and bounce back uh and and and continue you know continue the fight so to speak and this is why it's so important to have uh close colleagues to have uh close friends with whom we can um talk about defeats um and and and you know G get

[48:08] some empathy not just the sort of raw raw you know well just turn it around and you know blah blah blah blah blah um you know most of us uh we can't turn it around on a dime that's that's not a character flaw um what it is is is normal human uh you know Behavior if you will and but what what's so what's most important is that we develop strong relationships where people will uh you know during these times give us some

[48:44] some support while we work through back to a place of resiliency um give us some understanding and some some encouragement without you know giving us necessarily the old you know Raw raw talk with the what I what my my friend Michael and I call toxic positivity um there are uh there are people perhaps who you know never get down um I've never met anyone like that frankly um and I think it's better for us to acknowledge our defeats um and and work through the lessons and then move

[49:20] on stronger that's that's part of building resilience and that's certainly what the North Vietnamese did um after the Ted offensive and and it's what we all need to learn to do in order to be successful so uh just just real quickly I want to reiterate um the the the Five Lessons um uh tactical wins and losses don't necess don't necessarily mean anything about longer term strategic wins right the two are not necessarily coupled and we need to keep that in mind

[49:55] number two the there's a power in strategic or tactical surprise and we should try and take advantage of that third we need to be aware of the importance of perceptions reality isn't always the most important thing next we need to know our audiences know who they KN know who is our audience know our most important audience and what are they all about and then finally we need to know the value of resilience those th that that ability to bounce back after the inevitable setbacks so those are the

[50:30] lessons that I've gleaned from what happened in the Ted offensive like I said 57 years ago um and and um I so if you have any thoughts comments criticisms um my links to to uh social media will be in the show notes after this episode post I invite you to make them and um um always interested to hear what you have to to say so um that's the show for today tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time tomorrow Wednesday at 10:

[51:05] a.m. Pacific time is my show people making money and I'm going to be talking about let me let me get the exact title of the show because I I I spent some time figuring this out yes adapt or founder so AI is is is a a big force in business and I think we need to figure out way to use it productively rather than ignore it I'm going to talk about three ways that uh that AI makes um my business uh and professional practice more productive and hopefully that'll stimulate some ideas for you and then on

[51:42] Thursday at 5:00 pm Pacific time is my show jiggers as place we're GNA have a cocktail as we always do to as we head toward the end of the week and talk about one of the classic classic adventure Tales ivanho um and uh you'll see it it'll it'll touch a little bit um or not a little bit it will touch uh more fully on what I was talking about earlier today about the value of reading uh classic literature um and so I hope I hope you'll uh join me for at jigger's place

[52:18] and by the way if you want the cocktail recipes uh please go to my website baml.com scroll all the way down to the bottom and sign up for my email list and then you will get the cocktail recipe earlier that day and you can mix up the cocktail with me and we can enjoy it together while we talk um at least uh this Thursday about great books so thank you so much for joining me especially those of you joining me live appreciate you tuning in and wish you a wonderful rest of the day signing off as I always do Marie darling you are my bell courage

[52:54] at all times my friend