Wizard of Ads Monday Morning Memo

America split into 3 camps last year.Those camps came sharply into focus at Christmas.1.   The Hunker-Down crowd cut back their purchases, uneasy about dwindling dollars and rising debt. Traffic in non-discount retail stores was sluggish as a result.2.   The Full-Speed-Ahead crowd did business as usual. God bless’em. “Damn the torpedoes! I choose not to participate in a recession! The only thing to fear is fear itself!”3.   The I’m-Too-Rich-To-Worry crowd spent somewhat more on Christmas than last year, almost enough to offset the penury of the Hunker Downs. While the total number of transactions was down for December, the average sale was slightly up, due to the largesse of this group.Here’s what to expect in 2008:We’re going to see an increasing number of purchases influenced by the head instead of the heart. Service and selection are taking a back seat to quality and price. In the language of Myers-Briggs, we’re shifting from an F (feeling) mindset to a T (thinking) perspective.In Advertising, both the Hunker Downs and the Full Speed Aheads are looking for clear statements of benefit. The I’m-Too-Rich-To-Worries are looking for exclusive brands.Efficiency providers like Sam’s Club and Costco will continue to thrive. As will sellers of prestige brands that are never discounted. Retailers who have built their businesses on service and selection will feel pressure to reinvent themselves. It’s going to be a very good year for consultants.How about you? Would you like to gain some insight about what to do next?Wizard Academy is a 21st Century Business School.Your goals are your own business.Helping you reach them is ours.Q: How is a 21st century business school different than a 20th century business school?A: We recognize the value of intuition. Traditional business schools teach that decisions should wait until all the data is available. But intuitive innovators who know the right answer before all the data is available are now leapfrogging businesses who continue to follow the old-school logic. The big fish are no longer eating the little fish. The fast fish are eating the slow.Which fish will you be?Begin 2008 with a visit to Wizard Academy and see if it doesn't brighten your future.We'll see you when you get here.Roy H. Williams

Whether it exists in the public consciousness or only in my mind, I can't be sure, but there’s an anxiousness about 2008 that gives me pause. We seem to be pushing our way to the edge.Presidency, economy, war.What will happen?I take a breath and close my eyes and remember the words of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus published 1800 years ago, “Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”Anthony Hopkins shared a similar thought with James Lipton during a recent interview on Inside the Actor's Studio, “Today is the tomorrow I was so worried about yesterday.”A client recently shared with me one of those amazing “weapons of reason” Marcus Aurelius spoke about:I asked, “How is traffic trending? Are we ahead of last year?”“Roy, I don’t measure traffic.”“You’re kidding.”“Last week one of my salespeople made 63 sales presentations and closed only 24 of them. That tells me 39 people bought somewhere else. And right now they’re telling all their friends why they bought where they did. They’re showing off their purchases and explaining why they didn’t buy from us.”“Good point.”“That salesperson is no longer with us.”“You’re really serious about this.”“Today’s close rate is the most reliable indicator of tomorrow’s traffic. When close rate is high, traffic increases. When close rate begins to slide, traffic soon begins to slide as well.”Does it surprise you that this client keeps better records than any we’ve ever served and that he’s currently our fastest growing client in North America? Thankfully, he knows what information can be correlated and what cannot. He doesn’t let his statistics lead him to ridiculous conclusions.But the part of our conversation that jerked my eyebrows upward was that he was aware of the weekly close rate of each of his nearly 100 salespeople.Wow.You can’t improve what you don’t measure.What are you measuring?“When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of Science, whatever the matter may be.”–   Sir William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, Electrical Units of Measurement, 1883There are lots of things business owners are secretly trying to achieve. And usually these goals are secret, even to themselves.In a couple of weeks I’ll begin 3 intensive days of planning for 11 different companies. We’ll all sit in a circle on the first morning and I’ll ask each of them separately, “How will we measure success? What do you want me to help you make happen?”I’ve been asking that question of business owners for nearly 30 years. It’s never easy to get an answer.But it’s a whole lot easier to win the game when you’re clear on how points are scored.Are you playing to win in 2008?Your goals are your own business.Helping you reach them is mine.Roy H. Williams

