redactedSeveral years ago, we hung a small framed picture of Charlie Munger’s Prescriptions for a Life of Misery in the entryway to our house. The list, taken from a 1986 commencement address, outlines the actions and behaviors that will all but guarantee bad outcomes. We put it in the entryway as a daily reminder of what to avoid. That reminder is useful because many destructive patterns of behavior start as relatively benign thoughts but have a way of metastasizing over time. We've all been there. In that spirit, a teammate recently put together our own Seven Rules to Guarantee Failure at Chenmark. With apologies to Charlie, they are as follows: Rule One: Be unreliable. Say you will have the report on Monday and send it on Wednesday. If you are behind schedule, don't mention it. Tell people you will meet them at 7 a.m. and show up at 8 a.m. Better yet, don't show up at all. Promise a business owner that you will follow up by the end of the week, and then go silent. Offer to help a CEO with a project, then wait until the day it's due to mention that you got busy. If someone tells you that showing up still matters, nod politely, and then don't. Rule Two: Do not work hard. In a new environment, remember you are making a first impression. Disappoint early and often. Be last in and first out. Take on the smallest workload on the team. Never ask, “What can I do to help?” In many corporate settings, you can hide behind larger teams. At Chenmark, your direct contributions will be more apparent. Don't let that opportunity go to waste. Do what is asked and no more. Do it hastily and with little care. Never reread before sending. Don't be willing to do what it takes to get results. And when a peer gets there first, be sure to tell them it must be nice. Clearly, they have done a poor job following these rules. Rule Three: Refuse to learn. One of Munger's prescriptions was to refuse to learn from the living and the dead, and to insist on making every mistake personally. A sound prescription for this purpose. Do not seek to learn from those around you. Do not read books, listen to podcasts, speak with current or former CEOs, or do anything else that could be construed as Chasing Better. As you encounter new things, you will inevitably make mistakes. Mistakes are, after all, part of the deal. Now that you have made them, repeat them. That is the important piece. Do not, under any circumstances, learn from them. Don't bother digging in and understanding why anything works. No need to put in extra time if you are behind. You either get it, or you don't; there is no such thing as yet. Rule Four: If you get knocked down, stay down. Work will present bountiful opportunities to get discouraged and give up. Take them! Never giving up is anathema to failure. An estimator quits in April. Your biggest account churns in June. A top salesperson leaves for a competitor. The truck dies in the middle of the busiest week of the year. A key teammate doesn't show up on a critical day. Treat each of these as evidence that the job is impossible, or at least too hard. Head home, close up shop, and let someone else clean up the mess. Relish the comfort of your couch, not the discomfort of the journey. And whatever you do, do not look at the problem and say, “Good.” Rule Five: Blame everyone but yourself. Blame the market. Blame the weather. Blame the crew, the previous owner, Jupiter being in retrograde, or whoever you conceivably can. Above all, be sure that every problem in the business has an owner, and be equally sure that it is never you. When something goes right, note that you were involved—responsible, in fact. Pat yourself on the back; you deserve it. When something goes wrong, note that you warned everyone. If only they had listened. Rule Six: Identify problems, do not solve them. If you happen to see a problem, you now have a fantastic opportunity. Your best options are either (a) do nothing or (b) let someone know there is a problem. Point it out, then trust that someone else will figure out the rest. Do not take initiative. When the moment comes and someone on the team needs you to step up, consider a long lunch. Get comfortable at the bottom of the helpfulness hierarchy. Rule Seven: Do not set the standard. Have a bad attitude and let it be known that most things are not your job. Plenty of tasks are beneath you. If someone asks you to do something that was not listed on your job application, tell them as much. Don't take pride in the work. If it's 5 p.m., you are done, regardless of whether the work is. If a decision is hard, don’t make it. Standards are set by other people. Your job is simply to fall short of them. The recipe is simple and foolproof. Follow it, and you will fail. You’ll also note that the guide is simply Chenmark’s values and standards with the sign flipped. Now turn it over. Do what you say you'll do. Be consistent. Work hard. Learn from everyone around you, and from your own mistakes. Never give up. Own the outcome, especially the bad. When you see a problem, fix it. Set the bar. Inspire your colleagues to push themselves. Being successful does not require unusual intelligence. It requires living the core values, working hard, learning quickly, taking ownership, and being willing to do what the situation requires. Remember, we set the example.