What I Learned from Michael

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The news of Michael Jackson's death took me back to my childhood. We lived on Hovey Street and the Jacksons lived across Clark Road in an area called Tarrytown. And as you may know by now all of this was in Gary, Indiana. During this time, the Jacksons were simply known as "those kids who made all that noise."

This was a time when our music heroes were mostly Motown artists. Names like the Temptations, Marvin Gaye and a few other great singers and dancers. But every now and again, a solo act (none Motown) would creep in. I learned later that many of these artists were also heroes of Michael's. And there in lies the lesson -- when I would see Michael dance I would see the shadows of old music legends.

I routinely saw Michael walk out on stage with a hat, snapping his finger like Frank Sinatra. He would rock back and forth a slide his feet, even do the little-known "Camel Walk" just like James Brown. Quickly, he would stop and spin around just like stylish R&B crooner Jackie Wilson.

So today, as I write and remember one of the greatest entertainers ever, I also remember his lesson. The lesson is that in our life and in our business, nothing is really new. The concerns about the economy have been with us before. If we are going to succeed, we don't need to go past the books we read and the people we have observed. That the problems we have can be solved with a combination of old concepts combined to form a new concept. As great as Michael was, I still see him as being just like the kids I grew up with in Gary, except for one thing: He was able to observe those that came before him and combine their talents to become a new talent himself. Isn't that really what we should do to save our businesses?