A man went to a rabbi and asked, "Rabbi, you're a wise man, how is it that you're wise?"

The rabbi replied, "Study and hard work."

Then the man asked, "What made you study and work hard?"

The rabbi replied, "A lot of experience."

Then the man asked, "And how'd you get a lot of experience?"

The rabbi answered, "I had good judgment."

And the man then asked, "What gave you good judgment?"

The rabbi said, "A lot of bad experiences."

Over the past few years I've written three columns on street smarts. After all my years in business, I'm afraid I just scratched the surface. Here are some more ideas:

Idea No. 1 -- A plan isn't a plan until you have a backup plan. You may have mapped everything out, but what if something unexpected happens? I can't emphasize enough how important backup plans are. You should always have a plan B and possibly plans C and D. The bigger the deal or event, the more detailed your backup plans should be.

Next Idea -- Use your network for referrals to save money. More than once, I've been able to negotiate better deals by offering referrals. The results can be even better than bartering.

For example, I was 29 years old and couldn't afford to build a new envelope manufacturing plant. But because I had a network, I was able to find a builder and guarantee I would get him other business. I got him four other buildings, and he gave me a down and dirty price. I did the same with my architect. Talk about a win-win situation -- and an excellent way to put your network to work.

Next Idea -- Follow the fleet. Starting out in sales can be tough. When I began selling envelopes at age 21, I pored through the phone book for a week, looking for leads. Then my dad suggested that I might try to ingratiate myself with one of the battle-scarred veterans of the envelope wars on the sales staff.

I did exactly that, and we drove to our arch-competitor's plant. We parked about 50 yards away from the shipping department and waited until one of its trucks began to pull out to make the day's deliveries. The rest of the day we followed that truck. What leads we got! What a treasure-trove of information! What would you give to have your biggest competitor's customer list?

Next Idea -- Don't forget people from your past. My father taught me the importance of a good memory. What he meant by that is no one becomes successful on his or her own. There are a lot of people who help you. You never want to forget those people.

For example, I had a friend from kindergarten who went on to become a successful entrepreneur. He gave me a lot of advice and counsel when I started my envelope manufacturing company. I stayed in touch with him. One day, I picked up a newspaper and read that my friend had just become CEO of the largest retailer in the United States. Is it any wonder that it became one of my largest envelope accounts?

Next Idea -- There is a right way and a wrong way to lose a customer. Let's face it, everyone loses customers. The trick is to position yourself to get that customer back someday in case their new supplier doesn't perform.

Immediately schedule a one-on-one meeting with that customer. Never do it by telephone or email or text. Do it in person. Tell them how much you have appreciated their business in the past and that you will move mountains so that it will be a seamless transition to their new supplier. Also, tell them that you will always be ready to help out in any way whatsoever in the future.

Next Idea -- Nothing motivates people like crisp, cold, hard cash. I have found there is no better way to reward people, including sales managers, entrepreneurs, project leaders and so on.

For many decades, I used to hand out cash at our company sales meetings as a reward for attracting new accounts. The place got very hushed as I pulled out all those brand-new $100 bills. In short, the results are stupendous.

Mackay's Moral: Let street smarts help you navigate the bumps in the road.

We've all heard that laughter is the best medicine. It makes people happy and links us together. Humor and laughter strengthen our immune system and boost our energy by destroying boredom and keeping stress at bay.

Humor is equally beneficial at work, as it increases creativity, enhances communications, builds morale and minimizes workplace conflicts and tension. People who use humor are generally seen as more approachable.

Humor may also help your company stand out, even when managing and accepting failure. A few years back, JetBlue had a great opportunity to send out such a message to its employees in a way that embraced risk, admitted failure and kept a sense of humor.

According to a story in BusinessWeek titled "How Failure Breeds Success," JetBlue made a decision that seemed like it would have minimal impact on customer satisfaction. But the company was about to find out otherwise.

Eric Brinker, then JetBlue Airways Corp.'s director of brand management and customer experience, decided to change the in-flight snack mix that it served passengers. Brinker had heard that some of JetBlue's customers had been asking for healthier snacks on flights.

So Brinker and his team replaced the Doritos-based snack mix that it served in flight. But something unexpected happened. The junk-food junkies voiced their protest.

The negative reaction grew, and Brinker realized he was going to have to reverse his previous decision.

So, on the company's intranet, Brinker launched his own light-hearted campaign to save the junk-food snack. "Some pinhead in marketing decided to get rid of the Munchie Mix!" he wrote. He asked employees to write poems and stories about why the snack mix should stay. He kept it fun. He reacted intelligently in the face of failure. It's a lesson JetBlue employees aren't likely to forget.

