Weekend Update

Well fellow spineophiles, it has become quite evident that for all of you shooting poison arrows at our hearts, no one, not one single commentator has sent us a post in the last 36 hours.  Could it be that all those pundits that criticize and mortalize this blog really don't have the literary skills that they profess? Easier said than done, huh? Who are the contenders versus the pretenders for 2012? What is endearing your customers hearts to you?  Biologics? Another pedicle screw? Another ISP plate? Another POD model?  Another POC?  Is it the money?  Is there a company out there that has the vision to combine staying power, meaning capital requirements, IP, and business model that makes small but incremental advances to overthrow the Big 4 or 5?  TSB thinks so.  Someone out there really understands that the days of 20% growth are somewhere over the distant horizon unless the accounting rules change. The world forever changed in 2008, and we may never pass that way again. There must be a company out there that understands long-term strategic thinking that is critical to executing ones objective whether it is building their company eventually taking it public, or flipping it to one of the Big Boys. No fellow purple people eaters, it's not you, so calm down. Why the rush?  Let's be honest, short-term thinking nearly brought the U.S. economy to its knees. Maybe short-term thinking is the primary reason the United States is no longer considered a market leader? And please before you start blaming the government, look at your own companies. It takes a solid linear thinker or thinkers to succeed.  It takes PATIENCE.  Ever wonder why some of the oracles in the industry continue to churn and burn through personnel and capital?  They are trying too hard to effect success. Results entail a process, something many people fail to place a premium on.You could espouse all the wonderful cliche's about management and teamwork, but it takes continuity and execution in order to effect change. Is your company reactive or proactive? Ever work for a company that changes its personnel and or business plan every year to two years? TSB bets many of you have either had that experience or have the name of those people at the tip of your tongue. The problem in spine is that it's not the banking/investment industry, there is no Big Brother, aka the Federal Reserve to provide a quantitative easing to some of the smaller companies. There are no CDO's or CDS unless you consider POD's as our contribution to the decay.  Over the last few months many of you have attended your NSM's and the question that the market needs to know, is whether or not you have anything that is going to differentiate you and the next guy?

You could read all the motivational books you want and take those anecdotal quips and deliver them to your sales team, but if you do not have the fire power (product) to sustain market share and incrementally grow your business, sooner rather than later, your customers and market forces will expose your deficiencies.  Is your company providing you with the necessary tools to get the job done?  Does your company really have a grasp of its clinical and financial trends?  Are they planning to make adjustments, hell, are you planning on making adjustments?  Considering that we work in a dynamic and less than loyal industry, TSB cannot blame a distributor or direct sales person for carrying multiple products, can you? There is no loyalty, there are only expectations and sometimes one has to take a step back and ponder whether some people are living in a bubble? So as most of you get ready for what will probably be a highly contested and entertaining Super Bowl, take the time to enjoy the agony and the ecstasy of the moment but remember that paying attention to detail (as painful as that is for some), process and a lot of luck will get you to the Big Easy.  TSB predicts that the winners for 2012 will be......................................?