CHANGE IS IN THE AIR! Dennis R. Gleason, West Suburban office Products

Yesterday was the last day of Summer. Today is the first day of Fall. 

These are signs that things are about to change. 

I am not sure whether you have noticed or not, but leaves are beginning change color and some are even beginning to fall from the trees. The seasons change and with the changes come opportunities and challenges we must deal with. 

The chill of late summer beckons the color of turning leaves, football and hot cider.
The crisp days of fall lead to the dark days and the white snow of winter and the calendar changes from a well-worn 2014 to bright New Year...2015. 

The old year ends and a new one begins. Change, Change, Change.
But one of our problems is that we do not always easily embrace change.

Back in 1912, the Ford Motor Co. had a production manager named William Knudsen and he was considered one of the best in his field. Knudsen became convinced that the Model T Ford (which had already been in production for 4 years) had to be updated. 

But, there was a problem. Henry Ford loved his creation so much, it was well known that he opposed changing anything about the car. I am sure you will remember that Ford’s mantra was: you can have any color you want for your Model T, as long as it was black.

According to Robert Lacy (in his bestselling biography, Ford: The Man and the Machine) Knudsen thought he could convince Ford by showing what could be done with a few changes in color and design by building an updated and impressive model. He went about the creation of a new design for Ford.

Ford had just returned from a European vacation when he went to a Highland Park, Michigan garage to see the new design created by Knudsen. 

On-the-scene mechanics later revealed how Ford responded.

They said that the car was a four door job, the top was down, it was painted gleaming red and built on a new, low slung version of the Model T frame. 

One eyewitness tells how "Ford had his hands in his pockets, and he walked around that car 3 or 4 times. Finally, he got around to the left hand side of the car, and he takes his hands out, gets hold of the door, and bang! He ripped the door right off! How the man done it, I don't know! He jumped in there, and bang goes the other door. Bang goes the windshield. He jumps over the back seat and starts pounding on the top. He rips the top with the heel of his shoe. He wrecked the car as much as he could."

It is not surprising that Knudsen soon left for General Motors. 

Henry Ford nursed along the Model T, but design changes in competitor’s models made it more old-fashioned than he would admit. Competitive necessity finally backed him into making the Model A, but his heart was never in it.

APPLY: Henry Ford was one of the most creative men of his age. And yet, Henry Ford - one of the great minds of his day - resisted the obvious need for change. 

Planning for change, positions us so that we can take full advantage of the opportunities and challenges that await us in the New Year.

Being prepared for those opportunities requires some simple tools. In a time of smart phones, tablets and computers people still need and use traditional calendars, planners and date books.

Our Annual Calendar Sale begins October 1st. To that end, we offer a full line of Brand Name calendars and appointment books:  At A Glance, House of Doolittle, Payne, Day Minder, Day Timer, Day Runner and Franklin-Covey. 

Calendars, planners and appointment books run the gamut between simple calendars that keep track of the calendar year to Franklin Planners that offer detailed daily planning for the entire year in two massive volumes.

Academic Calendars and appointment books start in August of one year and go entirely through the end of December of the next year.

We have Regular Calendars that provide for appointments that are: 

Daily,

Weekly,

Monthly,

Appointments can be made on the quarter hour or half-hour. Appointments can begin as early as 7:00 AM and go until 7:30  PM.

There are large desk pad calendars of all kinds and wall calendars. They can be lined and unlined. Some are special emphases like Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, puppies and scenic.

Flip calendars are also available in various sizes that are Daily or Weekly Calendars. 

There are literally hundreds of different calendars and planners to choose from. 

A number of years ago, a young boy heard that the circus was coming to town. He really wanted to go see the circus. He repeatedly asked his parents if he could go. They finally agreed that he could go. They gave him a dollar for the cost of admission and told him to have a good time. 

Well, he went downtown just in time to see the Circus Parade. At the end of the parade were several clowns bringing up the rear. As they were passing by he stopped one of the clowns, gave him his dollar and went home.

He thought he had been to the circus, when all he had seen was the parade. Unfortunately for him, He didn’t know what he was missing.

That is one of the reasons, I like to share with you different aspects of what we offer you in business products, furniture and office supplies. With over 25,000 different products and services, I don’t want you to see the parade and think you have seen the circus.