I’m a big believer in the power of words. But when words aren’t backed by corresponding actions, talk is cheap.Have you ever felt a disconnection between what a company promised you in their ads and what they actually delivered?I carry a list of companies in my head called the “Never Again As Long As I Live” list. I’ll bet you have one, too.Was it the advertising of these companies that put them on our lists? Of course not. It was their actions.One dumb decision can undo years of good advertising.What decisions have you made that send signals to your customers?“Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson1. What are you saying in your ads?2. Who are you being in your store?3. Is there a disconnect?AA dog doesn’t have to growl to let me know it’s dangerous. Just bare you teeth, doggie. I’ll understand. This small, direct signal from the dog overrides all the assurances of its owner: “He won’t bite, he’s a friendly dog. I’ve had him for 10 years. His breed never bites. It’s been proven. Here, watch this. See, he didn’t bite me and he won’t bite you either. What are you afraid of? Here are some testimonials from other people who have petted him. Did you know this dog was voted Most Pettable Dog of 2007? He won’t bite you, he likes you. Trust me. We care about our customers.”What is advertising but the assurances of a dog owner?Talk, when it costs you nothing, is cheap.“Here are ten, hundred-dollar bills. Put them in your pocket. If this dog so much as snaps at you, they’re yours. He wasn’t baring his teeth to scare you. He was smiling at you.”Wow. A smiling dog. I think I’ll pet him.Actions are powerful signals when they agree with your words.These action-signals gain credibility to the degree they cost you one or more of the following:1. Material Wealth2. Time & Energy3. Opportunity4. Power & Control5. Reputation & Prestige6. Safety & Well BeingWhat do your signals cost you? What are you risking?Words that cost you little have little meaning.Tom Wanek is an authority on how to use signals and counter-signals in business. Tom has agreed to speak for one very special hour on the subject during the next Free Public Seminar in Austin, Texas.Prepare to be amazed.Roy H. Williams

Concorde was a child of the 60s. Flying 11 miles above the earth at twice the speed of sound, this jet was literally faster than a rifle bullet. London to New York in 2 hours and 53 minutes.The Concorde isn’t flown anymore.During a routine take-off in July, 2000, Concorde blew a tire after hitting a small piece of metal on a runway in Paris. A chunk of the tire knocked a hole in the wing, spilling fuel down the side of the plane just as it was lifting off. Ninety seconds later, the plane exploded in the air.The public was terrified. The Concorde fleet was grounded.After reinforcing the wings with bulletproof Kevlar and installing puncture-proof tires, the senior executives of Concorde’s parent company boarded the plane in September, 2001 and flew halfway across the Atlantic and back to demonstrate their confidence in the plane’s safety. While they were in the air, terrorists flew commercial jets into the World Trade Center.Now everyone was afraid to travel.Having already been out of operation for 14 months, Concorde was unable to recover from this second financial whammy.Solomon, known for his good advice, said, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.”Then he followed this eye-of-the-tiger pitch by saying in the next verse,“I have seen something else under the sun:The race is not to the swiftor the battle to the strong,      nor does food come to the wise      or wealth to the brilliant      or favor to the learned;      but time and chance happen to them all.”– Ecclesiastes chapter 9Robbie Burns agreed with Solomon’s assessment of time and chance. Apologizing to a mouse whose burrow he accidentally uncovered while plowing his field, he said most famously in 1785: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”I share these things with you because I know some of you are facing failure. Don’t let it bother you. Failure, like success, is a temporary condition. Tomorrow is a brand new day.FAILURE: Because sometimes your very best just isn’t good enough.Amen. Now we’re done with it. Turn your face to the rising sun.Tigers are happiest when they’re chasing their dinner.Even when they fail to catch it, the chase is fun.Let your tiger run.Roy H. Williams

