JACK MIXNER STRATEGY

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 49 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Who knows the customer best in your company? The sales team? Marketing? Engineering?

GE just re-instituted, after long disuse, the position of Chief Marketing Officer (Birchall, C4). Walmart just hired a marketing person to fill the newly created position of head of strategy for its stores.

Focusing on the product won't work anymore. Witness Sony's battles with the iPod. Now teams are focusing on customer needs. Crest didn't look to improve its toothpaste. It created a whole new product, whitening strips.

First steps for you? "Establish systems that let them look at themselves from the perspective of the customer" (Birchall, C4). A good example might be Tesco's launch of new stores in California. Rather than compete with Walmart's huge stores, Tesco is launching a series of drug store sized stores for customers to "top up" their refrigerator in mid-week as opposed to waiting for the weekend for the big visit to Walmart.

Interesting look at a new book.

Reference

Birchall, Jonathan. Business Bookshelf. Los Angeles Times. 29 April 2007. C4.

Joachimsthaler, Erich. Hidden in Plain Sight: How to Find and Execute Your Company's Next Big Growth Strategy. Harvard Business School Press. 2007.

Posted by jackmixner at 01:05 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

In high school, our football team normally beat South River, until Joe Theismann came along. Since then, it has always been a pleasure to think back to the old days and remember Theismann's career in the NFL. As we all know, that career was cut short by a bone-breaking tackle from his blind-side by the New York Giant's Lawrence Taylor.

That tackle later proved to be a defining moment in pro football history. Before, linemen, including left tackles, were basically commodities. After, far after as it turned out, left tackles became the second highest paid professionals on the field, with only the quarterback normally exceeding their compensation.

Why? That's simple. The left tackle protected the quarterback's blind side from fierce rushes by defensemen like Taylor (Lewis, 19).

The point? Protecting your obvious leaders, like quarterbacks, makes sense. In business terms, there aren't any singleton stars. Everyone has to work together. Yep, there are star sales people. Without star support from all over the company, they are meaningless.

Take the time to build a team.

[Inside information: Joe didn't change the pronounciation of his name to rhyme with Heisman until later.]

Reference

Lewis, Michael. The Blind Side Evolution of a Game. W. W. Norton & Company. 2006

Posted by jackmixner at 09:38 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 49 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Andrew Card, White House Chief of Staff, kept a notebook on possible successors for White House insiders in a possible second term in a Bush White House.

He had fifty-four replacements for himself ranked according to three personality descriptions (Woodward, 355):

The Micromanager - "tight control, someone who would pronounce that no person, no piece of paper could go to the president" without his knowing. 

The Prime Minister - "A Hill operator, deal-cutter, negotiator and policy person who could handle the Congress, the media and the world."

The Facilitator - "doing what the president wanted, keeping the cabinet and staff focused on the president's agenda."

Card saw himself as a facilitator. Looks to me like a CEO would want a blend of all three for her or his manager.

Reference

Woodward, Bob. State of Denial. Bush at War, Part III. Simon & Schuster. 2006.

Posted by jackmixner at 06:23 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com\

Stupid School for new admirals. That's what they called it. It was a school for admirals to learn to manage like modern managers. In the old days, upon ascending to the top, new admirals learned etiquette. In 2000, realizing weaknesses in the group of senior admirals, the Navy instituted a two week training program. It focused on three things (Woodward, 61):

1. What are our top priorities?
2. Who are our best executives - the admirals - and how do we develop them?
3. How do we evaluate our product and our results? 

The biggest problem with the training? They never got beyond discussing priorities and executives. They never had enough time to discuss the product or results.

A good way to evaluate product and results? Some sort of score card might have been in order. Installing a scorecard takes time. How to jump-start the process? Two steps:

1. Create economies of scale through out the organization by sharing or centralizing processes.
2. Centralize knowledge as a resource and then share it entity wide.

We're talking about the Pentagon. Is it possible to share and centralize without stifling the process? That's a good question.

References

Kaplan, Robert S. and David P. Norton. Alignment. Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies. Harvard Business School Press. 2006.

Woodward, Bob. State of Denial. Bush at War, Part III. Simon & Schuster. 2006.

