Target vs. Walmart (and everybody else): Is mass market retailing a zero-sum game?

 

Target vs. Walmart (and everybody else): Is mass market retailing a zero-sum game?

There have been more than enough experts who have analyzed the reason for Target’s fall from consumer grace, so let’s let that be. What do I have to add to the conversation?

 It is this: The most important issue for Target now is quo vadis—where are you going?

Why is this question more critical than the specifics of the turnaround the board and shareholders are expecting? 

The numbers show that there has been a gaping hole created between Target and Walmart; in addition, its performance has gone in the opposite direction of mass market retailers Costco and Amazon. Let’s take a quick look at the numbers:

First, Target sales growth:

 

Next, Walmart sales growth:

 

Let’s add a look at Amazon:

 

And Costco:

 

So you can see that all performance and projections are positive, except for Target. 

The percentages also belie the magnitude of the gap because Target is smaller than the other three, especially Walmart. Comparable sales outlooks for 2025 are Walmart's revenue around $681 billion compared to Target's approximately $106.38 billion (based on projections from early 2025. ) Since the customer is spending 6x the money at Walmart, every dollar of lost sales for Target is potentially six times as devastating.

There’s more bad news for Target. What is the customer mainly purchasing at Walmart vs. at Target? Here’s some category segment charts to show us:

 

Note above that the number one category for sales at Walmart is Grocery at 59.7% of total. Which means that the customer is spending $406 billion on Grocery at Walmart, which is 4 times Target’s total volume, and much more than the $24 billion spent at Target. So, since we know that consumers make purchase decisions to solve problems, and that the biggest problem is eating, Walmart is attracting many more customers on essential shopping trips. To what degree are those Target customers freely switching?

The mix of categories looks like Target is offering much more variety than Walmart. Maybe. But is that reason enough to make a separate visit to Target? And Walmart’s “General Merchandise” category is worth $168 billion, again more than Target’s entire revenue. And the apparel business , much of which is private brands, that earned Target the nickname “Tarzhay” generate only $16.7 billion. Worth a trip to Target?

Which brings us to the main question: To what degree is the consumer’s choice of mass merchants a zero-sum game? 

This question is even more relevant considering the fact that Walmart has paid maximum attention to its online D2C business and introduced Walmart+ to compete with Prime? The numbers show that the consumer has responded to Walmart’s online presence in a big way: “Walmart's global e-commerce grew by 25% in Q2 2025, while Target's digital sales grew by 4.3%.”  So the consumer is telling us that they have even less reason to go to a Target, which has been much less aggressive developing its online business.

Speaking of online, there is Amazon. Oops. Amazon knows that their Achilles Heel now is physical shopping, which they are working to solve to an extent more than we know. Nonetheless, what will that do to visits to Target?

And let us not forget Costco. 36 week 2025 revenues were $185.48 billion, up 8.2% YOY. Online sales were 17.2% of that total, or $32 billion. 

Speaking of private label, Costco has made its Kirkland brand, available since 2009, annual sales 30% of their total, which in 2024 amounted to $74.6 billion . As a separate brand, Kirkland is bigger than most retailers and many brands. This signifies a serious vote of confidence and trust on the part of consumers. Now, try to remember a Target private brand that rings a bell. Find any?

Back to my original question—to what degree is mass retail a zero-sum game? IF the customer is satisfied with the quality and price of what she purchases at Walmart-or Amazon-or Costco, what will attract her to spend extra time shopping at Target? If she is happy with her purchases, and with the selection she finds when she shops, why spend the time to go anywhere else? With the three mega-retailers cited here to compete with, how much chance does Target have to get her to spend time at their store instead of the others?

So the big question for me, and for new CEO Michael Fiddelke, comes to more than store appearance and stocking or DEI policy. Of course, those are prerequisites for successful retailing, but they will not be enough to get the customer to spend their time at Target instead of Walmart, Costco or Amazon.

I agree with Steve Dennis’ statement in a recent article, “Can Target Regain Its Mojo?” that “In this situation, better execution and fixing the leaky bucket of customer defection is absolutely necessary, but far from sufficient. Target needs big change--a fairly radical rethink--not what I refer to in Leaders Leap as ‘infinite incrementalism.’” 

Target has lost the customer’s attention to a significant degree. If you agree with me that mega-mass market retailing is to a great degree a zero-sum game, then Target needs to, after it has solved its internal problems, bid for the attention of the millions of customers it clearly has lost—that means the goal should be stopping at Target instead of the others. The competition is tough and getting tougher every day. What efforts do you think Target has to make to take customers away from the three retailers mentioned here as well as up-and-comers like Aldi and its Trader Joe’s?

