Harrybbb at the US Open – Lessons Learned

Redford-directed movie “Bagger Vance” where a down-and-out golfer attempts to recover his game and his life with help from a mystical caddy. No, I’m not talking about Tiger Woods (but I could be as I saw him walk by a few times; see the pic below). Instead, I’m talking about my personal journey pivoting from SBSer to O365er and reflecting on life along the way.

Winners Happen Here!

First, it was refreshing to hang with my friends at Concur Software, a Seattle-based expense management software company that was recently acquired for $8 billion by SAP. I was a media guest in its corporate white tent and enjoyed Round One at the US Open at the 7^th hole. I’ll report more on Concur in the future, but I want to shout it out for Bob Lewis, seen in the pic with me. Bob worked with the SBS community in the 2006-2007 time frame as a Microsoft manager on the Small Business Accounting (SBA) team. You might recall the North Face jackets he gave away at the SMB Nation 2007 Fall Conference. Wiser minds will also recall that shortly after Bob’s big SBA splash, the product was discontinued (Jason Harrison and Susan Bradley certainly remember this LOL). So fast forward the movie. Bob moved in a few years ago to Concur and has done very well for himself. His success is well-earned and a function of both reinventing himself and being relevant – something all of old timey SBSers could model.

Da’ Course

In general, nobody liked the Chambers Bay course, but for the wrong reasons in my opinion. The United States Golf Association (USGA) that hosted the 115^th US Open at Chamber Bay (45-miles south of Seattle) wanted to do something different and think outside the box. This course has the Scottish links design. It’s highlighted by sand traps, lack of water and tall grasses. Astro, the English Springer Spaniel and SMB Nation Mascot, was breed for this type of gold course and so was Chambers Bay! It’s new, daring and annoying. The perfect golf course to test the pros! It’s akin to saying Mount Alyeska ski resort in Alaska is horrible because it’s too hard! Needless to say – the course was the narrative.

Another Life Lesson.

Jason Day captured the world’s affection at the US Open. He battles a mild case of dizziness known as vertigo and collapsed at the end of Round 2 on Friday. He is sponsored by Concur so I took a special interest in his journey. He was in contention deep into the final round before fading but still getting a top ten finish. Lesson learned? It’s all about who can go on their off day! And quite frankly (and sadly) it was the opposite for Tiger Woods who faded early (seen here in the picture below).

Pic 2: Tiger Woods walking by the Concur tent at the 7^th Hole.