Posted by jackmixner at 02:24 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Manufacturing jobs in Orange County peaked at 231 thousand in 1990, with a smaller peak of 217 thousand in 2000. Right now, we're at approximately 183 thousand (Tolkoff, 4).

Strengths in aerospace and defense have evolved to those in medical devices and, if things go very right, in biosciences.

Orange County is lucky. Cluster diversity in Orange County leads the nation. When aerospace and defense tanked in the early 90s, computer software, pharmaceuticals and communications equipment grew.

Planning for the future necessitates a continual look at what we have and making them stronger. It also requires that we consider what we might have in the future and how to help clusters that aren't very strong yet continue to grow.

Manufacturing will likely continue to migrate to cheaper locations. R&D will stay if we continue to improve our universities and trade organizations, says Jack Kyser, chief economist for the LA Economic Development Corporation (Tolkoff, 4).

Within the county, manufacturing is largely centered in the north. The biggest losses in jobs have been concentrated there (23,143 jobs lost in north Orange County versus 5,815 lost in south County) (Tolkoff, 4). Replacing those lost jobs requires engagement of the north Orange County community in creating jobs, especially high tech, high multiplier jobs.

References

Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. Mid-Year Updat: 2--6-2007 Economic Forecast & Industry Outlook for California & Southern California including the National & International Setting.  http://www.laedc.org/reports/Forecast-2006-07.pdf 

Orange County 2007 Community Indicators. www.oc.ca.gov/ceocommunity.asp.

Tolkoff, Sarah. Manufacturing Jobs Steady, But Booms Likely Thing of Past. Orange County Business Journal. 16 April 2007. 4.

Posted by jackmixner at 10:37 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Interesting method for applying operational and strategic planning scorecard methods company wide.

Key points (Kaplan, 169):

• Begin where it makes sense
• Cascade down from the corporate level
• Start in the middle at the business unit level to build a corporate scorecard and map
• Begin enterprise wide at the start OR begin in one or two business units before expanding to the other units.
• Customize the process according to company needs.
• Franchise operations are of necessity top down
• Holding companies are bottom up
• Your company may be a custom case where a business unit proves the method for ultimate flow to the entire organization.

Reference

Kaplan, Robert S. and David P. Norton. Alignment. Using the Bananced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies. Harvard Business School Press. 2006.

Posted by jackmixner at 03:02 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

When I first started teaching strategy almost twenty years ago, HR wasn't at the strategy "table" yet. The layoffs in the early nineties and again in the late nineties took care of that. Now, since HR is at the table, they are forced to make things happen and measure results. How do you do that (Sartain, 149-153)?

• Use every occasion to find a way to quantify HR's value.
• Measure versus HR's contribution to the overall company strategic plan.
• Make a case - in writing - for each of HR's business objectives.
• Don't forget customer feedback. I know, now you have to answer the classic question "Who is my customer?"
• Measure results. Metric drive culture? Use fine metrics. Otherwise, back off a little bit.
• Excite your team, and the management team, with your language. "Fill the pipe line with highly qualified talent" versus "I need budget for advertising in the newspaper."
• Brand your department. First step? Get involved in the company-wide branding project. Make sure your voice is heard.

HR is at the strategy table. Now make your voice heard. Don't wait for the next lay-off or hiring spree.

Reference

Sartain, Libby with Martha I. Finney. HR from the Heart. Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Business. AMACOM. 2003.

Posted by jackmixner at 02:19 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

For the sake of argument, let's assume that it is management's role to create strategies and carry them out. Sensibly, management will seek input from the Board as much as the Board will allow.

Where does that leave the Board?

The Board has another task besides giving lots of input to management. The Board assesses the amount of risk the organization is taking and suggests changes.

Their input might be couched four different ways:

1. Certain strategies are probably certain of producing certain, low, results. Sometimes the Board's role is to push management further into uncertainty (Raynor, 128).
2. The Board can accept the risk profile of management.
3. The Board might suggest - maybe, demand - that management take less risk in terms of a proposed endeavor.
4. Sometimes, the Board will say "Keep the strategy, just mitigate the risk."

How to take advantage of the Board's assessment of the company's risk?

My read is that CEOs and Boards generally operate very congenially together. The CEO takes pains to make sure everyone is on the same page and that there is agreement around the table. Or not.