What should be the plan, Target? Do you keep what’s best, your brand equity, and reinvent yourself, so consumers have a reason to shop? Straightening the tables and filling shelves won’t be enough. Check your ego at the door and do some real critical reflection on quo vadis.

A logical afterthought- could there be an upcoming marriage between Amazon and Target?

Papillon and the Meaning of Life (Maybe)

 

Papillon and the Meaning of Life (Maybe)

“Maybe.” The word Papillon said to Louis Degas in response to Degas’ statement, “ You know you will die.” before jumping off a cliff and riding a raft of coconuts to Venezuela. 

 One word. A simple answer. So why am I making so much of it?

Because to me, the answer to Degas’ assertion captures the meaning of life.

Maybe. Dying is not a maybe. We all will. The burning question that “maybe” inspires is how will we live? 

Maybe implies an unsure conclusion. RISK. RISK involves some courage to move forward where the result in not guaranteed or assured.

Maybe implies a mindset I call “Why not?” as opposed to “Why?”

Maybe is not something you always think consciously and carefully about. It is part of you and marks the agreement between your unconscious and conscious brain that maybe is enough to move forward.

Maybe has been the theme and logo of my life only I never understood it until recently. So much so that I will be authoring an autobiography “Papillon of Sheepshead Bay.”

Maybe I lost you. So now I will give you a few examples from the movie, the world and my life (To read more, you will have to wait for the book)

First, the next best quote from the movie: “Hey, you bastards, I’m still here.” Papillon has withstood all the blows and pain of living a “why not” life and not given up or compromised his principle under the incredible, inhumane pressure from the establishment.

The world is full of challenges, more now than ever before. While we are blessed with technology, we are cursed with its casting us off into anonymity. What the hell does that mean? Think about it: In the 1950’s our world of interaction was limited to who we could reach geographically. And the interaction was personal. Easy to deal with. Yes, no or maybe were easy to understand and negotiate.

Today, person to person activity is limited; most of our world and our information comes from our devices. So, then we were mano a mano with our competitor, foe or customer. Now we are an image on a screen, maybe as small as 6 inches. How do you get your point across on a 6-inch screen as opposed to the complete you?

Today, most people live according to what is provided and don’t have the courage to take their lives in another direction. Therefore, “maybe” and “why not?” are a much more difficult choice.

It is well documented that microplastics are posing a huge hazard for humanity and may be responsible for consequences way beyond biodegradability; they have even been associated with colon cancer and may be unavoidably present in what you eat. If I asked you to eliminate all plastic from your home and refuse it outside, would you do it? Could you do it? Why not?

Maybe you would risk some disapproval or disdain from others or some inconvenience. Why not do it for you? Understanding the importance, but that you are a tiny speck in a big sea, would that discourage or stop you from doing what is right?

Some examples of why not and maybe from my own life. 

Growing up in Sheepshead Bay/Coney Island areas of Brooklyn, I had lots of opportunities to test the Why Not philosophy with full understanding of the Maybe consequences:

When I was around thirteen, I had a burning desire to eat Calamari pasta with spicy tomato sauce. My parents were not interested. So, I convinced them to give me the money and set off to a local Italian joint named Carolinas by myself. Maybe I would get strange looks from the staff and other customers—I did—but the calamari pasta was memorable. I can still see and taste it many decades later. Why not?

Around the same time, my friends Stanley, Bruce and I chipped in some small money to buy a 25 hp outboard motor. After running it in a steel drum, I decide to give it a road test. I put it on the back of a rowboat and set off from Sheepshead Bay. Soon I found myself under the Verrazzano Bridge with huge vessels as companions. And, of course, the water was way too rough for a little boat with a little motor. 

Stupid? Maybe. Dangerous? For sure. Why not?

I remember watching the movie years ago, but I didn’t get its relevance to me until I watched it recently. Beyond my agreement with Papillon’s outlook and his decision, I was taken by his resilience and willingness to endure unimaginable suffering to preserve his principles and overcome the obstacles set for him; I realized that “Maybe” and “Why Not?” were my guiding light and summarized the course of my own life.

Now, years later, in the complex and discouraging world we face, I finally understand that goals are very challenging—no, a bitch-- to achieve and stick with; despite that, I want to shout, everyday: “I’m still here, you bastards.”

