A Kiss Before Dying

I'm not quite sure what that means, but I've been wanting to use Ira Levin's debut novel title for a long time.  it's just the noir in me, I suppose.

Or, maybe it relates to this ill-starred "expert" site I've become entangled in.  The ostensible panel consists of experts that no one has ever heard of, answering questions from what appear to be rag-tag marchers in the Children's Crusade.  The queries seem to cluster around the Inane and Ridiculous bands on the Naive-o-Meter.  Possibly they represent weak stabs at obtaining free consulting.  I've got to get out of that role and relationship - certainly before dying.  The kiss part might be problematic.

The latest wanted to get some "tips" on reducing logistics costs.  Oscar Wilde came to mind, a worrisome trend, with his observation about knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.  Have the minds of our young and impressionable up-and-comers become corrupted by the short-term and retrograde focus on cost alone?

Look, I understand the need to manage the profit-and-loss equation about as well as anyone.  But, anyone who doesn't understand that price does not equal cost, and that cost does not equal value is riding a unicycle way too close to the precipice.

The real questions to ask center on value, spending wisely, and leveraging investment in long-term and sustainable performance.  That's the right approach in individual relationships and personal life, as well as in business relationships and organizational success.

if you doubt, line up companies that: look at profit/value centers vs. cost centers, manage investment vs. spending, see that customer service is a business-builder vs. a cost of doing business, and treasure relationships with customers, suppliers, and service providers vs. treating all comers as adversaries to be drawn and quartered after the last dollar has been squeezed out of them.  Now, line up winners and losers.  Then line up those you'd like to work with  and those you just don't want to do business with. 

My guess is that the lines will look pretty much the same.  That's my tip for those who want to make their spending count for more than how this month's P&L looks.