Maybe a better role is for the CEO and her or his team to poll the Board on their assessment of current strategy compared to the Board's feel on how market place is reacting and likely to react in the future. When I hear "We're all on the same page," I'm happy, of course. No disagreement is good, yes? Maybe.

A CEO's team of necessity commits to a specific strategy. They feel it will be the most successful. All their extra capital is spent on the one strategy. That's pretty risky, isn't it?

A better way might be for the management team to ask the Board for direction on alternatives to the present strategy. The dialog could be quite spirited, as the Board will have input representing their - different - experiences in other markets they are active in. Some of those experiences may foster new ideas and strategies for the company. They become hedges to lessen the risks associated with driving toward a single strategy, a strategy that ultimately may be slightly, or drastically, off course. The hedges suggested by the Board for alternative strategies, even though the investments in them are relatively modest, lessen the "all in one basket" syndrome of a single, forcibly executed and expensive strategy. As the company matures and starts to diversity, the hedge strategies form the basis of new growth.

Reference

Raynor, Michael E. The Strategy Paradox: Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (And What to Do About It). Currency/Doubleday. 2007.

Posted by jackmixner at 01:18 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.    714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy

I attended a one-day conference (CalEDGE) in Sacramento two weeks ago on helping businesses take advantage of the new bond funds for infrastructure construction approved by the electorate in California in 2006. Added together, it looks like there are $50 billion in funds available for construction over the next years.

Sounds great, especially if you own a construction company. One big problem: there aren't enough construction workers to construct all the infrastructure envisioned. It seems, in our focus on training technical workers, we forgot to train construction workers in the now very limited vocational programs we used to be so proud of.

Which brings us to the other problem. Since there aren't enough workers, the construction companies are ending up solo bidders on major work. LAUSD reported at the conference that one of their recent contracts was four times more expensive on a square foot basis than the preceding contract.

Will we be able to train enough construction workers in time? By the time they are ready to make a living at construction, will there be any funds left for construction, or will it have been frittered away on cost padding? Time will tell.

Reference

CalEDGE. http://www.californiaedgecampaign.org/

Posted by jackmixner at 01:24 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

I have a series of Craftsman tool sets in the garage, remnants of the old days when I had to maintain my Triumph Spitfire on a weekly basis. I used to have a Diehard battery in the Spitfire, mainly because it was one of the first to come with a long-term warranty. Finally, the washer/dryer sitting there in the garage came from Kenmore. All were trusted Sears brands.

As we all know, K-Mart and Sears have merged as a result of bankruptcies into a new firm, Sears Holdings Corp.

Most interesting new fact about Sears? They've taken all those old classic brands and sold them off to the insurance branch of the company (Berner, 60). If the retail side goes bankrupt again, the brands will stay with Sears. The valuation on the deal? A cool $1.8 billion. They are held in security form, that could be sold for capital to do something else. The current buzz is that Sears will use the value in the securities to buy Gap Inc.

We all know that protecting intellectual property makes sense, especially for tech firms. This points to the possibility that there may be other important reasons to protect IP, especially when it can increase your company's valuation.

Reference

Berner, Robert. The New Alchemy At Sears. BusinessWeek. 16 April 2007. 58. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_16/b4030071.htm?chan=search

Posted by jackmixner at 04:15 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Got a new technology that the market really doesn't understand yet? Maybe the best way to introduce it is to create a white paper telling all (Ferrazzi, 237).

A weekend effort probably won't be good enough. If you have some capital, engaging a marketing firm probably makes sense.

What to include?

• Case studies,
• Client testimonials
• Introduce new methodologies by telling, step-by-step how things work
• Work hard to come up with a new name for your new niche.

My father used to write lots of scientific papers during his research career. We used to sit around the dinner table dreaming up new words for the articles. Then we'd track how long it took the scientific press to begin using the words. We thought is was interesting, anyway, and it did work.

Who to show your work to? By now, you have a list of analysts who follow your industry. If you've been doing your homework, they probably know already what you are thinking about. Now use the white paper to fill in the blanks.

Your goal? Get your white paper into the best trade mag in your space. Wouldn't it be nice if it actually ended up in the Wall Street Journal?

References

Ferrazzi, Keith with Tahl Raz. Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time. Doubleday. 2005.