But—here’s the good part—I am finally happy.

Come follow my journey and relive the highs and lows with me. 20 countries, many years, a lot of great food. IF you do, you will surely understand that I consider my life a success, regardless of the shit times, and no matter how it ends. How I lived is most important.

i. There are questions and disputes about Henri Charriere’s (the true identity of the character in the 1973 movie) escape and life after escape. Those are of no consequence here. The motivating emotion is based on the events in the 1973 movie.

ii.

LOTUS & MICHAEL X MAHA

The health risks of artificial dyes, 

the health risks of polyester and plastics in textiles, 

their common cause and solution.

Lotus & Michael’s small role in the answer

First, let’s answer your question- "who the hell do these people think they are, associating themselves with a national health campaign?" If you read on to the end, maybe you will agree. And maybe you won’t. Read on anyway, because your children’s health is at stake.

Artificial dyes in food

 

91.7 million boxes of Froot Loops sold per year 

The biggest shock of this is WHY was it allowed to happen?

Here’s the bottom line of artificial dyes:

After measuring 39,763 products, researchers found that “The researchers found that 19 percent of the products contained synthetic dyes, representing more than $46 billion in consumer purchases in 2020. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Red No. 40 was the most common synthetic dye (14 percent of products). Per product, the number of synthetic dyes varied from zero to seven. Overall, 28 and 11 percent of products in the top five categories marketed to children and in the remaining categories contained synthetic dyes, respectively. Products containing synthetic dyes had 141 percent higher mean total sugar compared with products without synthetic dyes (33.3 versus 13.8 g per 100 g). Lower levels of sodium and saturated fat were seen in products containing synthetic dyes.” 

Why Food dyes? “Synthetic (human-made) dyes exist only to add color to products like foods, drinks and even medicines. The dyes don’t help preserve foods, and they have no nutritional benefit.” 

Looks great to the kids, eh? Makes M&Ms shiny and colorful, eh?

What are the health risks of these beautiful, useless colors?

• Allergies

• Cancer

• Inflammation of the colon and colorectal health problems

• DNA damage

• Behavioral changes 

Wait, there’s more:

Behavioral changes that food dyes may contribute to include:

• Hyperactivity

• Irritability

• Memory problems

• Restlessness

• Volatile moods 

Synthetics and plastics in clothing and textiles

 

This list is too long to reprint here. You can look at my isourcerer blog article  entitled, “Is Recycling the Answer to the Textile Clothing Catastrophe? Nice, but NO.”

An even more shocking disaster for our environment and our children. A few highlights:

• Producing textiles creates 42 million tonnes of plastic waste each year

• 10% of microplastics that enter the ocean every year are from textiles

• Synthetic textile waste takes much longer to decompose – polyester can take between 20 and 200 years to break down, nylon takes anywhere from 30 to 40 years, and rubber takes 50 to 80 years

• Polyester production volumes increased from 61 million tonnes in 2021 to 63 million tonnes in 2022. Polyester continues to be the most widely produced fiber, making up 54% of the global market in 2022.

• Clothes made using synthetic fibres such as polyester and acrylic are responsible for more than 60% of global apparel purchases

• According to a study by a team from Plymouth University, in the UK, each cycle of a washing machine could release more than 700,000 plastic fibres into the environment. 

their common cause and solution

 

What do you imagine could be the cause of these problems? Why would a company allow such harmful products to be marketed in such huge quantities and to play such a massive deleterious role in our health and the environment?

Well, either 

1. they didn’t know, or

2. Greed

I don’t know about you, but my vote goes to #2.

Most important, they had a facilitator and a partner up until now: the FDA.

How was this ever allowed?

A question before we continue—how does this make you feel. Sick? Disgusted? Stupid? Responsible for harm? If none of those, if not worse, you might as well stop reading.

The solution

We all know what the solution is for synthetic dyes. STOP using them, NOW. If the government under RFK, Jr. is not disruptive, big business will find a way around it. Main problems: not that it can’t be done, but it costs more and doesn’t look as enchanting to children.

What about textiles and clothing? Can we ban polyester and force the industry to use recyclable materials? Sure. But again, big business will find a way around it. Who has the courage to take such precipitous action and bite the profit of big business? 

I think we all know the answer is nobody, EXCEPT the consumer who can stop buying the product. Will they do it, and pay more? I believe we all know the answer to that one, too. At least right now.

So this is where Lotus & Michael comes in, and where brands like ours can follow. For us, our commitments are clearly spelled out and have been since we opened the business. 

