0:02 Who are [music] you? And where are you going? What [music] do you want? Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from the Military. I'm your host, Kevin Bemel, and I'm here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military history, doctrine, and leadership practices, and then distill from those lessons that we can apply to our businesses and professional practices. So, today is, let's see,
0:40 episode 12, I think. We're about halfway through the 24-episode campaign that is looking at strategy across all of the service branches and and distilling from it in five sections the lessons that we can learn. So, we're on episode four of the execution phase of the 24-episode campaign, and the topic for today is redundancy saves lives. So, talking, as I always do, first from a
1:15 military perspective, right? So, efficiency is seductive, right? So, redundancy looks wasteful right up until the system fails. So, in both war and business, leaders tend to want to optimize for lean operations, minimal overlap, and maximum utilization. And on paper, this looks disciplined, but in reality, it creates fragility. So, if in military doctrine tends to take the
1:53 opposite view. So, if failure is unacceptable, then redundancy is required. And and let me give you an example of where this cut came into play, at least in my military career. So, when I was chaplain for CAG 14, Carrier Air Wing 14, one of our one of my fighter squadrons was the Marine Corps they were called the Rattlesnakes. I think it was VMFA, something like that. No, let's see. Yeah, VMFA
2:29 I think Yeah, VMFA 323, okay? The the Rattlesnakes. It's a storied squadron. They had, I think, the oldest jets in the fleet. If not the oldest, they were pretty close to it. And one of the problems that the the squadron had was finding used parts to keep their jets flying. And because they were so old, in some cases, the manufacturers were not manufacturing
3:04 replacement parts any longer. So, they had to literally scour all over the world looking for spare parts that then had to be bought, they had to be transported, and then picked up by the COD and brought to the plane. It was an never-ending [laughter] battle to try and keep their jets flying. And and and just one more thing on that, the the Snakes were so good, they had one of the highest uptime percentages of any of our six squadrons or six fighter squadrons, right? That's how good they
3:40 became at it. But, because there was no redundancy, the Marines were constantly under fire, not literally, of course, but under fire to find spare parts. So, even when they didn't need them,
3:55 >> [laughter]
3:56 >> you know, they they knew the ones that would inevitably come into demand, and so that so there was a a couple of Marines in the squadron, all they did was was look for spare parts to keep their legacy FA-18s, they they were the C variant, as I recall, you know, up and flying, right? So,
4:16 >> [clears throat]
4:17 >> this is the problem in the military when you have equipment that's that's old, right? If if if the manufacturer has stopped supporting supporting it, or at least supporting that variant, so now you don't have the redundancy that makes it possible to have a great amount of confidence that you're going to be able to, in this case, keep the planes flying, right? So, we're going to be talk I'm going to be talking about backup systems, overlap, and the kind of slack that they may seem
4:54 like they're inefficient, but they're really insurance against system collapse, right? So, when we look at military doctrine first. So, failure is expected. Somewhere in the system, communications are going to break down, supply lines are going to be disrupted, a unit's going to become isolated, you know, a leader is going to be incapacitated, or worse, killed, right? And so, because of this,
5:29 when when when military planning builds redundancy across communication systems, command structures, supply routes, and and and personnel roles, right? So, every unit has what amounts to a commanding officer and an an executive officer, right? And the idea, they don't always go by those names, by the way. So, you you may have uh you know, a commanding officer and a chief of staff, for example. Um but the the idea is that
6:04 the the executive officer, the number two officer, can step into the senior role if something happens to that senior commander, right? And and is supposed to be able to do so seamlessly, so that the unit can keep on operating, right? So, on a submarine, for example, you'll typically have a Navy commander, an O-5, who's the captain of the boat, right? And he will have an XO, an executive officer, who's an O-4, right? Now, that O-4, even though he's significantly junior to the commanding officer, still
6:41 would have the responsibility for taking over command of that submarine in the event that something happens to the captain. And by the way, it doesn't even have to be something combat-related. It could be, you know, the commanding officer had a heart attack, right? And he's he's down for the count. Um or, you know, again, God forbid, dies, something like that, right? So, uh and and then it'll flow up from there. So, the operations officer will step into the role of XO. Um and and and so on and so on, right? That it's all worked out essentially in advance to know how how
