22 JUNE 2019 • FOGHORN BUSINESSMATTERS The new HALO24 packs proven Halo™ radar performance into a compact 24-inch dome. Avoid collisions with VelocityTrack™ technology to highlight approaching hazards, plus industry-leading 60 RPM rotation for an almost real-time view and with instant availability from standby – HALO24 is our safest dome radar yet. SIMRAD-YACHTING.COM The new HALO24 packs proven Halo™ radar performance into a compact 24-inch dome. Avoid collisions with VelocityTrack™ technology to highlight approaching hazards, plus industry-leading 60 RPM rotation for an almost real-time view and with instant availability from standby Rediscover Radar Our Safest Radar Yet Fast Page Loads Streamlined Checkout Multiple Account Sign-Ons Improved Search Quick Order Easy Invoice Look-up Requisition Lists • Over 135,000 products for your business • 28 regional distribution centers • Same-day van delivery • 250+ stores • The most-knowledgeable and seasoned sales representatives in the industry Your 24/7 destination that’s packed with the features you need to get the most out of your time and money. westmarinepro.com All backed by the power of West Marine Pro. 1-800-621-6885 or visit westmarinepro.com. Increased Inventory Availability A new challenger to the U.S. arises across the vast Pacific, d r i v e n b y m i r a c u l o u s economic growth only two genera- tions removed from abject poverty. This nation has tremendous momentum and many new advantages such that Americans wonder how we’ll compete. Thirty years ago, that nation was Japan: their stock market was more valuable than the U.S.’s, the real estate in Tokyo was worth more than all of California, and they were seemingly buying up America from Pebble Beach to Rockefeller Center in NYC. Back then there were recipes for how to compete with Japan by emulating their quality circles, team organization and focus of organi- zation over self. James Fallows, the long-time Atlantic contributor, wrote a book on how the U.S. should compete with Japan. The title, “More Like Us,” offered our best strategy. We should play to our national strengths of open immigration for talent, physical and economic mobility, risk-taking and a non-traditional and open society. We didn’t need to be like the Japanese, but more like ourselves and focus on our natural strengths. I often tell people not to emulate my style as it often doesn’t work so well for me, but to play to their style. A new field of management advocates playing to people’s strengths and not trying to change their weaknesses. Most of us are firmly hardwired. Once upon a time, I had a boss that relentlessly focused on our competi- tion. He mandated half-day meetings once a month focused on compre- hensive plans to counter them. This exhausted my team. Finally, I snapped that I was already overloaded, and that I needed to focus on our business, team, and customers. The competition would take care of itself. It did and we even- tually bought them after prevailing in the market. On one occasion, 10 company presi- dents and I had lunch with then-Mayor Daley of Chicago. I asked him what the hardest part of the job was. He replied he could work full-time just respond- ing to the media. He certainly had to respond, but daily he had to ask if he Why It’s Important to Be More Like Us By Bob Shaw, Industry Expert