Let’s reprint them here:

Our Dozen Commitments:

1. Original Designs-All the designs showing on our products are created, owned and copyrighted by LotusandMichael,LLC.

2. Artisanal craftmanship-We pay meticulous attention to every detail, our products are crafted by the most skilled artisans with supreme fabrics to meet our high-quality standard. We would and do wear anything we sell to you.

3. Dependable Pricing-We guarantee that each product’s price on our website will be reliable and consistent, so as to be fair to every one of you when making a purchase. You will have the security of knowing your price won’t be discounted after you buy the item.

4. Payment Security-The payment methods offered on our website are secure by Shopify and Paypal. You can shop freely without any concern.

5. Pre-shipment Inspection-Though our manufacturers have conducted multiple inspections at our workshop, we inspect every piece of our products as a double guarantee before we ship it to you.

6. Customer Service-Offering you great products and services are our goal. Whenever you have questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us (lotus@lotusandmichael.com).

7. Social Compliance-Our factories must adhere to our Code of Conduct, which looks out for the Health, Safety and Welfare of our workers; we guarantee to adhere to the SA 8000 standards, which include ensuring:

• No Underage labor

• Right to Collective bargaining

• No Discrimination

• No Environmental harm

• Freedom of association

• No Harassment and abuse

• Compliance with Health & Safety Standards that protect workers

• No Prison or forced labor

• Wages that are fairly applied according to local and international standards and properly compensate workers for normal and extra work hours, days or task

• No Excessive work hours- Workers must have at least one day of rest per week and overtime should be limited to 12 hours/week

• No Unauthorized Subcontracting at Non-Compliant workshops

8. Fair Trade-We guarantee that we have ensured that the factories and workers in our supply chain comply with local and global Fair Trade standards. Our Suppliers will not pay less than the local and global standard, even if they can.

9. Paying Our Suppliers on Time-Once we buy something, we own it and will pay the suppliers for it in full and on time as agreed.

10. Worker Community Welfare-We take responsibility for the communities of workers in our factories and aim to build viable communities for them and their families. We pay a fair price that builds communities and sustains workers and their families.

   11: Sustainability and Minimal Environmental Impact-As home gardeners, we appreciate nature and our planet. Here we proudly announce that:

• All the materials used in our products are natural and sustainable.

• We build our products with great attention to be timeless and durable, so with a little tender loving care, they can be with you for years.

• We are extremely selective on merchandising in order to produce less, thus less textile waste and more benefit for our planet.

• We minimize our packaging to avoid wastage and avoid non-recyclable materials.

• In our small way, we are willing to contribute as much as possible to the earth’s future.

12. Privacy Policy- Your time on our site is totally voluntary. We will never sell your information to third parties or follow you with tracking cookies. Our site is open to all and the information therein will never be gated content.

Baker’s Dozen-Symmetry and harmony with nature: Nature produced the materials for our product and our blessed environment. Lotus & Michael is a tribute to nature’s best and most beautiful. It brings us great happiness, and our mission is to bring that to you through our offering.

Wait, there’s more: We also address the waste and landfill catastrophe by building our garments in Premium Fabrics, artisanal make, multifunctionality, classic styling, with a touch of embroidery to make them unique. So you can buy less and buy better. Yes, it may cost a little more, but not when gauged by wearings/garment. Like the car you paid a little more for but were able to safely drive 200K miles.

Not done yet: We have staked our future on Plant Dye Fabrics—where, in addition to using premium natural fibers like cotton and linen, we dye them with real plant substances, not synthetic (sometimes toxic) dyes. This is where we are going-real sustainability- and our individual contribution to MAHA.

We, in our small way, are out to Make America (and the world) Healthy Again. Join us!

Breathe Out- Ikigai is hard

 

First, let’s agree what Ikigai is.

 Ikigai is the goal, the Holy Grail. The Japanese government web site defines:  “The Japanese word ikigai, which has recently gained attention worldwide and enjoys widespread use, refers to a passion that gives value and joy to life.” And “A broad concept, it refers to that which brings value and joy to life: from people, such as one’s children or friends, to activities including work and hobbies.” 

Ikigai is commonly shown as a Venn Diagram:

  

Ikigai is why you (willingly) get out of bed in the morning, and it is the sum total of your aspirations translated to your efforts. Where we all want to be. BUT you have to get there first, and that is not easy. In fact, it’s HARD. Especially in today’s cluttered, gated-content, short video, bullshit advertising environment.