Posted by jackmixner at 02:13 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.    714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

An old professional friend of mine, Bill Furlow, wrote a - the, perhaps - book on what to do when something goes wrong at your company. He had a step-by-step methodology to follow to head off huge problems.

Times have evolved. Now the bigger threat is the web, namely, responding when someone attacks your company in some electronic manner.

Conlin lays out a useful five-step Playbook (Conlin, page 56).

1. Engage Critics - have a blog up and running, with the comments turned on.
2. Be Vigilant - have a team looking for dirt on the web.
3. Jump In and Open Up - Transparency replaces the once-standard "No Comment."
4. Don't Overreact - have a thicker skin and ignor some of what gets said.
5. Stay Professional - respond for strategic reasons, not personal ones.

Others are working to establish rules of etiquitte for the web. Tim O'Reilly, coiner of the words "Web 2.0" and Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia are in the midst of creating a set of rules for their blogs. The chief recommendation? Ban anonymous comments (Stone). One of the rules, still open to debate on the web, is that whoever owns the website is responsible for what get posted on it. Web veterans claim that editing or deleting comments isn't correct.

Sometimes you have to go off-message. Sometimes you have to open up more than you feel comfortable with. Sometimes folks respond in ways you hadn't expected.

Welcome to the new economy. 

Reference

Conlin, Michelle. Web Attack. BusinessWeek. 16 April 2007. 54. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_16/b4030068.htm?chan=search

Furlow, Bill. http://www.furlowcommunications.com/index.htm

Stone, Brad. A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs. The New York Times. 9 April 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/technology/09blog.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Posted by jackmixner at 01:59 PM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Connecting with people is tricky.

Dale Carnegie wrote some of the most successful books on the process. One simple idea? Show up with a smile (Carnegie, 102).

Michael Milken doesn't use a technique. He is genuinely interested in people - and they know it. Want to connect the way he does? He helps people three ways:

• Help them become healthy.
• Help them become wealthy.
• Take a sincere interest in their children (Ferrazzi, 165).

Put the other person first. Listen. Then do something. And follow-up if necessary.

Not bad advice.

Let's test things a bit by having a look at Milken's web-site to see if he supports things in the three areas. The mission statement begins with the words: The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank whose mission is to improve the lives and economic conditions of people in the US and around the world. The Institute is holding a Conference (the 10th annual) on shaping the future. There are news articles posted on global warming, Chinese IPOs, and investing in small and medium sized businesses. Looks like he walks his talk.

Might be worth emulating.

Reference

Carnegie, Dale. Revised edition by Donna Dale Carnegie and Dorothy Carnegie. How to Win Friends & Influence People.  Simon & Schuster. 1981. 

Ferrazzi, Keith with Tahl Raz. Never Eat Alone and Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time. Doubleday. 2005.

www.milkeninstitute.org

Posted by jackmixner at 06:21 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Interim Assessment of the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities (EZ/EC) Program. Content updated on 31 March 2005.  http://www.huduser.org/publications/econdev/ezec_execsum.html

...Findings that are consistent with little or no positive impact of the EZ/EC Initiative, or of the significant challenges faced by EZ/EC grantees, include the following:

...In the survey of zone businesses conducted in 2000, 65 percent of all EZ businesses reported no benefits from being in the EZ.

...Other Important Findings

...Zone programs have relied heavily on engagement with nonprofit and private partners. Creating and maintaining these partnerships has required significant time and effort. Building internal capacity within community organizations to undertake such long-term partnerships has been an area requiring special attention, but not many sites invested heavily in such efforts.

Section II-Enterprise Zones: Key Issues. Content updated 31 March 2005. http://www.huduser.org/publications/polleg/ez_bib/ez_bib2.html

Urban Enterprise Zones: Inner City Panacea or Supply-Side Showpiece?, ACCN-4565

Charles M. Haar et al.
1983, 41pp., CPD 755-R
Available from HUD USER, P.O. Box 23268, Washington, D.C. 20026-3268
Phone: 1-800-245-2691

...Federal funding should be made available for infrastructure improvement, a source of venture capital should be provided through tax policy, technical assistance should be provided to zone businesses, and zones that work with established neighborhood groups should be favored.