7:16 that how that how that personnel flow is going to go, right? So, the redundancy exists within the boat, okay? And that's true of every military unit uh that's that's around, okay? With I I guess the exception would be uh you know, a fighter jet that has a single pilot in it. If if that pilot is disabled for some reason, then, you know, that that unit is is going to go down, right? Uh okay. So, the idea is not perfection, though,
7:51 okay? And this is this is where I think it becomes so difficult. So, we we we're not going to have a perfectly flowing system. What we want is continuity under stress. That's what we're shooting for, both in the military and in business, okay? So, in in the military, there was this this saying, "Two is one, and one is none," all right? And and the idea is that if there are two people who can fill a role, okay, so you're going to have somebody around to fill that role. But, if there's only one person who can fill
8:27 that role, if that person is disabled, that's it. You're down for the count, right? And so, um if you have one system, you effectively have no system, right? It it it by extension. So, why? And and that's because single points of failure are essentially inevitable,
8:50 >> [snorts]
8:50 >> okay? And environments are unpredictable, uh adversaries are looking for vulnerabilities, right? So, if they know that you have a single supply route, okay? They're going to do their best to disrupt that supply route, because that now you've got a forward force that can't be resupplied, and eventually they'll be able to beat it, right? So, redundancy insures that when a system fails, another one will take over without stopping the mission, without
9:26 stopping the forward momentum, okay? So, I've I've talked about a couple of of of small examples from a military standpoint already. You know, one of the biggest is, you know, World War II, after the Allied landings at Normandy. So, now this massive advance is taking place across Western Europe, and it needs to be supplied, uh not just with material, but with additional personnel. And and it's a multi-pronged
10:02 uh advance. And the allies they had to have more than one place to bring supplies in from from the standpoint of of of ports. So, they had to have redundant transport routes. Um and and they need to have layer layered supply depots so that if if one if the enemy was able to get through and bomb a particular supply depot, uh they were able to, you know, quickly draw supplies from another one. And that that redundancy system, that along with what was called the Red Ball Express, which
10:37 was a series of of trucks that were just constantly cycling through from the front lines back to the supply depots and back up to the front lines again. That's what kept this amazing uh um um this amazing um uh Oh, God, I'm I can't think of the word. The you know, this uh um offensive this amazing offensive uh driving forward um by, you know, the the Americans and the British primarily, right? So, even when infrastructure was damaged and
11:13 even when supply lines were attacked, okay, operations continued. And and you can see this in uh the Battle of the Bulge, the the the the sort of final German offensive into the Ardennes when they they made this massive sort of penetration into Allied lines, the idea was to split the Allied forces, get all the way to one of the major ports through which the allies were being supplied, and in essence cause enough disruption uh in in supply and in
11:49 coordination between units uh that you know, the the allies would sue for peace. Now, in the event it didn't work out, um and one of the reasons it didn't was because of the redundant the system's redundancy that was that was built in by General Eisenhower and and General Bradley and and on down the chain of command, Bernard Montgomery, George Patton, et cetera, right? So, this was all part of of the Allied planning at essentially all levels, right? And so,
12:24 resilience comes from redundancy, okay? Not from efficiency alone. Now, of course, we don't want to be wasteful. Of course not. Um but we don't want to be so efficient that we create multiple single points of failure, right? And so, that's where judgment a balancing of needs uh and and experience comes into play so that you know, from a a military and from a business standpoint, um
13:00 a solid decisions can be made. Again, recognizing that there we're not going to be making uh perfect decisions. There's always going to be some problems, but as long as there's reasonable redundancy, even if there is just a a temporary setback, it it will be short-lived and then, you know, the offensive can resume. So, mod in business, modern organizations are optimized for cost reduction, lean staffing, just-in-time, you know, inventory systems, and and centralized platforms. So, while this improves
13:37 margins, it brings fragility into the system. So, so for example, if you've got a a single cloud provider, okay? And that cloud provider has a problem, zoom, your whole business stops, right? Um if you've got limited cybersecurity layers and someone is able to pierce a couple of layers and now all of a sudden you're completely open to a cyberattack. So, if you have overconcentrated suppliers, especially for certain critical inputs to what you're doing, right? That that
14:13 will be a problem because if that if that supplier has has trouble in their business and all of a sudden can't deliver, now your business is going down as well. And by the way, it doesn't necessarily have to be suppliers in terms of supplying products, but if you've got other if you've got um um when it amounts to like contractors, so professionals, for example, who are supplying you with critical advice and for some reason that person is no longer available, so now you've got you've got a problem because you were relying on