Imagine you are a participant in the Tour de France, or the Ironman Triathlon. You know you are in the last stages of the event but are not really sure how far it is to finish. Your brain is not up to calculation. This segment is particularly difficult, a steep hill; no matter what you have overcome before, this part is tough. 

Shoulder to shoulder on the side of the road are thousands of “coaches,” “fixers, “advisors,” “helpers” and the like who guarantee a successful finish if only you will pay them to release their magic potion.

Listening to them, rather than being inspiring, only makes you doubt yourself more. Do I need a coach to finish the race? Which one do I trust enough to pay some of my blood to?

Second, they are standing on the side of the road—you are running the race. But wait—if winning the race were as simple as following their whatever, why aren’t they doing it? The answer is simple—because it’s f***ing hard, and they are not capable of doing what you have already done.

So it makes sense that the only one who can guarantee your crossing the finish line is—you. You are the hero.

What is going on inside your head at that moment? Something we all have and must admit that we do—FEAR. Do you or someone you know have NO fear? Not likely—no, not possible. Admitting that is yet another matter and how you deal with it is what will lead you to Ikigai.

Starbuck, the first mate in Melville’s classic, Moby Dick,  says: “’I will have no man in my boat, who is not afraid of a whale.’ By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a more dangerous comrade than a coward.” 

I agree with Starbuck, do you? 

Where does fear come from? It comes from System 1, our non-conscious mind, and it happens without our consent. Fear and other like emotions emanate from the Limbic Brain, which is an evolutionary carryover from when we were lizards and apes. We cannot suppress these emotions; only our System 2, our Cortex, can add some rational context. Every human’s brain is structured the same, so in reality there is no such thing as “No Fear.”

So what is the difference between the contestant who finishes the race and the one who quits? Fear management. Fear is always there and there isn’t a damn thing we can do about it; the outcome will totally depend on how we manage it. Will it be debilitating or motivating? Will we keep moving toward our Ikigai goal or wilt under the pressure? 

So here’s the “Breathe Out” part. This is a symbolic coping mechanism which we can convert to a literal one. 

What’s up with this breathing stuff?

In the practice of Buddhism, deep breathing, Anapanasati, often translated as "mindfulness of breathing," is a fundamental Buddhist meditation technique that focuses on the breath to cultivate awareness and concentration. The mindfulness  part is what we care about most. This signifies rational control over our minds and bodies.

Winning, achieving your goal, then, is highly dependent on fear management.

In the real life of business, this covers almost every activity from your decision to try and every decision along the way. Think about Starbuck again: We don’t want to be reckless in our decision making, letting System 1 prevail unimpeded, nor do we want to be so hesitant and frozen by fear (also System 1) so we don’t move forward through the tough times and continuous improvement that underpins sustained business.

So what do we do? First, Breathe Out.  Then adopt this procedure:

Measure, then move.

The measure of your achievements can be determined by how much chaos and lack of certainty you work through. Bennis and Thomas express it perfectly in their Harvard Business Review article, “Crucibles of Leadership.” Quoting my take on the article from my Publication “The Way of the Unicorn”: “Crisis. Adversity. Disaster. Chaos. Prejudice. That is the true test of a leader. In good times, virtually anyone can do the job. It is when things get dark and even when they look hopeless that the quality of the leader emerges.”  The authors explain that great leaders emerge due to, ““intense, often traumatic, always unplanned experiences that had transformed them and had become the sources of their distinctive leadership abilities.”” 

In a very important way, managing expectations is very much at the heart of success at finding your Ikigai (and is at the heart of business success in general). Did you expect it to be easy? Planned timeline? No failures along the way? If those were your expectations, Fear will own you. So how do you cope when one of those bumps in the road or obstacles stands in front of you, or has already got you on the ground?

Breathe Out.

All of the above doesn’t indicate that you are or should be alone in your struggles. Your courage in the face of fear will inspire others to find the same within themselves and follow you. Napoleon Bonaparte’s strategies and tactics are a master class in Leadership. Most relevant to our subject here is his leadership style (quoting again from my The Way of the Unicorn): “Napoleon stood in front of his troops, not behind them. In the military as in business, Lead by Example is the most important lesson you can ever learn.” 

So, if you want your Ikigai, find others who share your vision and also can Breathe Out.

