…Or don’t do it at all. That’s how the saying goes.

One of the biggest educations I ever got in life came from Eddie McGuire. Yes, that “Eddie Everywhere” guy, the president of Collingwood footy club, the on on the television and the radio.

No, don’t go away, keep reading.

Eddie runs a tight ship. He is not a control freak, although if you were only looking at one side of the picture, you may think he is at times, or even all the time. No what Eddie is, is smart operator.

When working with Eddie, you know where you stand, and he knows where he stands, and together the job gets done. It’s simple, it works, and there is nothing unknown. Before doing a show, or a function, Eddie will say “I’d like to do A, B and C, is that possible?” it’s not an order, he has an idea of how he thinks he can achieve the most reaction from an audience, to give them a memorable experience. If you say “We can’t do A, B, and C, but we can do A, D and F instead”, well Eddie goes with it.

But the onus is now on you. You have said you can do something, so it’s time for you to deliver on your word. If you stuff up behind the scenes, people are not looking at you, they are looking at the guy out the front, and that’s Eddie.

I got on the wrong side once, and it was more than enough to learn my lesson. Sure it hurt my pride a bit at the time, but he was right. It’s a simple philosophy to live by, and it works well. It’s not over complicating a matter, it’s setting a benchmark, from which everyone can work together.

The simple idea of doing what you can, as well as you can has held me well. There is no point in promising the world, and only delivering a handful of dust. It’s better to do what you can, and surprise people when you achieve more than that.