These are the noises companies makeas they’re going down the tubes:1. “Our only problem is traffic.”Slow traffic is a symptom, not a disease. Look for its cause. WHY is traffic slow? Is it because the public doesn’t know about you, or is it because they do? Is the problem with your advertising, or is there something wrong inside your business?2. “That’s not our customer.”The businessperson who says things like, “Our customer doesn’t care about price,” is usually surprised by how quickly he runs out of prospects. Are there customers out there who don’t care about price? Sure there are. But what percentage of the population do you think it is?3. “Our advertising is reaching the wrong people.”I’ve never seen a company fail because they were reaching the wrong people, but I’ve seen hundreds fail because they were saying the wrong things. Do your ads speak to the felt needs of your customers, or are you answering questions no one was asking?4. “I don’t worry about what the competition is doing.      I only worry about what we’re doing.”Is there a game that rewards a player for ignoring the moves of his opponent? If there is, I’ve never heard of it. Business is competitive and you’re not the only player in the game. Like it or not, you’re being compared to competitors in the mind of your customer.5. “There's enough business out there for all of us.”A limited number of dollars are going to be spent in your business category this year. Are your competitors going to make sure you get your fair share?6. “We can’t compete with the internet.”The idea that the internet is a low-overhead business environment is a myth. Other than the cost of occupancy (rent,) the costs of doing business online are essentially the same as for brick-and-mortar businesses. The average brick-and-mortar store spends about 5 percent of its annual sales on rent. If online companies had no offices, no shipping facilities, no warehouses or other physical presence, they could still offer only a 5 percent price advantage to your customer. If you’re not competitive with the internet, you need to take a close look at how you’re buying. You need to comb through your payroll, your miscellaneous expenses and your G&A. Your problem is inside your own house.7. “Our secret is our people.No one provides as warm a customer experience as we do.”In 30 years as a consultant, I’ve known dozens of business owners who have convinced themselves that having “better people” was their store’s primary advantage. In every instance, the store’s prices were high, their merchandise was unremarkable and their people were average. (Even if your staff is exceptional, the worst thing to advertise is remarkable customer service. The expectations of the public will be raised to impossible levels. Promise it and you’ll hear nothing but endless complaints. I’ve made the mistake more than once.)How Did You Score?You’re Average if you’ve heard yourself say just one or two of these things. Hopefully, you’ve recovered from your wrong-headed thinking and are on the road to right action.You’ve Got a Problem if you’re guilty of saying three or four of these things. If you want to recover, you need to start associating with people who will smack you when you start talking nonsense. Surround yourself with friends who won’t let you slide sideways into delusional excuses.You’re in Real Trouble if you're saying five of these things. It’s like a drug habit. You say these things to reduce your anxiety and ease the pain of failure much like an addict takes a perspective-altering pill to help him make it through the day. Rehab is going to be tough, but you can survive if you dig deep and awaken the tiger in you. Clean out the closets of your mind, throw out the trash and gain a clean perspective. Fight to survive.You’re Not Going to Make It if you’re making six of these statements. Can you hear the fat lady singing? I don’t mean to be harsh, but you really ought to throw in the towel and find something to do with your life that will make you happy. This obviously isn’t working.You’re Not Saying Any of Those Things?Excellent! Go, the world is yours for the taking.Roy H. Williams

Some people say a recession is coming.Others say it’s already here.Experts say the best way to start a recession is to predict one’s on the way. So hey, I’m not predicting a recession, okay? REMEMBER! If a recession sneaks up on us in 2008, do NOT blame it on me.Did your elementary school have fire drills?Step 1. Get in a straight line.Step 2. Walk orderly down the hallway and out the door.Step 3. Don’t stop until you get to the far edge of the playground.In my elementary school, we also practiced what to do in case of nuclear attack:Step 1. Crawl under your desk.Step 2. Put your head between your knees.Then in High School we learned Step 3 when we saw it on a poster. You remember Step 3, don't you? “Kiss your ass goodbye.”A recession is like a fire, a regular run-of-the-mill, garden variety, five-and-dime fire. Nothing special. Nothing nucular.*So here’s what to do if a recession happens: (And I’m definitely NOT saying one’s coming, remember? Let’s be clear about that.)1.   Evaluate your risk orientation. “Got guts?”2.   Summon your staying power. “Got tenacity?”3.   Think forward, into the future. Ask, “What will I wish I had done?”