But, while you are breathing out, don’t get drunk on your own breath. Or, as Elvira says in the great movie Scarface, “don’t get too high on your own supply.” As I have written in both my publications (The Way of the Unicorn and Get It Done: Your Operations Strategy Playbook (In the Way of the Unicorn)), “If you ever wake up in the morning and think that your shit doesn’t stink, slap yourself and think again. Just when you think you are greater, smarter, better than others—you aren’t.” So the last word in achieving your Ikigai is—Humility. So, as you take your healing breath, spit out the ego-based “I am” for the constant question, “Who am I today and how can I be better?”

Great leaders learn to lead themselves first. How they lead themselves determines the performance of others, and maybe the business and achievement of the Ikigai.I am often reminded of my favorite saying about Leadership: “The Fish Stinks from the Head.”

There’s lots more to say about this. Maybe my next publication, and something I want to spend more time sharing with others.

So here’s what I did. Plug your own information into the Venn diagram above, then unplug and unlock yourself with the growth mindset that acknowledges: 1. It is hard 2. I am afraid of the unknown 3. “I have Breathed Out and thought deeply about what I need to do and I will continue to do so every day.” 

Because you know what? I don’t care who you are or how much money you have, you will never arrive because the journey is an Endless Loop.

Oh, and BTW, your age or previous life is not an excuse. It is never too late.

   

jp.gov/Kizuna, Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Joyful Life, https://www.japan.go.jp/kizuna/2022/03/ikigai_japanese_secret_to_a_joyful_life.html#:~:text=The%20Japanese%20word%20ikigai%2C%20which%20has%20recently,that%20gives%20value%20and%20joy%20to%20life.&text=A%20broad%20concept%2C%20it%20refers%20to%20that,friends%2C%20to%20activities%20including%20work%20and%20hobbies.

  Herman Melville, Moby Dick (New York: Dover Publications, 2003), p. 100.

  Michael Serwetz,  The Way of the Unicorn: Strategies and Principles for Successful Marketing (and Execution) in a Connected World, 2024: Great River Learning), Chapter 8, Page 6.

  Warren Bennis and Robert J. Thomas, “Crucibles of Leadership,” Harvard Business Review, September 2002.

  Serwetz, Op. Cit., Chapter 4 Page 4.

MIchael Unplugged- A week in Kyoto (reprinted from the Lotus & Michael company blog) First in our Japan series

 Michael Unplugged- A week in Kyoto

Mission Accomplished and Lessons Learned

Today’s world is full of stress. 

External, Internal. External causes Internal and vice versa.

So how can you be effective, maybe even happy? Whether you can or not will affect you and those who depend on you, whether that is family or staff or both.

It is easy to be plugged in too tight, to be in a constant state of arousal and always uncomfortable. Not sure if this applies to you? Look in the mirror. No, really look.

IF you see what I think you will see, there are two issues to be addressed:

1. How do you unplug? Not just go somewhere for a holiday, if part of your brain is still at work or home, GO somewhere. All of you. Physical AND Mental.

2. In your everyday life, how do you learn the zen of coping with stress, leading others and not falling victim to the inevitable crashes and surprises?

Let’s deal with #1 first. 

First priority is to go somewhere that allows you to unplug and relax. If you go somewhere that features the same noise and crowds (stressful!) that you are used to from home, you wasted your money.

Secondly, the facilities and people should support unplugging. A large hotel with a crowded beach and pool won’t do it. 

So when Lotus said, “Let’s go to Kyoto for Spring Break” I wasn’t sure taking a trip that far for one week wouldn’t be stressful and just be the same stress in a different country.

But, she was right, because the way she designed and curated the trip allowed us to unplug, yet also see the other side of crowds and noise, which we could avoid. Don’t get me wrong, Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and receives 75 million visitors each year. So how did we manage to find places to unplug?

The key to the experience was where we stayed—a typical Japanese home on a commercial alley in the Gion district but, like everything else, the commerce and the area was tranquil and nature was preserved. Here’s a look:

 

 

Good start, right? Now where do we go to capture the tranquility we so much want to find in Kyoto? 

We start with the Nanzen-Ji temple, a short bicycle ride from where we are staying. Originally built in 1295, it was rebuilt after burning in 1628. The entire structure, with its gates and gardens, reflects the strength of antiquity and the serenity of delicate handling of nature. What a place to detox your brain and reflect on what is important to you and to the world!

 

 

 

Near the temple, a stretch called Philosopher’s Path which is lined with Sakura trees. Unfortunately, we were a little early in the season, but I still could find one blooming:

 

The detox continues. We take 2 buses (very efficient) to the Cypress Forest, known as Kozan-Ji, and find ourselves among centuries-old trees that are undisturbed and provide air and beauty (and great ice cream).

