Posted by Phil Keithahn on Thu, May 20, 2010 @ 08:42 AM
Be very wary of policies, predictions, and pronouncements from Washington DC that offer what usually turns into the "99% Solution for the 1% Problem."
What does this mean?
In my banking experience, less than 1% of the people abuse or misuse a product or an opportunity. But when that abuse gets publicized, public pressure results in costly Washington DC solutions for the abuses of less than 1% of Americans...paid for by taxing the earnings of 99% of our taxpayers. As my dad often said, "Don't abuse the privilege of being stupid, or the privilege will be taken away."
Unfortunately, we live in a world where politicians pass legislation, lobbyists and attorneys develop new laws, bureaucrats send out regulations, and directives, that never eliminate risk...let alone the abuser. They simply make life more complicated and make business more expensive for the average, ordinary tax-paying citizen to pay for the unethical, unintelligent, or unforgivable abuses of less than 1% of our citizens. By the time the "simple law" in Washington, DC reaches Main Street America, it has morphed into thousands of pages of forms, checklists, procedures, and other documents that suck the time, energy, and talent, not to mention money from our nation's hardworking citizens, farmers, and small business owners...and community banks!
Let's hold the right people accountable. This nation cannot afford and should not continue developing 99% solutions for the 1% problems...or worse yet....the solution that is looking for a problem. We can never eliminate fear, mistakes, let alone risk. But we can use better discipline to reduce our reliance on policy, procedure, regulations, and rules that limit our freedoms and tax our lives.
One final thought for you to remember. In spite of an economy that has hurt our customers, our communities, and our bank, we are all survivors. ProGrowth Bank will continue donating money and time to local charities, we will continue providing you with great service, and we will continue listening to you and working with you to move forward. Have a great summer!
Posted by Phil Keithahn on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 @ 01:00 PM
Have you ever tried to learn something new...and become a bit frustrated with the learning experience? If so, this blog is right for you.
I am embarking on a journey to learn and share experiences with people, so that we can avoid repeating past mistakes in the future. In this way, we can have more fun making entirely new mistakes.
Academic researchers and B-School professors will characterize the learning from experience as a "Learning Curve" or an "Experience Curve". You can read a bit of the basics about each of these curves by going to Wikipedia, and clicking on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_curve
for information about Learning Curves and clicking on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experience_curve
for related information about Experience Curves.
I take a more basic approach, remembering a lesson from my father. Dad was a minister who was well-educated, yet gave sermons so that someone with a 6th-8th grade education could understand the theology of his sermon. He would lead into his sermon by giving a Children's Sermon. Designed for youth, but also heard by adults, Dad would tell a story from his childhood, then conclude with the memorable phrase, "This, to me, is a parable of life." Here is one such story/parable.
Dad grew up in India during the 1930s and 1940s. One of his first memories was that he would only eat one food at a time. Preferring to save the best food for last, so he could leave the meal with a great taste in his mouth, he always chose to "eat the worst first."
A good idea, yes? Not always.
One evening, his family was visiting another Indian family and he quickly ate the worst thing first. However, the unexpected happened. The hostess and cook saw how quickly Dad ate this part of his meal and immediately heaped a huge spoon of the same food on his plate, saying, "Oh, you must really like this."
Needless to say, Dad had the worst thing first...and second... He rapidly moved through the "experience/learning curve", knowing that he had to stop eating one food at a time, so he could also enjoy the things he liked eating.
This, to me, is a parable that applies to decisions we make today in our personal, professional, and business lives. All too often, we tend to do things we like...saving the worst for last. The end result is that some things that we do not like to do are actually necessary and vital to our success...but they remain incomplete.
We should choose to do those things first, or at least second, so that what needs to be completed...gets completed.
We may not like or enjoy doing some things...like paying bills, avoiding too many sweets, spending money foolishly, giving in to impulse buying, living from paycheck to paycheck. We may think we can avoid the pain, but we are only delaying and intensifying the harsh reality of doing the right things.
The experience of learning new behaviors can be painful; it will take time; and it assuredly will be frustrating. But the benefit is that by "eating the worst first", we can end our day, our career, and our life, saving the best for last.
Monty's Message: The best worst...is the first worst.
Posted by Phil Keithahn on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 @ 11:00 AM
How many times have you had a conversation with someone and you felt or thought that the discussion was all about them?
In this, my second blog post, I hope that you will bear with me as I share some information "about me."
Phil "Monty" Keithahn (pronounced Ki-ton instead of Monty Kython) is the primary shareholder, Chairman, & CEO for ProGrowth Bank. However, what he really wanted to do when he was growing up was to be an Olympic wrestling champion (like Dan Gable) and play professional football for the Minnesota Vikings (like Alan Page).
Even though he was "too small and too slow" for professional football, the dream lived on until Phil suffered a life-changing knee injury midway through his senior season at Carleton College. At that point, his "higher board scores" and comeback approach to life enabled him to gain acceptance to hbs.edu. Phil also benefited from the HBS "geographically diverse acceptance strategy", since he was actively involved in a broad range of activities in a private, rural Minnesota liberal arts college.
Upon graduating from HBS, Phil returned to Minnesota where he worked for Norwest Bank and Norwest Corporate Finance for 7 years. Tiring of life in the big city, the politics of a big company, having recently married, and ready to run his own show, Phil and his wife, Sue, returned to his mother's hometown of Gaylord, Minnesota to pursue a career devoted to coaching, counseling, and mentoring people, spearheading community development efforts, and yes, running ProGrowth Bank with his wife, brother, and friends.
When he's not at work or supporting his family's activities, Phil can usually be found working with Boy Scouts, leading the STRIVE program for Rotary, serving as Treasurer for the Gaylord United Church of Christ, lifting weights, reading, travelling, wrestling (painfully!) with his son, Brit, or enjoying his daughter's (Lauren) sing choir, band, and dance concerts.
Phil has travelled around the world and is especially fond of India, where his father grew up during his grandfather's 50+ years as a missionary. Phil is proud of his heritage as a "Minnesota MuttTM", resulting from his ancestry of ¼ Swede, ¼ German, ¼ English, 1/8 Scotch-Irish, and 1/8 French-Canadian. Phil's parents were both ministers and his four grandparents had careers ranging from banking and education to medicine and ministry/mission, Phil has used the guidance received from these "heroes at home" to craft a community-based banking organization that values becoming worthy of the trust that our customers place in us each day.
So that's my one (and only?!) blog post "about me." While future blog posts might include stories from my life, they will be presented with the goal of helping people. For it is....
ALL ABOUT YOU!