(Answer: You’ll wish you would’ve grabbed market share while it was lying unprotected for the taking.)4.   Return in your mind to the present time.5.   Do what you wish you’d have done. Grab that unguarded market share while everyone else sits on their hands and waits for Good Times to come home.Market share is easily won when your competitors are cutting expenses. The big frustration comes when you learn that growing your market share doesn’t mean an immediate increase in revenues. Here’s an example:10 million dollars change hands each year in your market category.The category contains 10 competitors.The Big Gorilla does 2 million.The Principal Challenger does 1.5.The remaining 8 of you split 6.5 million.You’re a slightly taller-than-average midget doing a smooth 1 million. (The other 7 midgets do about $800,000 apiece.)You come alive during the recession and double your market share.But the market has shrunk from 10 million dollars to just 5 million.Congratulations. You now control 20 percent of the market. But you’re still doing just 1 million.Doesn’t quite feel like a victory, does it? Be patient. When money begins to flow again – and it will – you’ll find you’ve become a major force in your category. And you've got momentum.When times are good and money is abundant, it’s easy to coast on yesterday’s reputation. You’ve seen it happen. But when there’s not enough business to go around, the rules revert to survival of the fittest. This is when courageous little companies leapfrog their traditional masters and leave them on the trail behind.My elementary school never had a fire.But it seemed prudent to have a plan regarding how to behave should a fire occur.Roy H. Williams

In the Land of the Way Things Ought to BeI’m handsome and wealthy and strong and free.But in the Land of the Way Things Really AreI’m struggling and awkward, a bit bizarre.I threw a party, invited my friendsFrom the Land of the Way It Might Have Been.They were heartbroken. A man named RegretSaid they had gotten all they would get.An Ambassador came, toupee in handFrom nostalgic Way-It-Used-to-Be Land,Whose sad power comes from cellophane tapeOn the box from which we try to escape.War was declared by the Land of Who CaresOn the Used-to-Be, and all that is theirs.“You don’t matter at all!” the Who-Cares cried,“You said we had to, but we found you lied!”Then there came from the Way It’s Always BeenTen clones who bellowed, “Transgression and sin!”They put their strength on the Used-to-Be side,Shouting as one, “By these rules we abide!”Onto the scene from the Land of Up YoursRan ten independents into the warsWhose only concern was not being heldTo standards imposed by heads that are swelled.And all of this caused a deeper chagrinAmong those of the Way It Might Have Been.“Can’t we all be friends?” they asked with big eyes,Amidst the Up-Yours shouts and the Who-Cares cries.But their pleas were drowned by the blood and noiseOf the late-arriving Gonna-Be boysWhose only agenda was loud and longDismissal of those who said they were wrong.And into the darkness the sparks did flyAnd lifted like prayers into the sky‘Til God stuck his fingers into his earsAnd from his mouth flowed the music of spheres:The sound of planets in orbit whirling,The sound of lavender sunsets swirling,The sound of smoke from a campfire curling,The sound of a wondrous truth unfurling.But none hears the music as they collideShouting “Beauty Herself is on our side!”None hears the music. Not one of these KingsSees beauty in what the other one brings.And the battle does rage, bubble and fizzIn the Land of the Way It Always Is. Are you a cartoonist, sketch artist or illustrator? A water colorist, oil painter or photographer?Wizard Academy Press is creating an online gallery of images inspired by the whimsical new poem, Wrong Turn Taken on the Straight and Narrow by Roy H. Williams. You can submit a single image or a series of images to illustrate the story. The truly ambitious might even illustrate each of the 23 scenes as though they were the text of a Dr. Seuss-type children’s book for children over the age of 30.Who knows? Maybe it will someday be published like that.Each entrant will be rewarded with a gift from Wizard Academy Press chosen specifically for them by Roy H. Williams. There's even an outside chance you might win a full scholarship to attend classes at Wizard Academy.If Wrong Turn Taken on the Straight and Narrow becomes more than just an online thing and actually gets printed as a physical book and your illustrations are used in it, you will receive 50 free copies of the book and $1,500 in cash for the use of your images.Submissions must be received as jpeg files or pdf files or streaming video files by Tamara@WizardAcademyPress.com no later than midnight Sunday, January 6, 2008.All submissions become the property of Wizard Academy Press.Aren't you anxious to see what you'll receive as your gift for participating?Happy Holidays.Arooo! Aroo-Arooooo!Roy H. Williams

