[Scene opens in a dimly lit NCIS interrogation room. Mark Harmon as Gibbs leans in, eyes locked, voice low but firm.]
Gibbs: “You don’t break the rules.”
Rookie Agent: “What if the rules don’t make sense?”
Gibbs: (pauses, then deadpan) “Then you follow them harder.”
Many years ago, my great friend and then new board member Lee Synnott casually told me something that stuck: “Do what I say.”
Lee wasn’t just another executive. He’d held CXO roles across major organizations and took the Ingram family from a modest $2M to a $3B powerhouse as CEO of Ingram Book. A distant relative by marriage, Lee helped me buy the company. He’d lived through experiences I could only imagine, so I listened—closely. Even when I had doubts, I followed his direction.
That simple phrase became Rule Number One for anyone on my team.
Pushback
When I first started presenting Rule 1 of 5, someone blurted out: “You can’t tell me that.”
But think about it—it’s always implied when you work for someone. Except only experts say it out loud.
“Look, it’s not because I’m some kind of tyrant or God’s gift to business and technology. It’s because I want you to succeed. And I’ve learned that nothing we do is ever quite what it seems.”
That’s the heart of it. With the Delta Method, you’ll learn an approach to success that even Big Tech hasn’t figured out. Occasionally, someone pushes back. People are people. They try it their way—and instantly understand.
One memorable complaint: “You can’t tell me how to say something.”
I explained in the exit interview:
“Even McDonald’s tells you how to say things. We’re not flipping burgers—we’re streamlining technology.”
Rule 1 Applies to Clients Too
Years later, I met my good friend and mentor Clint Arthur. He started a session with: “Write it on a full page. Rule 1: Do what I say.”
I just smiled. The inside joke wasn’t funny—but it was true.
“Hey, I’m a client. You can’t tell me that,” said the doctor, lawyer, financial advisor… Different professionals, same story. They were unprepared, couldn’t follow basic directions, and voiced wild opinions about things they were paying for—but that required their effort.
So yes, Rule 1 applies to clients too.
I’m not interested in what was tried before. Find one other organization that’s done over 10,000 projects on-time and on-budget across the globe. When you change the recipe, the outcome is never as good.
A Real-World Example
During a recent Google to Microsoft migration, we recommended a mid-week cutover and testing DNS access the week before. The owner insisted on a Friday cutover—because he’d never heard of doing it any other way—and trusted his website provider to handle DNS.
Well, the provider made typos and skipped anti-spam records. Mail flowed, but with a flood of spam. Fortunately, we’d sent announcements early in the week, so only a handful of users across 12 national offices needed help.
Monday morning, the CEO called:
“You guys did great—very minor hiccups. If I’d listened to you, we’d have had none. Call me tomorrow about our next project. I promise we’ll follow your advice to the letter.”
It’s a relationship. You never say, “I told you so.” It’s understood that you have to take a beat to understand who you’re working with.
“Congratulations on a successful email migration with lower cost, better security, and improved productivity.”
He said thank you. Then asked: “Next time, tell me about Rule Number Two.”
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