Creative Destruction

It's one thing to read about business concepts in B-school, business books and articles; however, living in the phenomenon firsthand is another thing entirely.

Take, "creative destruction", a concept first coined by management consultants and economists about fifteen years ago, during the advent of the internet. Right now, there is so much creative destruction occurring across most all sectors of the U.S. economy that it's mind-blowing.

City, state and federal delivery of services will likely never be the same again. These areas, plus education and other not for profit, taxpayer funded sectors, will need to drive down their fixed-cost structures as well as become more productive with both labor and technology.

Add in the "globalization" demand and supply dynamics, underway for years now, and you have a giant toss-up for how creative destruction will change industries, players, channels, and more.

MBWA (from In Search of Excellence)

I've been thinking...There is a lot of upside to all the 24/7 communications devices (e.g. Blackberry, iPhone, etc.), like increased accessibility and productivity. But sometimes I think: At what cost? We've become addicted...so dependent on this form and type of communication.

Last week I was having coffee with the CEO of a major orthopedic and neurological clinic. I asked him how he spends his day, now that the clinical operations and headcount have grown so large ($35 million plus) over the past ten years. He said he does a lot of wandering around, talking to people, talking to staff and providers. How refreshing!!! What a novel idea!!!

Remember Tom Peters' groundbreaking book In Search of Excellence? Peters talks a lot about M.B.W.A. -- Management By Wandering Around. No, I am not talking about the Michael Scott (aka Steve Carell) type of wandering in the hilarious sitcom, The Office, but rather genuine Q&A wandering.

Mid and senior managers, try it out. Get off your "device", get up from your desk, and circulate. Ask people: How's it going? What are you working on? What are the objectives for that project? What do you need more of? Less of? How can I help?

If you take this step, with sincerity and authenticity, and do it regularly, I think you'll be very pleasantly surprised at the upside in productivity, morale, and feeling of camaraderie you add to the organization.

Communicate Frequently and Throughout the Organization

Peter Drucker (often called the Father of Modern Management) said that up to 75% of a senior manager's time is spent on people issues.

While there will always be people management issues, given the nature of organizations and human behavior, there is a way to leverage this down and be efficient and effective in your management of staff. It's the simple concept of "communication", and becoming proactive in communicating vision, expectations, process, decisions and implementation of policy. In fact, the level of requisite communication, is likely to the point where it feels like over-communication to you, however it's not even close in your people's perception.

Rather, it's a way to stay ahead of the curve in business strategy and execution. Does everyone involved know the decision and goals, right down to front line execution? Has everyone been communicated with? Upward? Downward? Sideways in the organization?

Save yourself some time and lessen the headaches -- communicate, communicate, communicate. I think guys can be especially guilty of "assuming" managers know what you're thinking, or that that staffers can figure it out because it's "so obvious".

In most businesses, I'd take average talent that feels empowered, and where communication is strong, with a tight vision, over a bunch of superstars that don't have those characteristics and values in their organization.

Corporate Culture Drives Business Results

My first attempt at writing a blog and I will keep it concise.

I read a lot of business books and will make efforts in my blogging to synthesize and pass along the nuggets of gold that I see.

I love business and capitalism. Not the egocentric, individualistic type of organization, but a team culture that owns results. Throughout my 20-year business career, I have seen and worked in both, unfortunately more to the “all about me” side of life.

When I worked at Avia Athletic Footwear, our culture was intoxicating, which helped drive business results and performance, and recruiting and retention of the most talented managers, designers, developers, staff. We truly believed we would become the number one footwear brand in the markets where we competed, especially during the early days of the brand’s formation, patented product line and sales growth.

I think culture comes directly from the senior managers in place, and they draw heavily on their personality and set of characteristics. So, when recruiting, when starting a new organization, pay special, close attention to hiring people that “speak” the values that you want your company to personify. There’s a great line that says “For individuals, character is destiny. For
organizations, culture is destiny.”

There is also a good two-year-old book entitled “How” by Dov Seidman.

More later.

Dan