In the last few weeks we have seen an enormous amount of attention given to the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, people whose passing serves to remind us that everything 20th century is quickly sinking into the murky depths of history.
Garnering much less fanfare but in many ways more significant is the death of John Barry, whose main claim to fame was bringing the product WD-40, 'the can with thousands of uses', into the limelight and never letting the company behind it lose focus. John Barry turned Rocket Chemical Co., a 2 million dollar company, into WD-40, a 90 million dollar company, before he retired in 1990. (The company did around 317 million dollars in sales during 2008.)
His tenacity and success are a lesson for all business people hunting around for the next best thing -- he knew what he had and he stuck with it. His obituary in the Los Angeles Times today quotes him as saying "Don't be like a blind dog in a meat house," an apt expression which can easily be applied to many businesses shooting in the dark at viral marketing, social networking, etc.
I particularly liked this quote from the obituary:
He avoided the trappings of corporate life. He answered his own phone, he flew coach and he held business meetings at Denny's restaurants.
This attitude is a refreshing break from the celebrity hog-fest which has overtaken so much of today's culture. Frugality and focus, hard work and a belief in it's rewards -- that is what we can learn from John Barry.
And when the Farrah Fawcett posters and the autographed Michael Jackson CDs have disintegrated or been sold, we'll still have that can of WD-40 around to help with our mechanical issues; a part of our daily lives in a way that no celebrity can ever be. John Barry has left us a legacy that is a solid example of good business and useful indeed.
Posts