Impact of Enterprise Zone Tax Incentives on Selected Small Businesses, ACCN-4577

Coopers & Lybrand Economic Studies Group
1982, 58pp
Available from HUD USER, P.O. Box 23268, Washington, D.C. 20026-3268
Phone: 1-800-245-2691

Coopers & Lybrand Economic Studies Group1982, 58ppAvailable from HUD USER, P.O. Box 23268, Washington, D.C. 20026-3268Phone: 1-800-245-2691

...The tests indicated that the incentives have only a marginal impact on cash flow during a new firm's first years; thus the incentives would be of most value to established firms considering expansion.

State Enterprise Zone Programs: Variations in Structure and Coverage, ACCN-4589

Roy E. Green and Michael Brintnall 1986,37pp. Unpublished paper Available from HUD USER, P.O. Box 23268, Washington, D.C. 20026-3268
Phone: 1-800-245-2691

...The cumulative impact of enterprise zones can be judged on (1) the extent to which they emphasize a freer marketplace to meet public need rather than greater government intervention; (2) the extent to which they emphasize entrepreneurial opportunities rather than a government focus on preconceived needs along which entrepreneurs would be directed; (3) the extent to which they create incubator environments for small, new ventures rather than relocating existing ones; and (4) the extent to which the zones focus on business creation and growth rather than a more diversified social agenda.

 

Posted by jackmixner at 07:48 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Many of you have noticed my interest in applying sports strategy to business. Just run Bill Belichick's name on the search engine attached to this site, and you'll find many references.

Interestingly, Bill Belichick is a friend of Billy Donovan, the Coach of the Florida Gators basketball team, winners last evening of the national championship. And Belichick was in attendance at the game in Atlanta (Thamel).

Belichick has focused on building an unselfish team that plays as a team, not as individuals. Florida, last night, proved they follow the same philosophy. No one really dominated for the Gators. When they needed to score, someone stepped up. It wasn't always the same person. It wasn't always the same play.

Belichick has been lucky in that some of his greatest players, given the option of declaring free agency, have chosen to stay with the team.

It will be interesting to see how many of the Florida players return next year to see if they may be able to extend the Florida streak to three seasons in a row, given the large possibility that many of them will be drafted by the NBA.

References

Thamel, Pete. Gators Repeat as National Champions. New York Times. 3 April 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/sports/ncaabasketball/03men.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Posted by jackmixner at 11:35 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

We used to say something like, "Any press is good press," no matter what the message, good or bad. We assumed that people would remember your company name and forget the message, no matter what it was.

Nothing has really changed, except for one thing. They never forget the message, what with Google and all the other search engines.

Reputations, however, seem to be more resilient than we thought. There is a paradox in a reputation economy, namely, that it pays to be more open, not less (Thompson, 139). They're going to find out anyway. The story might as well come from you.

Microsoft was mad about an internal, unauthorized blogger who was telling too much, until they realized that it was easier to fix the problems than silence the blogger. CEOs are finding that telling all in their blog is a better way to communicate with the company team than trying to keep things between a few, in-the-know people. People will have opinions. Some will complain. Cooler heads, however, will prevail after everyone chimes in with the good and the bad about a new proposition (Thompson, 139).

Count on it.

The result? Customers might end up knowing more than you had expected, but so what. When you're all trying to make a better product or service, everybody can help, including customers.

And competitors? They won't have time to mess with you, because they'll have their own problems addressing their own opportunities - and weaknesses.

Battling over the same territory? Maybe openness will present new alternatives you hadn't considered before.

The changes have already occurred. All you have to do is take advantage of them.

Reference

Thompson, Clive. The See-Through CEO. Fire the publicist. Go off message. Let all your employees blab and blog. In the new world of radical transparency, the path to business success is clear. Wired. April 2007. 135.

Posted by jackmixner at 09:51 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

You pull into a new town, five hundred miles from home. At the first stop light, your clutch gives out. It's Thursday, and you need to be home by Friday night. Now what?

That happened to me last week. Interesting problem. It was just after noon so I needed to get going on a solution.

First step - Yellow Pages. Now-a-days no one advertises in the Yellow Pages, especially for dealer repair shops (I was out of town, remember, so I needed to hook up with someone I basically trusted - you get the picture).

On to the web, where I found the one dealer in town who sells my make.