14:50 uh on that individual for advice, they have the legacy the corporate information, and and now they're not available, right? And then you have key person risk, which is generally considered within your organization. So, I remember back when I had my real estate company, I went and did a collateral review for a company based in Seattle, Washington. And I I I always I was always doing the real estate
15:16 >> [clears throat and cough]
15:17 >> real estate valuations and and if there were sort of sub businesses, I would I would uh value those as well. Uh but in in my dealings with a company that was under evaluation, oftentimes I gathered information and and sort of impressions about the company that I thought would be useful to my client. And this one particular company, it was still being run by the founder. The founder was an older man, although, you know, as I look back at it now, I'm not sure he was too much older than me. But,
15:53 he was clearly not in good health. And in meeting with his subordinates and watching them interact, all of them were very differential to the founder and and the guy who was running the company. And my assessment was that if, God forbid, something happened to the founder, there was nobody who was prepared to step into his role and keep the company going. It was a major key person risk. And so, I passed that along to in in in this case
16:28 it was the chief appraisal officer of the lender that was considering lending them a lot of money.
16:34 >> [clears throat]
16:34 >> And I said to him, "Look, this is not I know you don't you're not looking to me for this kind of input, but I think this is something that your people ought to at least look into uh to see if there is uh you know, a a risk there um that that, you know, maybe previously hasn't been identified." And and, you know, it would it I got an interesting response was, "Uh thanks for passing that along.
17:09 That's an interesting point and we are going to look into it." Uh and and in the event, um I'm not saying it's because of that issue, although I think that was part of the reason why the lender did not make that loan. And the lender that did make that loan, which I knew about, uh I had been trying to get their business for years, they made that loan. The loan uh went into default and it it put that lender out of business. It was it was such a massive failure, right? So, these are the kinds of risks that businesses have, and, you know, shame on
17:46 that that founder for not building in redundancy in terms of the ability to lead his company, right? The one of the worst things I think we can do in in running a business or a professional practice is take the attitude that uh we don't want people around us who will question what we're doing. We do want those people around. If we can't answer those questions, then we've got some homework to do, okay? And presumably they're not asking questions just to annoy us.
18:21 Presumably they're asking the questions because they care about the company. They care about its success. So, we want people asking those kinds of questions, those kind of difficult questions, because they will make our company stronger, right? So, uh businesses resist redundancy, uh but but they should not. So, I have five thoughts um for translating this idea of um uh Shoot, I I lost the place in my notes. Uh but redundancy saves lives. So, I
18:56 have five thoughts on how this applies uh you know, in a in a business more specifically in a business context. So, first of all, we want to eliminate single points of failure. So, every system has a breaking point. It may have multiple breaking points, okay? So, it could have a particular machine that is crucial to the manufacturing process. If that machine goes down, the whole manu- manufacturing process stops, okay? So, if that's the case, then perhaps there needs to be a second
19:32 machine, right? Nuclear aircraft carriers have two nuclear reactors on board. That's because if one reactor has to go offline or does go offline, if there's not a second one to continue powering the ship, the ship is dead in the water. And if there are aircraft aloft and the ship goes dead in the water, those planes cannot land. So, that means all of them are going to have to ditch in the ocean. And while [clears throat] that doesn't necessarily mean loss of life, it probably means at least injuries to some of the flight
20:09 personnel. And it means a whole bunch of expensive aircraft are going to be lost, right? So, that's one of the reasons why there are two nuclear reactors on an aircraft carrier. So, the same needs to be true of businesses. We can't have single points of failure. So, we need to identify these critical dependencies. Are they machinery-based? Are they personnel-based? Are they systems-based? Or are there critical vulnerabilities in all three, right? So, we need to map
20:45 where failures will halt operations, and then create backup pathways. Okay, so, maybe you've got a a particular machine that that if it fails, it's going to shut down your manufacturing. Okay, but maybe that machine is so expensive, you just can't afford to have a second one on the floor. Well, so then, what are you going to do? Are you going to have a crash team that can immediately respond and get that machine up and going?
