First, Red has nothing to do with my hair color. Some of you are of course nodding and saying that given that it’s going gray and mostly not there, that’s a good thing.
Seriously, the red piece goes back to my last job. Until March of 2000, I was the junior partner in a company called United Systems Consultants. That company, along with 8 others, was purchased by netASPx in March of 2000. At netASPx (pronounced net aspects), I essentially fixed problems for the CEO, John Whiteside. I think the title was Director of Strategic Projects. John referred to me as Red Adair. I didn’t know who Red Adair was. Turns out, he was an oil well firefighter as well as the subject of a John Wayne movie. That gives you an idea of the kind of projects I had.
As for three, I’ve worked on a wide variety of projects in my career?in areas as varied as IT, Finance, HR and Marketing. There?s always been one common thread. Projects and people need focus. I find that three is a good number for clear goals, as in truth, justice and the American Way. As I said to someone on a compensation project, I wanted every person in the organization to know EXACTLY why they would or wouldn’t get there bonus each year. And while it was important to get their time sheets in on time, it clearly wasn’t in the top three.