Amazing, isn’t it, that 41 years after being honorably discharged from the service, this veteran can still recite his military serial number instantly. I’m pretty sure I could still field strip an M-14 rifle, as well. (OK, I might poke myself in the eye trying to present arms, but close order drill was never my favorite thing.)

Several years ago, I authored a training manual titled “Essentials of Profitable Wholesale-Distribution” for the American Supply Association and National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. While doing research for the book I came across some information that startled me.

“Accidents will happen” are words that make me cringe. It’s a form of defeatism and I suspect that people who mutter those words are more accident-prone than most.

Many of you reading this own your company, so you don’t have to worry about being laid off, except in the sense of being put out of work by going bankrupt in a miserable economy. The marketplace is everyone’s ultimate boss, at least for those of us who work in the private sector.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the tongue-in-cheek Darwin Awards, since the selection of annual winners seems to be among the most forwarded e-mails on the Internet.

Being the boss is a pretty good feeling for most people. Those of you who own your business or have management authority draw a certain comfort from calling the shots and being able to tell subordinates what to do.

This is not a pleasant article to write, because it has to do with failure. But don’t equate failure with being a loser. Thomas Edison failed with thousands of different filaments before finding one able to sustain the light of an incandescent bulb, and he most certainly wasn’t a loser.

Most people think of being smart as knowing a lot of stuff. I have a different definition of smart. That’s knowing what you don’t know. Although the world is filled with self-styled know-it-alls, the truth is that nobody knows more than a tiny fraction of all there is to know about any given subject.

We are in a terrible economic environment and many of you are feeling the pinch. There’s nothing you can do to increase demand for walls and ceilings, so the focus needs to be on increasing your share of the diminished market. This means landing a higher percentage of the jobs available and focusing on the most profitable ones. Here are some ideas for doing so.

Most of you know your way around a toolbox very well. If you didn’t, you’d be doing something else for a living. At some point, though, you are likely to find yourself in a predicament they don’t teach in trade schools and apprenticeship classes. It’s how to cope with the most complicated machinery any of us will ever confront-human beings.