21:21 And then, maybe in the meantime, you have some kind of alternative manufacturing process. It's not as efficient as using that machine, but maybe it can keep your manufacturing going, albeit at a lower pace, while the machine comes back online, right? Those are all possible ways of dealing with that single point of failure. So, if a failure is going to stop a business, the the system is incomplete. Okay? If you've got a supplier that's supplying a crucial input to your
21:59 manufacturing. What is the redundancy plan built into that supplier? Okay? You need to know that. But you also need to have potentially a backup supplier. Okay? Maybe it's just not a good idea to have only one supplier for a crucial input. Okay? Maybe it's even going to cost a little bit more to maintain two suppliers, but even though that that may lower profitability a little bit, that may be better than being faced with a catastrophic event that essentially puts
22:35 you out of business for a while, because the loss in profitability from from being shut down is greater than the, you know, marginal drop in profitability that comes from maintaining multiple suppliers. So, all of that needs to be examined. It needs to be dealt with. And and that applies even if you're a sole entrepreneur like me. So, one of the things that I've been looking at recently is, you know, what will happen to my clients if, for whatever
23:12 reason, I'm not able to take care of things, right? Where is the redundancy for me? I'm the key man, right, in my business, cuz I'm the only man in my business, right? So, how do I deal with that, right? Part of the way I've dealt with it is by having other members of the team in other professions who know people who can replace me. Now, you say, "Wait a minute. Why would you want people who can replace you?" Well, because uh you know, God forbid something happens to me, I can't leave my clients in the lurch. That's not a proper thing to do, right?
23:49 And and the same is true for the other professionals with whom I deal. Look, I I don't want anything bad to happen to them, but if something does, I do know other people who can quickly step into the role and pick up the ball and keep going, right? So, if if you're if you're like me and you work in kind of from like an in a team, but the team is is is not all people within your organization, it's made up of, you know, professionals who each have their own practice, still redundancies need to be built in in order to
24:25 eliminate single points of failure. Okay, let's take a quick break and we'll come back for some more.
24:34 >> [clears throat]
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25:10 magnumprops.com. Okay. Oops, what did I do here? There we go. All right. So, number two. Okay? So, we need to build redundant technology systems. So, technology presumably everybody recognizes this, right? Nowadays, technology is a primary vulnerability. Okay? And so, we need to maintain some kind of backup infrastructure. Right?