America’s Thanksgiving holiday originated when the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for sending them an Indian friend named Squanto. This much you already knew. What you didn’t know is that long before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, this same Squanto had been captured by two English sea captains, George Weymouth and John Hunt, and abused as a slave for fourteen years. Squanto had been free less than five years when Capt. John Bradford’s Pilgrims arrived on the good ship Mayflower.    Squanto had every reason to organize a killing party and wipe out the pale-skinned invaders, but he chose to help them instead. Gazing with pity at Bradford’s pathetic band of would-be settlers as they huddled around Plymouth Rock, Squanto thought, “If I don’t help these silly white men, they’re all going to die in the coming winter.” And with that, he walked out of the woods and introduced himself.     Squanto died two years later of a disease contracted from these same Europeans.    When I was a boy, all the movies were about heroic cowboys and evil Indians. And in virtually every one of them, courageous settlers had to circle the wagons to defend themselves against unprovoked attacks from ape-like savages who said things like, “Ugh. Me want’um whiskey.”     Would you like to know how Indians actually spoke back then? Consider the musings of Ispwo Mukika Crowfoot, a Blackfoot Indian who was twenty years old in 1803, the same year that Lewis and Clark launched their famous expedition. As he lay dying, Ispwo left us with these last words: “What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”    Was Ispwo Crowfoot a particularly eloquent Indian? Not at all. Fifty-nine years earlier, when George Washington was just a twelve-year-old boy, the Collected Chiefs of the Indian Nations met to discuss a letter from the College of William & Mary suggesting that they “send twelve of their young men to the college, that they might be taught to read and write.” The Chiefs sent the following reply:Sirs,    We know that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in Colleges, and that the Maintenance of our young Men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinc’d, therefore, that you mean to do us Good by your Proposal; and we thank you heartily. But you, who are wise, must know that different Nations have different Conceptions of things; and you will therefore not take it amiss, if our Ideas of this kind of Education happen not to be the same with yours. We have some experience of it. Several of our Young People were formerly brought up at the colleges of the Northern Provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us they were bad Runners, ignorant of every means of living in the Woods, unable to bear either Cold or Hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a Deer, or kill an Enemy, spoke our Language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for Hunters, Warriors, nor Counselors; they were totally good for nothing. We are, however, not the less oblig’d by your kind Offer, tho’ we decline accepting it; and, to show our grateful Sense of it, if the Gentlemen of Virginia will send us a Dozen of their Sons, we will take care of their Education; instruct them in all we know, and make Men of them.    I wish I could have met the collected chiefs who wrote that letter. I wish I could have known Ispwo Crowfoot.    I’m really glad they don’t make cowboy and Indian movies anymore.Roy H. Williams

TIGER ONE:Are you trying to Grow a business, Build a career, Overcome an obstacle?“Those who expect moments of change to be comfortable and free of conflict have not learned their history.” – Joan Wallach ScottFerocity is a wondrous tool.STOP. Read no further1.   if you are proud of your passivity,2.   if you are offended by reading a vulgar word (as opposed to seeing it represented by a first letter and a series of dashes,)3.   if you are angered by your own mortality.TIGER TWO:“When the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears, did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the lamb make thee? Tyger! Tyger! burning bright in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” – William Blake, (1757-1827)Yes, Blake was right. He who gently made the lamb made the tiger also.Ah, ferocity is a wondrous tool.Pursue your goals with ferocity and singularity of purpose.TIGER THREE:When you choose a goal to pursue, do you ask, “Is this a mountain I’m willing to die on?”You should. For we begin to die the day we are born.