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The Berkshire Company Blog

Poor Richard and Professionalism

Posted by Mark Fallon on Feb 5, 2025 4:30:00 AM

“Tho’ modesty is a virtue, bashfulness is a vice.” – Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1750

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Operations Management / Strategy / Leadership / print / The Berkshire Company / learning / success / positive / inspiration / management / growth / strength / employees / Ben Franklin / professionalism

Poor Richard and Employees

Posted by Mark Fallon on Jan 8, 2025 4:00:00 AM

“What one relishes, nourishes.” - Poor Richard's Almanack 

The year 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Ben Franklin being appointed Postmaster General by the Second Continental Congress. In 1753, Mr. Franklin had previously been appointed joint Postmaster General by King George III.

Before that, Franklin was a printer and author. Perhaps his most famous work was the yearly Poor Richard’s Almanack, under the pseudonym Richard Saunders. From 1732 to 1758, the pamphlet provided seasonal weather forecasts, puzzles and astronomical information.

What people remember are Franklin’s witty sayings passing along homespun wisdom. Most of us are familiar with: “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Or “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

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Operations Management / Strategy / Leadership / The Berkshire Company / learning / success / positive / inspiration / management / growth / strength / employees / Ben Franklin

Doing the Right Thing Right

Posted by Mark Fallon on Dec 3, 2024 5:30:00 AM

"Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced. Even a proverb is no proverb until your life has illustrated it." - John Keats 


Too often, successful executives are classified as being either innovative leaders or efficient managers. The innovative leader is defined as a visionary, a passionate idealist, and an inspirational thinker. On the other hand, the efficient leader is process-oriented, a student of Agile, or Total Quality Management (TQM), or a black belt disciple of Six Sigma. In reality, the successful person blends these seemingly opposite traits into inseparable qualities.

In his acclaimed book,On Becoming a Leader, Warren Bennis states, “The manager does things right; and the leader does the right thing.” He further differentiates the manager and the leader:

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Operations Management / Strategy / Leadership / The Berkshire Company / reading / learning / success / positive / inspiration / management / strength

Schedule Some Downtime

Posted by Mark Fallon on Jan 17, 2024 6:00:00 AM


People today are being asked to take on additional responsibilities, handle new projects, and do more with less. Schedules are tighter than ever. Customers demand quicker response times. More reports must be completed. And more meetings are added to your calendar. Despite working 10-hour days, plus weekends, you still feel overwhelmed. With no end in sight.

If this description hits close to home, then take this advice: schedule some downtime.

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Strategy / Leadership / reading / inspiration / management / growth

Growth and Opportunity

Posted by Mark Fallon on Mar 7, 2023 4:30:00 AM

"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." - Conrad Hilton


In the early years of my professional life, I changed jobs about every 18 months. Sometimes the new job would be a transfer within the company, other times I went to a new company. While I did resign from my roles, I never felt that I “quit”.

I would start at a company with a directive to improve the operation. When that was accomplished, I would look for new challenges and opportunities. If I couldn’t find them in my current role, I would start looking elsewhere. I had one boss that understood my personality, and he kept expanding my responsibilities. I stayed at that company 4 years, 4 months and 4 days.

Growth – personal and professional – requires change and movement. Smart managers and smart companies recognize the need for growth, and assist their employees with their development. If you aren’t able to continue to grow in your current job, you owe it to yourself to look elsewhere. 

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Strategy / Leadership / The Berkshire Company / consulting / learning / success / management / growth

My Favorite Books of 2022 – A Baker’s Dozen

Posted by Mark Fallon on Dec 21, 2022 4:30:00 AM

Books have been central to my life – all of my life. From sitting next to my mother while she read to me, to my father taking me to the library for the first time, to rummaging through bookstores during vacations. New books, used books, classics and pulp fiction. Science, history, the history of science and poetry. Genre isn’t important – good writing is.

Theodore Roosevelt, our most literate President, was often asked to list the books people should read.

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Leadership / print / The Berkshire Company / books / learning

Management by Fortune Cookie

Posted by Mark Fallon on Dec 1, 2022 7:37:11 AM

“Sorry, wrong cookie.” – Fortune Cookie

Many Sunday nights in my house begin with a call to the Wok and Roll restaurant. I’m a creature of habit, and I bet the manager writes down “Kung-Pao Chicken” as soon as she sees my telephone number on the Caller ID.

At the end of each meal, I indulge in another favorite habit, opening my fortune cookie. While I don’t believe that my future can be predicted by a random message placed in a mass-produced cookie, I still love those little notes.

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Operations Management / Strategy / Leadership / reading / success / positive / inspiration

The World's Slowest Cook

Posted by Mark Fallon on Oct 4, 2022 4:00:00 AM


Growing up, Sunday morning breakfasts were always special. Whoever woke up first – usually my mother – would fry up bacon in a cast iron skillet. Using the grease from the bacon, we would fry up our eggs in the same skillet. (I said the breakfasts were special, not healthy.)

Getting the chance to make breakfast was a rite of passage. One Sunday, I woke up early, and went down to the kitchen before anyone else. Excited, I heated up the skillet, got the bacon out of the refrigerator, and started cooking. A few minutes later, my mother came downstairs, gave me an amused smile, and asked if the coffee was ready. In my rush, I forgot about the coffee. So I lowered the heat on the bacon, and fired up the coffeemaker.

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Operations Management / Leadership / learning / success / mentorship

I Need to Read More Books

Posted by Mark Fallon on Feb 2, 2022 4:00:00 AM

What I bought on my summer vacation last year.

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Strategy / Leadership / The Berkshire Company / books / reading

The Self-Inflicted Troubles of the Postmaster General

Posted by Mark Fallon on Aug 10, 2020 4:00:00 AM

It’s been eight weeks since Mr. Louis DeJoy began his service as the 75th Postmaster General (PMG) of the United States and Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service (USPS). In that short period of time, he’s done something his recent predecessors could not – have the Congress and the Press shine a spotlight on the USPS.

However, the coverage is around 99.76% negative.

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United States Postal Service / USPS / U.S. Postal Service / Leadership / Vote by mail / Postmaster General