 

 

 

Can you visualize yourself unplugged—really unplugged-- in this environment?

Good! Treat yourself to an ice cream to sweeten the deal.

  

But, every big city, especially tourist attractions, is a magnet for commerce. With commerce comes crowds and noise. We read that we could find fresh fish at the Nishiki Market; so we went there. What we found was not worthy of buying and was one shop among hundreds in a gridlock of crowds.

People who come for vacation to Kyoto or any other location and do not spend their time with the historic and natural elements cannot decompress and, whether they admit it or not, derive no mental pause after traveling halfway around the world.

Finally, food. My favorite subject. Rather than eat outside every day and leave the quality and taste to someone else (at a high price), we elected to shop the market around the corner and Lotus prepared Japanese-style meals with Japanese ingredients, including the ever-present miso, and the amazingly delicious and healthy natto. Of course, we also took advantage of the local beverages, sake and shochu (Japanese fruity vodka). (See our YouTube video for a real-time look at a day at home and Lotus’ preparation of meals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDaK49AoF_A&t=37s )

What I learned

• When I returned to the US after one week in Kyoto, I recognized that I was part of something I never would have imagined before, all curated by Lotus and provided by Japan and the Japanese culture:

o A real unplugging—by the authenticity of the experience, I was able to immerse myself in a different environment and take full advantage of the serenity it offered.

o How did we find serenity if we lived in the middle of a big city? The answer lies in two things: 

 How we approached it and

 The environment offered by Kyoto and Japanese culture. What do I mean by that? Everything from the supermarket food to the environment in the temples and tourist sites shines with humble quality, where nothing is out of place, and nothing is left to wonder or worry about.

 So this teaches us a valuable lesson for personal and business use: Trust your materials, Trust your thought process, Trust your quality, Trust your peers. Trust. Takes the tension out of everything.

 Most importantly, Trust yourself.

• If I have learned anything through many years of global business and a life that was not handed to me, but in which I had to earn everything, it is that shit happens. Nothing goes as you expected—some may be better and some worse. IF you get your shit together and find your zen, you will overcome. But not by yourself.

• I have always said that business, regardless of technology, is best served by how people work together--relationships. We were positively delighted about how helpful and kind the Japanese people were. Without asking for anything in return.

Look at the results, not your expectations. If better, learn to accept your good fortune. IF worse, and you fall down, get up again. Someone once said that the important thing about falling seven times is what you learn the eighth time when you get back up.

It’s all about you. Like in golf or baseball. It’s just you and the ball. The result is completely dependent on how you approach it.

Same with learning to unplug. It’s on you to understand that breathing out is a necessary companion to breathing in or holding your breath.

Our Kyoto trip was beyond my expectations: I was able to totally unplug and breathe out, plus the unexpected bonus of learning something about what Japan can show us regarding a quality business, quality life and quality existence for our planet.

 Michael Serwetz 2025

Michael Unplugged- Introduction to my upcoming second publication GET IT DONE- YOUR OPERATIONS STRATEGY PLAYBOOK

 

Can you unplug? Stay calm when the other shoe drops unexpectedly? In Operations shit can happen daily, so how do you function? What do you need to know to be effective? This is the mission of my upcoming second publication, Get It Done--Your Operations Strategy Playbook.

My publications change higher ed learning--it is immersion, thinking not reading, learning by doing, totally interactive.

Just as my first publication "The Way of the Unicorn," Get It Done focuses on the knowledge students need to retaiin from the course to take with them into their careers to understand how to Get It Done--the mission of Operations Strategy.

How is this accomplished? Using a totally interactive format that is published and supported by Great River Learning.

I bellieve this is a new paradigm for learning that resonates with today's students (reaction based on surveys has been overwhelmingly positive) since their lives are totally focused online and they don't have the will and the attention span to plod through "scholarly" texts.

Simple. You can assign them, but most students won't read them.  Even if they do, they won't distill the lessons they should learn. This is what I realized about my students at NYU, so I started to pull together my own lessons using the vast resources of the Internet blended with my own global business experience of half a century.

The publication will be released in May for my use in Summer 2025. You can preview the paradigm and some of the ongoing lessons by getting access to my first and ongoing publication, "The Way of the Unicorn."

A recent trip to Japan with my wife and soulmate Lotus inspired me to frame the spirit of the publication with the following Introduction:

Michael Unplugged

Will you be able to do it?

