“They say such nice things about people at funerals that it makes me sad I am going to miss mine by just a few days.” – Anon

Last year I posted a blog called Where is Werris Creek? Having grown up near this town in country NSW I decided to post a link to the blog on the town’s Facebook page. I introduced it by saying that my mother taught there as a Primary School teacher over 40 years ago.

The responses were unexpected. Several former students responded saying they remembered my mother very well and that she had a very positive effect on their lives. A positive legacy after over 40 years. My mother was a very dedicated and hardworking teacher. I can remember her preparing lessons at night. Even into her late 80s she assisted at the local primary school which had a high proportion of migrant children and taught them about Australian history and culture.

This reminded me of a technique used by consultants called the Tombstone Test.

So, what is the Tombstone Test?

No, it’s not the 1881 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona where Wyatt Earp and his brothers along with Doc Holliday gunned down three “Cowboys”. The “Cowboys” were two families of outlaw cattle rustlers, tobacco and alcohol smugglers.

The concept of the Tombstone Test probably originated from management theories of the 1990s centred around business leadership. In short, it consists of two questions:

1. What do you want your obituary to say?
2. Is what you are doing today consistent with the legacy you want to leave?

This can be extended to your relationships with family and friends. Do you want to be remembered for the money you made in your lifetime, or whether you were a good parent, partner, spouse or friend?

The Tombstone Test is sometimes used by management consultants to focus the mind on your legacy.

Being a good business owner or executive, if done well should be about freedom, fun, fulfillment and making money. By extension it should also be about serving and helping others, especially your customers and employees. In our former logistics business, we developed supervisors, paid for their training and when we sold the business, put aside a significant amount of money for the long-term employees and paid them bonuses.

As a manager or business owner how would you like to be remembered?

The greedy, arrogant, unapproachable and selfish individual, or like my mother, remembered in a positive light as someone who made a difference to others’ lives years after the event?

The Tombstone Test is meant to make you confront reality, have a deeper perspective on how you live your life both at work, in the community and at home and be remembered as a making a positive difference in the world.

As we approach Christmas and the end of the calendar year it is a good time to reflect on the past 12 months and think about the future. The Tombstone Test is a good starting point.

Seasons Greetings to all my blog readers and all the best for 2024

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