Called them up.

Hesitancy. Oh, no. They're booked, I mean really booked, full up. Now what?

I guess you could say that the Service Manager at Jim Click Automotive in Tucson realized I needed help - now. He allowed his Assistant Service Manager, Sean Goodwin, to book me into the Click Ford dealership across the street, something that apparently doesn't happen that often. Luckily, they had the part I needed in stock. They started on my car at about 3:30 on Thursday and were done by 9:30 the next morning. I was back home by Friday night.

So I am happy. I got what I wanted. And I'll tell people about it.

Not a bad solution for me - or Jim Click Automotive, and Sean Goodwin, either.

Pass it on.

[There's more to this story. I needed a rental car for the evening.

Sean offered to call Enterprise for me, and they came to pick me up. I get in the SUV with the Enterprise guy, Andrew Meza, their assistant manager, for the trip to Enterprise to sign up for my rental. I'm feeling OK, as my problems are pretty much solved.

It gets better. Andrew drives me about fifty yards, parks the SUV and takes me into their offices.

He came to pick me up, after all, like they say in their ads.

I was laughing out loud. I think the folks at Enterprise didn't quite understand the whole story why I was laughing. It was like "Who is this guy laughing in our store?"

But you understand, don't you?]

Posted by jackmixner at 09:29 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

Maybe ten years ago, I got to know Gary Wertz. Gary ended up running marketing for a local company, FlexFoot, acquired in 2000 by the Icelandic firm Ossur. Because of Gary, I have watched FlexFoot continue to grow.

Wired just published a long article on Oscar Pistorius, a runner poised to make the South African Olympic team, all the while running on Ossur/FlexFoot prosthetic legs. He is crossing over from stardom on the South African Paralympic team to their Olympic team.

Interesting quote about the ethics of all this: "If you think having carbon-fiber legs will make you faster sprinter, have the operation and we'll see you at the track."

Reference

McHugh, Josh. Blade Runner. Wired. March 2007. 136.

Posted by jackmixner at 09:00 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.    714 449 1040.    www.mixnerstrategy.com

Welch's HR methods like firing or re-assigning the bottom ten per cent of your workforce each year had to be backed up by a system. It appears that GE's Bill Conaty provided the system (Brady, 66).

Key points on applying Conaty at your company:

• Dare to differentiate (Brady, 66) your team by annual grading.
• Constantly raise the bar by increasing expectations and training.
• Don't be friends with the boss. HR managers fail when the team perceives that the HR Manager tells the CEO only what he or she wants to hear.
• Become easy to replace. Have a succession plan.
• Be inclusive. Include the whole team - including the ones you don't know.
• Free up others to do their jobs. A good HR manager decreases the amount of decision-making needed by the CEO.
• Keep it simple. Stay on message, even in down times.

Immelt seems to be softening the edges of the Welch management process fine-tuned by Conaty. It'll be interesting to watch how much.

Reference

Brady, Diane. Secrets of an HR Superstar. BusinessWeek. 9 April 2007. 66.

Posted by jackmixner at 08:05 AM | Permalink

Copyright Jack Mixner.     714 449 1040.     www.mixnerstrategy.com

I've always wondered how well the bracketing process that winnows down all the teams in the annual NCAA basketball national championship tourney really works. Apparently, it works just fine (Laderman, 126).

What does that mean for CEOs?

Trust your ability to make yes/no decisions. If necessary, make a tree of decisions - just like the NCAA - to hone your decision 'til it shines with correctness.

The NCAA uses thirty-two brackets to determine the championship. You may use thirty-two as well in your decision making, or sixteen or even eight. It's the binary process - the yes/no process - that counts, not the number of brackets (Laderman, 128.).

In new books, Reiter and Winter apply "bracketology" to everything (Reiter) and investing (Winter). They might help you make better decisions, as well.

Reference

Laderman, Jeffrey. M. The Wisdom of Brackets. BusinessWeek. 26 March 2007. 128.

Reiter, Mark and Richard Sandomir, editors. The Enlightened Bracketologist: The Final Four of Everything. Bloomsbury USA. 2007.

Winter, Clark. The Either/Or Investor. Random House. 2007.

Posted by jackmixner at 07:43 AM | Permalink