Welcome and introduction to

Get It Done: Your Operations Strategy Playbook

Michael Serwetz 2025

   

Do you feel me? Are you sharing my mood? Good! Read on and see what this publication and The Way of the Unicorn is about.

In the Operations business, the other shoe drops every day.

Those of us who have been around the Operations block a few times learn (or should learn) to expect the unexpected: Shipment is rejected for quality and delivery is tomorrow,  factory is late for a variety of possible reasons or excuses, customer wants to add on to or subtract from their order with ridiculously short notice, lab rejects fabric for miniscule amount over tolerance, etc. I could go on, but you get the point.

Don’t get me wrong—some of the above is all too familiar. The questions for Operations Management are:

1. How do you minimize the occurrence of problems that become obstacles to fulfilling the order on time, with quality, delighting  your customer? (and making some money in the process)

2. How do you react when they do happen?

The answer to both questions is why I wrote this publication: a set of principles and practices—a playbook—that guides your approach to the business of Operations, produces the best possible result as much of the time as possible and gives you a comfort level to solve problems when they inevitably occur—The Way of the Unicorn.

As the title says, as an Operations Manager, VP, etc. your job is to Get It Done. After it is sold, put up for sale, or designed, the rest of the company depends on you to finish the job.

Like a baseball player or golfer, when it is just you and the ball, and it is the bottom of the ninth inning or the eighteenth hole, you have to find the resources within and without to produce an excellent result (which in the Way of the Unicorn is Customer Delight); some of it comes from the Zen within and the rest comes from muscle memory.

So here comes the Unplugged part.

If you are wrapped up and plugged in too tight, you will not be effective when that moment comes. The effectiveness comes from a combination of 1. Finding the calmness and focus within and 2. Leaving the rest to muscle memory.

(The brain is a muscle, right?)

Technically, no. According to Johns Hopkins:

“Weighing about 3 pounds in the average adult, the brain is about 60% fat. The remaining 40% is a combination of water, protein, carbohydrates and salts. The brain itself is a not a muscle. It contains blood vessels and nerves, including neurons and glial cells.” 

That said, if it isn’t a muscle, it certainly controls muscle function. As novelist Stephen King said, “The brain is a muscle that can move the world”.  As the speech by Jesper Petersen, Danish minister, points out, in diseases like ALS we see the relationship of the brain to muscle control. 

So, in answer to the two questions posed above, you can see that the state of your brain and how it is trained has everything to do with how you react when shit happens.

Here’s the connection to Operations, if you haven’t seen it already. IF you are wrapped up too tight and playing fire chief, you will not think about how to approach improving the functionality of your department and finding the Efficient Frontier (explained in Chapter 3) but spend your time fighting for control of daily fires.

But IF your daily work is guided by the principles and practices laid out in this publication, you will remain unplugged and calm because you trust your ability to build a super organization and to have a winning reaction to shit happening, maybe every day, due to what you learned becoming an Operations Unicorn.

Truth: I was not always a Unicorn; I learned from failure as much as success. I built the lessons in this publication over many years in Operations and Sourcing, the Good, Bad and WTF. Nor did I acquire what is laid out in this publication in an academic environment. I got it from thousands of hours on planes and in factories around the globe, the lessons of which are built in to the publication.

If you learn and follow the playbook, staying true to its principles and relying on your own ability, you will also be able to unplug when you are not at work or on vacation; if not, you may never leave the office.

As I finish this publication, I am totally unplugged and in the ancient city of Kyoto, Japan. The Japanese culture embodies the lessons of thousands of years that is also relevant to Operations: Humility, Quality, and an obsessive quest for perfection. 

Take a look at the attached pictures ; in this serene environment, it is easy to unplug. Do you think if you were in my shoes, you could be unplugged? Could you learn, retain and apply the lessons within this publication? If you can do, I believe, given no other issues, Unicornness will direct you, and you will be able to calmly direct your team and partners to success.

This is my intended result, after you read and absorb Get It Done: Your Playbook for Operations Strategy. Oh, and also to enjoy the ride; this is not a “textbook,” it is me coaching you each step of the way in this Playbook.

Send me some emails from the playing field and let me know what happens.

(Note: If you wish to preview The Way of the Unicorn or Get It Done when it is released, send me an email at sourcerer1@me.com and I will arrange it with GRL)

Now take a look at these pics of me in Kyoto- unplugged:

Calm yet?