“I used to stop for a long time in front of the tiger’s cage to see him pacing back and forth. I liked his natural beauty, his black stripes and his golden stripes. And now that I am blind, one single color remains for me, and it is precisely the color of the tiger, the color yellow.” – Jorge Luis BorgesWith every exhalation, we die a little. A moment is gone, a precious grain of sand from the tiny hourglass of life.Each of us chooses the path we will walk, the mountain on which we will die. Have you chosen yours?TIGER FOUR:“When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.” – George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)    A man kills a tiger from a distance. But a tiger kills a man face to face, looking into his eyes, saddened by what must be done to survive.I used a shotgun to kill a little bird on a snowy day when I was eleven. Then, as I looked down from Mount Olympus at the shattered angel in his crystal tomb, I covered him with a tear and swore that I would hunt no more until little birds were given shotguns.Yes, Tiger, you will make mistakes and have regrets.But you will also make a family and have a life.TIGER FIVE:“Time is the substance I am made of. Time is a river that carries me away, but I am the river; it is a tiger that mangles me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire. The world, alas, is real; I, alas, am Borges.” – Jorge Luis BorgesWith every step we take we reach a point of no return, and wonder what might have been.Am I trying to bring you down? No, I’m trying to stimulate you, wake you up, raise you from your stupor.The grains of sand are falling, friend.TIGER SIX:“There’s a tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsibility and treat them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that; you pay with your soul. What limits people is lack of character. What limits people is that they don’t have the nerve to star in their own fucking movie, let alone direct it.” – Tom Robbins   TIGER SEVEN:Carpe Diem. Seize the day. It is yours.Roy H. Williams

I thought Bill Clinton was a good president for the same reason I thought Ronald Reagan was good; both were excellent head cheerleaders.Their politics, personalities and characters were different, but each had a similar ability to keep things from spinning out of control.Every organization has a head cheerleader.Their business card usually says “manager.”The head cheerleader’s job is to keep talented hotheads, sycophantic suck-ups, whining excuse-makers, moon-eyed lunatics and plodding paranoids all headed in the same general direction. They have to make everyone feel like everything is going to be all right. Are there really people who can do this job?Thrown into the deep water at 26, I was possibly the worst manager ever to assume the position. But over the years I’ve had a chance to observe the great ones, and I’ve noticed an unusual but recurrent characteristic: Great managers are rarely excellent at any of the things they manage.Great coaches are great, not because they were superstars, but because they know how to awaken the star that sleeps in each of the players around them.Great managers don’t show you photos from their own vacation, they ask to see the photos from yours. And it makes them happy to see you had a wonderful time.Great managers look for things to praise in their people, knowing that it takes 7 positive strokes to recover from each negative reprimand. Think about it. If seven out of eight encounters we receive an authentic, affirming comment, a bit of happy news or a piece of valuable insight from our boss, we love to see them coming down the hall. But if the typical encounter leaves us deflated, discouraged or scared, our hearts sink when we see the manager coming.Do your people love to see you coming? If not, begin looking for things to praise. Keep your ratio of positive comments 7 times higher than your negative ones and they’ll soon begin to smile when they see you appear. Their newfound attitude and confidence will bring new levels of productivity. And all because you believed they could do it and made them believe it, too.Great managers are never afraid to hire people better than themselves.Each of the 217 times David Ogilvy opened a new office for Ogilvy & Mather, he left a set of Russian nesting dolls on the desk of the incoming manager. When the manager removed the top half from the largest of these bowling pin-shaped dolls, he or she found a slightly smaller doll inside. This continued until the manager came to the tiniest doll and retrieved from its interior what looked to be the note from a fortune cookie: “If each of us hires people smaller than ourselves, we shall become a company of midgets. But if each of us hires people bigger than ourselves, we shall become a company of giants. – David Ogilvy.”Now walk down the hall and find a sleeping superstar disguised as a plodding paranoid. For each of the next 21 days, compliment that person every time you see them take a right action.Then prepare to meet a whole new employee on the 22nd day. Don’t be surprised if they have the same name as the plodding paranoid that used to stink up the place.Go. The hallway awaits you.Roy H. Williams