This morning, as I was reading Collin Austin’s post on sweating the small stuff, I couldn’t help but think of how David Lee Roth changed the way I make contracts.
David Lee Roth changed the way you make contracts?
Yes. Mr. David Lee Roth.
First, I don’t want to get into a discussion of why contracts are important. We use contracts both at the bakery and in consulting. Bottom line: either you believe in contracts, or you’re wrong.
Anyway, back to David Lee Roth.
As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, I loved Van Halen (and to paraphrase the great Joe Dirt, “Van Halen, not Van Hagar”). Any Van Halen fan knows of the legendary room thrashings the band would give if they found a brown M&M in their room (or backstage).
Well, growing up… we just thought it was the group being bad ass rock stars. As David Lee Roth tells it, the room thrashings were for someone not paying attention to the details.
When touring, Van Halen had a tremendous stage — one with crazy set-up challenges. Their contracts had detailed instructions for the set-up as well as a clause stating that no brown M&Ms be served.
If the group arrived and there were brown M&M’s… someone didn’t read the contract.
Putting a small, easy to spot item in your contracts can save you time and money.
Brown M&Ms from Van Halen on Vimeo.