25:46 This is one of the banes of my existence, right my printer scanner. There are times when, for every I don't know, it gets tired, or I don't know what goes on with it. It just does not want to work. And I can shut it down and start it back up back up again. I can shut my entire system down and start it back up again. And sometimes it still refuses to work. I I Lord only knows why. Right? And and, you know, fortunately, it's not so crucial that it will literally shut my business down, but I can tell you that it creates an enormous
26:21 amount of aggravation, right? So, I I think I need to have a second, you know, printer, or I need to get a more reliable printer. I don't know, whatever it is, right? But but that, you know, sort of little example aside, you know, technology is always a primary vulnerability. Now, for again, for a sole entrepreneur like me, right, where I'm relying on Wi-Fi, on on cell phone service, right, if something goes down, well, again, it may not put me completely out of business, but it's going to significantly reduce my ability to get things done. These days, banking
26:58 is done online, documents are signed online, meetings are held online, right? And so, you know, while I could fall back on the telephone, I can call the bank and, you know, and and and get things done that way, it's going to be a major productivity drop, right? And so, you know, for me, my backup system is I've got a cell phone, and and that cell phone can turn into a hotspot, so if my if my internet service provider goes down for some reason, then I'll be, you know,
27:33 I'll be using my my cell service in order to to keep running my business. That's just a really small example of, you know, a professional practice, right? If you've got a larger organization, so, you may need redundant internet access, right? So, you may need to have more than one internet service provider. Okay, I used, by the way, I used to have two ISPs here in my office, but I it became too expensive, and so I dropped one of them in favor of cell phone service. So,
28:09 another, you know, typical vulnerability is is cloud cloud storage and hosting services. So, if you've just got, you know, one way of storing data, and now all of a sudden you don't have access to it, what are you going to do, right? So, I have multiple data storages. So, I do have cloud, I have my computer, and then I've got a hard drive. So, I've got essentially three places my data is stored in order to make sure that, no matter what, I don't lose data, right? And and
28:47 you know, again, depending on how sophisticated your technology systems are, you may need to build in very robust redundancy systems in order to make sure that you can keep operating. I I I would say there's virtually no business today that is not reliant on some kind of technological systems. And you know, I think that we we tend to not want to deal with these things. We're busy. We're we're we're we're taking care of our customers and and clients,
29:22 but we we need to be we need to take the time to deal with these issues in order to make sure that we can keep serving them. Okay, so that's number two. Number three, strengthen cybersecurity through layers. I'm not going to talk about this too much. I did want to note it, because I think if I didn't mention it, you'd be like, "Why didn't you mention cybersecurity?" Right? But the reality is we are all of us are constantly under cybersecurity threats. Now, I work in in the Apple, you know, ecosystem. It used
29:57 to be that because especially in a business context, Apple computers were such a small percentage of of computers that uh you know, scammers and and and people who wrote malignant code and all this kind of stuff, they didn't bother with Apple computers, but that is no longer the case. So, Apple systems I I think are as vulnerable as non-Apple systems these days. And so, I wouldn't take if if you were taking comfort in that, sorry to, you know, disrupt your comfort, but that that's just no longer a practical way to
30:34 deal with cybersecurity. So, we've got to deploy layered defenses. We have to maintain backup data systems, like I mentioned just a moment ago. Um and we we may even need to test our protocols to see how durable they will be in the event of a cyber attack. So, you know, for for me, one of the things that I do is I'm very careful about the avenues through which I communicate, especially when I have sensitive data, private information and such, right? And and you know, if if I
31:09 don't recognize the sender of an email, click delete, you know, those kind of things. So, we can set up those those types of protocols and deploy them throughout our organizations, and and that should, you know, help us with, you know, protection against a catastrophic cyber attack, but in any event, we need to have layered security in order to protect us overall. Okay, next. And I think this is particularly particularly important for small organizations. And that me and that is
31:46 that we need to cross-train people and roles. Okay, so often times organizations rely much too heavily on specific individuals. So, uh in one of the companies that I administer for an estate, when I first took over the company, there were two people there, right? And neither one of them could do what the other one did, right? So, if if one of them left, didn't even have to have anything happen, just quit, you know, uh
32:21 the company would have been in very bad shape. So, I I had to make sure that neither one of them was going to leave. That was job number one. Job number two was to create some redundancy in in training so that they at least so that both of them knew what the other one did. They knew at least the basics of handling that role so they could step into it if need be. And one of the ways that I did that was by assisting they take vacations, which they had been unable to do for years and years and years prior to my assuming oversight of that company, right? And and that's
32:58 that's a double benefit, right?
