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Every astute finance executive will admit that despite the technology and expertise involved in doing business, the key to success remains the same: the human touch and the ability to handle the simple, interpersonal activities that financial relationships involve.
Maybe the theme song of the Commercial Finance Association should be the oldie, "It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it." Despite today's complex hardware and software, we must remember that the number one asset of any financial organization goes out the door and down the elevator every evening.
Examples of the importance of the human side of finance run from the important to the ridiculous. I remember one Sunday afternoon I was driving from Chicago's O'Hare Airport to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin (two hours west of Milwaukee) and I was listening to the Jewish Hour on the radio. A commercial came on for a Jewish home for the elderly with "state-of-the-art kosher cooking." If you have ever tasted kosher cooking, you know how silly it is to call it "state-of-the-art." Jackie Mason, the comedian, quipped, "I was raised kosher and was 21 and in the Army before I realized that food didn't have to hurt."
I decided that "state-of-the-art" was the most overused expression in the English language.
Since I write a weekly column in The American Banker, in addition to my bi-monthly efforts for THE SECURED LENDER, I am always looking for ideas. So I decided to ask the bankers at the meeting I was attending: What does state-of-the-art banking mean to you? I received two great answers:
"State-of-the-art," the first respondent said, "means we are so good we can do everything the president's secretary used to do out of her own desk." Now, every company has or had a "Miss Gridley." She knew where every form was kept, what you had to fill out and what you could ignore, and whom to keep and whom to throw out. In fact, you could leave for a week and no one would miss you, but when Miss Gridley went to the washroom, they would have to lock the door until she came back, as you couldn't run things without her.
The second respondent reported, "State-of-the-art means we are so good we know...