Humor can also help end arguments. According to "Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes," Orson Welles, the well-known film director and actor, had a longstanding feud with studio executive Jack Fier on the film "The Lady From Shanghai." Welles had decided that a certain set in the movie needed repainting on a Saturday, in time for a shoot on the following Monday. When Welles approached Fier about the matter, the director was told that getting the set painted in such short order was impossible.

Welles was determined, however, and over the weekend gathered a group of his friends who volunteered their painting services. The group broke into the studio's paint department and repainted the set themselves, leaving a huge sign that read: "The only thing we have to fear is Fier himself."

Monday brought a new set of issues, when the real set painters arrived and found that the work had been done by non-union labor. They called a strike, and Fier was required to pay a large sum to each member to compensate for the work they lost. In retribution, Fier deducted the money from Welles' fee and had his own sign painted that read: "All's well that ends Welles."

The two men, who had been bitter rivals, then called a truce and in time became good friends.

April is National Humor Month. With that in mind, I think it would be a good idea to introduce a new category on formal performance reviews that says, "Can laugh at themselves." I've always found a sense of humor to be an important skill. I am impressed by employees who can diffuse a difficult situation with a well-timed, respectful jest. I cheer for people who can admit their failings with good humor. I would be a gazillionaire if I could bottle the formula for helping people take themselves less seriously.

I subscribe to the words of one of America's greatest wits, Mark Twain: "Humor is mankind's greatest blessing." May we all be abundantly blessed.

Mackay's Moral: A good sense of humor helps to overlook the unbecoming, understand the unconventional, tolerate the unpleasant, overcome the unexpected and outlast the unbearable.

A mother was ready for a few minutes of relaxation after a long and demanding day. However, her young daughter had other plans for her mother's time.

"Read me a story, Mommy," the little girl pleaded. "Give Mommy a few minutes to relax. Then I'll be happy to read you a story," the mother replied.

But the little girl was insistent that Mommy read to her now. Hoping to buy a few precious minutes, the mother tore off the back page of the magazine she was reading. It contained a full-page picture of the world. She ripped it into several pieces and told her daughter to put the picture back together, and then she would read her a story.

A short time later, the little girl announced the completion of her puzzle project. To her astonishment, the mother found the world picture completely assembled. When she asked her daughter how she managed to do it so quickly, the little girl explained that on the reverse side of the page was the picture of a little girl. "You see, Mommy, when I got the little girl together, the whole world came together."

Each of us has the responsibility to put our world together. It starts by getting ourselves put together. We can become better parents, friends, spouses and employers. The first step is adjusting our attitude.

Webster's Dictionary defines attitude as a "mental position." Successful companies and employees take the position that change is positive and challenge is good. They accept their environment and look for opportunities.

And opportunities are everywhere. It just depends on your attitude. Change can be difficult, or it can be exciting. You get to decide, so make sure your attitude puts you in the winner's circle.

Winners are positive and believe in themselves. They are committed and don't easily give up. They take charge of their own attitude, instead of letting it take charge of them. Success and happiness depend as much on your attitude as on your resources and advantages. To develop the right mindset, keep these precepts front and center:

-- Control: Ultimately, the only control you have in life is over your thoughts, actions, responses and behaviors. Don't obsess over what you can't control. Concentrate on what you can.

-- Positivity. Stop yourself when you feel negative thoughts beginning to dominate your mind. Instead, ask yourself what could be the best or worst that could happen. Then plan your response accordingly. Surround yourself with positive people, and see how quickly your own attitude changes.

-- Results: It's easy to fall into routines and patterns that emphasize the process instead of the outcome. Learn the rules, but apply them with an eye on what you want to achieve.

-- Gratitude: You'll stay positive if you remind yourself of what you already possess. Every day, spend some time thinking about your health, family, friends and advantages, instead of focusing single-mindedly on what you lack.

-- Example. Realize that you are setting an example for those around you. Attitudes are contagious, and you will be a welcome carrier of this condition!

The good news is that anyone, absolutely anyone, can improve his or her attitude. As so often happens, we can draw the greatest inspiration for attitude adjustments from those who seem to have had the greatest obstacles to overcome.

El Capitan is a granite wall in California's Yosemite National Park that shoots 3,000 feet straight into the air. Mark Wellman is the only paraplegic in the world to have climbed El Capitan. It takes good rock climbers four days. It took Wellman seven.

After Wellman reached the top, journalists asked him how he did it.

Wellman's reply was, "I never thought of it as two-thirds of a mile. I thought of it as 7,000 six-inch climbs."

Mackay's Moral: No platitudes about attitude, just think positive!