33:00 >> [laughter]
33:00 >> So, look, here's your incentive to learn what your colleague is doing because now you can go on vacation cuz your colleague can cover for you and vice versa, right? So, there are ways to uh create incentives to cross-train people um and make sure that roles can be filled. Now, what we're doing is we've brought in uh two people on a part-time basis who are learning various aspects so that um as the company grows, we'll have the additional capacity, but also we'll have
33:35 some additional redundancy so that again, people can take vacations, people can get sick and not have to worry, you know, that that kind of thing. So, people should be trained in multiple key roles or multiple people should be trained in key roles, I should say. Um and critical processes should be documented. And to the extent that you can, uh responsibilities should be rotated through different people so that they can get some experience in actually doing uh what it is they might have to
34:12 step in and do. Right? So, one of the reasons I hold a weekly staff meeting for this company is so that everybody can hear what everybody else is doing and can have some input into it, but also has a chance to engage in handling all the different kinds of issues that are happening within the company, right? And so, they have that experience. If they need to step into another role, they'll have the information they need to do so. Okay, so cross-train people and roles,
34:47 absolutely crucial. Finally, number five, maintain some strategic slack. So, not all capacity should be utilized, right? And I'll I'll stick with this company that I mentioned with the with the last with the last topic. So, uh we recently the company recently took on a new client, and there were some things that needed to be done very quickly for that for that new client, um and if they hadn't had these two new
35:22 people, if they hadn't been working there, uh you know, for the last I think it's been about 9 months now, boy, you know, they would have had to work very very long hours under tremendous stress, which is of course when mistakes get made. Fortunately, because we had these two part-time people who could be called upon, we were able to get through that surge uh quite quite effectively, right? And and nobody was overburdened. I There was pressure. Of course, there was pressure. Sometimes there will be, uh but nothing got dropped, everything got done,
35:58 and and and now, you know, we're able to move on and and continue to be productive without, you know, any kind of major uh problem arising. So, uh we we know and and and that's just one example in terms of personnel where we need to have some strategic slack. Uh but we also need to preserve some financial reserves. Uh we need to maintain some excess operational capacity. So, we want to avoid over-optimization, whether it's with personnel, supply, systems, money, all of these things need
36:36 to have some slack. Now, if you're a new business, you're you're you know, you're kind of just getting started, you don't have a lot of financial reserves, that that that does mean your business is more vulnerable. That's one of the reasons why so many new businesses fail, because they don't have the ability or they haven't had time to create the strategic slack that more resilient businesses have, right? And so, as you're building your organization, building your company, one of the things you want to do
37:11 is, you know, look at the trade-off between short-term profitability and longer-term resiliency, right? And and that is that is the trade-off that leadership needs to consider, right? So, there's a lot of pressure on new companies to get up running and profitable, and that typically will come from being very efficient in hiring personnel and using resources, etc.
37:46 However, what that does, as I mentioned just a moment ago, is it makes the business more vulnerable to to a problem. And so, that it it it it does not create long-term resilience. So, there's a tension there between short-term efficiency and long-term resilience, and good leadership will always be monitoring that in order to make the best judgment they can as to, you know, which direction needs to be
38:23 prioritized, right? So, keep in mind that an over-optimized system, it performs well under normal conditions, but it it can easily cause a catastrophic failure when it's under stress. And under that scenario, the very existence of the business of the organization is threatened. And so, while it may seem wasteful to have some excess capacity, to have some strategic slack in your business, what that should mean is you and your
38:58 team can can sleep well at night knowing that when you wake up, even if there's a huge problem, the business will survive. Okay, so what does this mean in a disrupted world? Well, kind of summarizing then, uh you know, there are the today's business environment, it it it has cyber threats, it has supply chain shocks, it has platform outages, there's rapid technological change, right? Uh
39:34 you know, a month and a half ago, was anybody predicting uh the kind of geopolitical uh issues that we're seeing now with war in in Iran. I don't think anybody was, right? It was by design um by the Trump administration not to signal what it was going to do in order to be more effective from a combat perspective, right? So, uh you know, for organizations uh that rely take take airlines for example. So, um from what I'm hearing in the business news,
