Accretive -- 2007

Accretive: the word of the day

The word of the day is Accretive.

"Growth or increase in size by gradual external addition, fusion, or inclusion… Something contributing to such growth or increase."

I was recently with a politician in the Chicago suburbs. My friend ("Jack") won his first race three years ago in a special election, upon the prior officeholder's death. That race was hard-fought. Jack is now the incumbent, but his polls reflect that this will be another tight race.

His numbers puzzled me. "Jack," I said, "what have you been doing?"

"For my campaign? A lot of direct mail and personal appearances. A debate. The usual."

That's not what I meant, I said. "What have you been doing for the last three years?"

Jack and I both grew up in the city of Chicago. We grew up in the same alderman's ward, but in different precincts. The political machine then meant we had a precinct "captain" responsible for getting out our parents' vote… and the "vote", it was understood, meant voting the way the machine wanted you to vote.

With that background, what the hell was Jack doing for three years? Sure, he was serving his community well, and being an honorable man and a good father. But why, I wanted to know, wasn't he building his political organization over three years?

"It's a lot of effort," he said.

So I brought up Accretive. Accretive is not about doing it all at once. A steady flow of effort over time equals results.

If Jack had just recruited, each month, one precinct captain (or one champion within a special interest group, more likely), today he would have 36 influencers whom he could charge with "bringing out the vote".

That's 36 people that would get 10 to 15 others to the polls, and voting for Jack. In a race likely to be decided by one hundred or fewer votes, those are big numbers.

Accretive is building bit by bit, month by month. It could be developing a talent, saving for retirement, or – in business – improving your internal controls.

Skip a month and it probably won't hurt you. Skip 36 months in a row, though, at your own peril.