One Basket
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. When I first heard this expression, I was very young… but even then, it resonated. Over the years it has proven to be true time and again. Don’t invest all your money in one stock… don’t keep all your data on one drive… don’t put all your trust in one person or idea… and so on. By concentrating all our energy, prospects or resources in one area, we risk losing everything.
A few years ago, one of my employees asked why we weren’t pursuing a specific client more aggressively. “They’re huge,” he said. “We could be doing far more business with them.” He was right… and that’s exactly why we weren’t pursuing them. We already had too many resources focused on that account. Having started my company from nothing, I quickly learned the importance of having a diversified client base. It’s easy to be enticed by a huge client. The money and perceived stability are great… until the real cost comes due. Freedom always has a price. I told my employee, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away… the same holds true with a big client.” As tempting as it may be, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket… or focus all your resources on one account.”
In 1894, Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson wrote, “Behold, the fool saith, ‘Put not all thine eggs in the one basket’—which is but a manner of saying, ‘Scatter your money and your attention’; but the wise man saith, ‘Put all your eggs in the one basket and—watch that basket!’”
I’m not suggesting you scatter your money or attention… but being human, we eventually stop watching the basket. This is especially true at the macro level. Without critically thinking, we along with countless others continue putting all our eggs in the same basket. The more we do it, the easier and more natural it becomes. Eventually, the number of eggs expands beyond our individual or collective comprehension. Its reach becomes so intrusive we stop seeing it.
To accommodate the growing number of eggs, the basket must continually expand. This expansion necessitates additional employees and mangers to service, direct and control activities. Initially, the experts in charge assure us that they are acting in our best interests and protecting our eggs. In time they find communicating a waste of time… so they stop. Besides, as the basket grows, more and more people are employed to keep it running… friends and family members, too. The basket expands far beyond eggs and infiltrates every aspect of society.
People who question this mass expansion are considered social outcasts. Those requesting honest transparent information about the basket and its eggs are labeled troublemakers. Those who demand information are called anarchists. Asking questions is seen as disrespectful… and those who dare suggest alternative places to put eggs are considered unpatriotic.
Surprisingly, most citizens accept the word of these experts, (those they believe much smarter than themselves). Many people like the idea of being taken care of and not having to think about eggs, or anything else for that matter. They talk amongst themselves and reinforce the positive messages they’re given by basket spokespeople and talking TV heads (from basket-owned networks). By consensus, it’s believed so long as troublemaking truth-seekers are kept at bay, everything is fine… until reality surfaces like the morning sun and sheds light in the dark crevices of the ever-expanding basket.
Without warning, there’s trouble in paradise. “Unexpected and unprecedented events have mysteriously unfolded,” experts warn. The basket is now destroying the environment, wildlife, corrupting the monetary system, healthcare, business… everything imaginable. We learn that everything is connected to the basket.
Since it was the brilliant experts that created the mess, it is only they who are qualified to fix it. Amazingly, most citizens agree with this position. With unprecedented power, the experts conclude, “To prevent this disaster from getting worse…. and to save countless jobs and the entire world economy for that matter, we must add more eggs! We have no other choice. If we don’t act now, all eggs and life as we know it will be lost!”
The tipping point always tips… and lately it’s been tipping uncontrollably in the wrong direction. But we do have choices. We can continue putting all our eggs in the same corrupt, dangerous, outdated basket… or we can truly regain our independence and create a new transparent future filled with alternative thinking, diversity and an endless number of baskets. Where will you put your eggs?
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2 Responses to “One Basket”
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The axiom is well-founded and will never fade in its relevance. My personal take on its principle, based on a lifetime (thus far) of wear and tear, is the observation of “bigger is rarely better.” In the context of your former business and my current one, large clients demand more for less, and expect more than smaller clients, who tend to be kinder and gentler. And as we’ve seen in big business, the larger the “partnerships,” the greater the risks for dishonesty, graft, and disregard for the ultimate customer.
I believe in working with resources of a much more understandable and manageable nature. Working directly with the owner of a business is more efficient, more honest, and allows flexibility that big players won’t tolerate. Plus, spreading the work around to more, smaller partners helps the economy in a more dependable, and genuine way, engages them to perform better and results in solutions which help both partners grow and prosper. This is not to discount the bad apple every now and then, but dealing with these and cutting losses is much quicker. The net takeaway is that if we can engage more people who think and work like us, everybody wins.
Thanks for putting this out for re-examination. We must review and revise our thinking, developed over time, and make appropriate decisions for how learned principles age and suit (or not) our needs and objectives for the future.
You nail it, Mike, when you caution about devoting too many resources to any one client. I agree with Bill’s advice about spreading the work around.
Whether clients are large or small, I think there’s one aspect of client management that outweighs all others: It’s best to build relationships with people, not companies. Relationships with companies can disappear in a heartbeat. Relationships with people are not as transitory.