Page 31 - Midas Touch

A Final Thought

Murphy’s Law states: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”
Combine that with the Peter Principle: “In a hierarchy, every employee
tends to rise to his level of incompetence.”

One of the reasons many businesses fail to grow is because the
entrepreneur has reached his or her level of incompetence. In order for
entrepreneurs to grow, they need to break through their level of
incompetence, which means more education through more mistakes. It

might take another 10,000 mistakes, as Edison stated when he was asked
how it felt to fail so many times before inventing the light bulb.

I will use the metaphor of golf to better explain the Peter Principle. Let’s
say a golfer shoots a consistent 72. He or she is often called a “par golfer”
or “scratch golfer.” As most golfers know, there is a tremendous difference
between a “par golfer” and a professional golfer, even though the
difference is only a few strokes. Let’s say pro golfers need to shoot a

consistent 70 to survive on the pro tour. Any golfer knows there is a world
of difference between a player who shoots a consistent 70, and a player
who shoots a consistent 72.

That two-stroke difference is the Midas Touch.

If It Weren’t for Bad Luck

Donald Trump

The fact that Robert ends with a reference to golf and explains the two-
stroke difference as the Midas Touch is not only a great example but is one
that’s near to my heart. Most people know I’m passionate about golf—and
golf-course development.

I am currently developing a golf-links course in Aberdeen, Scotland. I
found this ideal location after visiting over 200 sites in Europe over a five-
year period. I was patient because I wanted to find the perfect place, and I

eventually did. The Trump International Golf Links Scotland is now in
development, and the five years of site selection were followed by several
more years of intense negotiation, particularly related to environmental
concerns. I became almost an expert at geomorphology (the study of
landform movements, which became something of a buzzword) due to the
immense sand dunes on the oceanfront property. There was resistance