40:09 uh airlines in Europe have very low jet fuel supplies to the point where in a few more weeks, they may not be able to fly at all, right? They did not keep proper strategic reserves, evidently, right? And you could say, "Well, wait, they didn't even know this was coming." Right. Right. But, the fact that they didn't see this as a geopolitical risk means that they weren't paying attention to the possibilities of what could go on, right? And that is part of our job as people who lead businesses. We need
40:45 to be looking at where are our vulnerabilities, right? If we only have enough jet fuel to operate for 2 months, what does that mean for the ongoing operation of our airline? What if there's a shock in global oil supplies? How are we uh you know, how how how are we going to deal with that particular problem, right? So, uh you know, if if these airlines uh you know, start running you know, short of jet fuel, they may have to start cutting back on operation
41:22 schedules in order to uh you know, make the fuel that they do have last. Um and that can that can cause a lot of com- consternation among people who fly with that airline. They may switch to other airlines. It may be that American Air- um not American Airlines, the company, um Am- American ba- American-based airlines will have a strategic advantage because they're not faced with the same problem. And so, European-based airlines might lose market share. And American Airlines may be able to
41:57 take advantage of that, right? And then, once this all uh you know, gets uh you get gets straightened out, uh you know, these European Airlines may struggle to recover because they've lost business to other carriers, and and flyers may perceive them as being more reliable because you know, they were able to weather this most recent storm, right? So, uh you know, for for companies that have redundancy, so they're able to absorb shocks, they're able to maintain operations, and as I just noted in the
42:33 in in the example with airlines, they can gain an advantage when their competitors are flailing and potentially failing. So, as with so many of the issues that I raise in this series, leadership discipline is required, right? So, redundancy means that leaders will invest in capabilities that may not be used immediately. And and while um the cost may not show up uh in shor- it
43:08 may may and and while perhaps the cost will have an impact on short-term results, they think in terms of resiliency and long-term results, not just efficiency. So, there it it takes some discipline to do that, like with the the company I mentioned that that I that I that I administrate for the estate. So, to have that long-term mindset in a short-term world is important. So, uh you know, if you follow the business press, you've you've probably heard that
43:44 I think there's roughly half the number of companies listed on public exchanges now as there was 20 or 30 years ago. The number has decreased substantially. I think one of the reasons why that's the case, aside from much higher regulation of financial markets, is that the the pressure to deliver results every quarter that are put on a company that's listed on a public exchange, the Nasdaq or or the New York Stock Exchange, whatever, makes it difficult for companies to
44:22 strategize for the long term. And so, companies stay private in order not to be subjected to those sho- short-term pressures, right? So, closing reflections. First of all, while redundancy may feel expensive, um when you're faced with failure, and that failure can be existential, that redundancy will look cheap by comparison, right? So, the strongest organizations are not the ones that are
44:58 leanest. They're the ones that can continue operating when others cannot, right? So, in war, redundancy saves lives. In business, it saves companies, right? So, I thank you very much for joining me today. And let's see, uh schedule of shows Monday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Trusts and Estates Weekly. Tuesday, like today, at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, Business Lessons from the Military. Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, People Making Money. And Thursdays
45:36 ev- ev- I should say every other Thursday at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time, is my show Jiggers' Place. We sit back and have a cocktail and a schmooze and talk about things unrelated to uh finances. I do want to um make a note coming up that I'm going to be doing a mini-series with a uh Navy colleague of mine, John Rabino, and uh a a a colleague of John's, John Clark. It's going to be John John and Kevin, I guess, JJK. Uh and on and that that's going to be a mini-series
46:11 as part of uh People Making Money. We're going to be talking about uh wealth building, and uh that's going to be kicking off in uh kind of early to mid-June. So, keep an eye out for that. So, uh I um I thank you very much again for joining me. And if you have thoughts, comments, criticisms in the show notes on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcast, all of the links are there. So, feel free to post those. My email address is there as well. You can always contact me that way. So, I appreciate you joining me today.
46:48 Wishing you a wonderful rest of the day, and signing off as I always do. Marie Darling, you are my bell.