There’s an old saw. Wait – more than an old saw – it’s truth – right?  “The customer is always right.”  You’ve heard it, and most likely, you’ve incorporated it into your business philosophy.  Everybody has.

But you know what? This truth isn’t always true.  Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s in London, is credited with starting this idea as a way to inspire a higher level of customer service in his employees.  And it may be a great bit of wisdom for retail and other product-oriented businesses

Here’s something unreasonable: a success book that uses the words “cash” in the title and “millionaire” on the cover, not hawking one more worthless get rich quick scheme.

I just got a copy of Loral Langemeier’s new Cash Machine For Life, and it’s pretty neat.  It lays out a step-by-step foundation for building a real business that can provide cash flow and profit for a long, long time. I call it get rich slow – definitely counter-trend.

20^th century architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is famous for saying, “Less is more.” In the 21^st century most businesses — large and small — seem to think the opposite; more is more rules the day.

Books have more pages than ever before. So do magazines. My wife’s latest copy of Vogue is over 400 pages. There are more TV channel choices and more radio stations. There are more car brands and more car models. More custom-fitted premium blue jeans. And when you get to the internet, there are an infinity of blogs (like this one) and news sites and information feeds and, and, god knows – everything anyone could ever want…

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, suggests that the secret to happiness is to “want what you have.” That very reasonable, stress-reducing practice damps down the unfulfilled cravings which can lead directly to dissatisfaction and unhappiness. But those cravings which, when frustrated, can make you unhappy, can also — when properly channeled — lead towards action which creates progress.

There’s another way – the unreasonable way. Being unreasonable, you simply want what you want, and figure out how to go get it. By gaining clarity over what you want, and asserting that one way or another you will be, have or do that very thing, and not giving up until you get it — you make something happen. That’s the realm of invention, the realm of creation, the realm of leadership: wanting what you want.

Some people think that they have to know everything before they go public.