Life is BigBut is the World Big?

Monty Mueller

Is the World…….BIG? How anonymous

are you?o 7+ billion peopleo 196 countries

• Lived in 2, visited 13 others

o 50 states• Lived in 8 visited

36• 318.9 Million

o Texas A&M• 397 Buildings or

entries on Map• 47,567

Undergrads

Is character important in a BIG World?

We are living .. in a disposable world

Aren’t relationships disposable too?

Can’t I just throw away everything not on my permanent record?

The World seems Big but….

6 degrees of separation You can connect any two

people in the world with 5 people that each know each other in between

Became the basis of social networking

6 degrees of Kevin Bacon – Now an App

You may be the early in wave of the first generation to understand

How many people know someone who knows you?

You will interact with 80,000 people

The Average Personal Network is 611*

2 degrees of separation (6112) is over 373,000 people – 8x TAMU undergrads

3 degrees of separation (6113) is 2.3 million people – LinkedIn and Facebook will do these searches

*tedious 45 page paper co-authored in 2008 out of Columbia and Princeton

How many people can you afford to alienate?

The 2008 US Census counted 18,469 US firms with more than 500 employees

People don’t burn bridges, they burn relationships, they burn their reputation

Install a breathalyzer on your twitter account

How many people cab you afford to Alienate?

Apologize for mistakes, it shows strength not weakness

Bad News the Right Wayo No surprises – Alert to possible

problemso Monitor efforts to correct issueso Be sincere and fair in a

resolution, coming to consensus if possible

o Use empathy when you have to deliver bad news

• “I know this environment was difficult for you……..”

• “I feel terrible this did not work out better…..”

Highly Successful People of Poor Character

Can Burning a Totem Pole help you?

Relationships over self-interest

Life is Big

Life is Big – Foresight is not 20/20

Life is Big - Turns Setbacks

o Opportunitieso Comebacko What does not kill

you…o Define, Destroy, or

Strengthen Just do not be

surprised that life is not a straight roado Like it or not, the

plan just changed Become the person

who can embrace what is, not the person who laments what was or what might have been

Life is Big – Mistakes You will make many

mistakes Small mistakes vs Big

mistakeso Will you make the ones

from which you cannot recover?

• Drugs• DUI• Unsafe Sex• Violence• Giving up

Just because a mistake feels like a big one does not mean that it is

Life is Big - Mistakes If you do not admit

mistakes to yourself you will not learn

What causes people to not admit mistakes to others?

People will forgive….if you regret

How do you feel about someone who admits mistakes compared to one who does not?

Forgivenss is not about getting fooled again, it is about deciding if you want someone in your life

Life is Big – Expand & Explore

Life is Big – Expand & Explore

Influence

Opportunity

Interest

Life is Big – Abundant not Scarce

Scarcity Thinking

There are only so many As, so I will not help my classmates

If I set this sale, I get this promotion

Happy with Win-Lose

Abundant Thinking

If everyone knows it, we will all get As and by helping people I will know it even better

I we both get a sale there will be more promotion opportunities

Satisfied only with win-win

Life is Big – Who are WE / THEM ?

Are your customers we or them?

Is another department we or them?

The game is over when the last team finishes

Who is your team?o Me, myself, and Io Fightin’ Texas

Aggieso TeamUSAo ???

Test

______________ is BIG.

BUT

______________ is SMALL.

Life is BIGbut the World is

small

Background on Monty Grew up in a medium sized town - Denton Started in Computer Science before it was its own

department at A&M Professional Life from 1984 to 2003

o All but 5 middle years at what became Accentureo Partner when it when public in 2001

Headed Texas operations for a non-profit preventing and treating substance abuse from 2005 to 2010

Small business owner 2004 to 2012 Must decide whether to stay retired when empty

nester next year