Wednesday, April 14, 2010

BloggeRhythms 4/14/2010

As I wrote in my profile, one of the reasons I started this blog was because some people felt that some of my thoughts were worth sharing with others. And, this morning, reading an article about how a particular issue was being handled, reminded me of a recent email I'd sent to a friend.

At that time, February 2010, my friend sent me a link to an article in a publication that discussed the business practices of some "expert" who supposedly fixes troubled businesses and also turns down-trending operations around. My friend sent the article link to me to get my reaction, because we'd discussed various aspects of business management, technique and philosophy many times in the past.

Here again, I don't think it matters what the specific circumstances are, in this case it's business operation, but rather that particular types of people perform in particular ways no matter the circumstances. So, take a look at the article by clicking on this link. (Sorry -you have to copy and paste it into your browser):

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/business/smallbusiness/11sbiz.html?

After you've read it, you can read my comments below.

The major factor about this guy is: he’s a consultant. The businesses aren’t his, the P&L’s aren’t his, the employees aren’t his, the suppliers aren’t his, the stockholders aren’t his, plant and property aren’t his and on and on. Consequently, no matter how many bridges he burns, relationships he destroys or how much morale he undoes, so long as his clients pay him –he has no downside. He just collects his checks and moves on. It’s always easier to sit on the sideline with a megaphone and scream than it is to suit up and play in the game. Beyond that, somebody else built the businesses he supposedly critiques. He shows up after the fact. I think I read somewhere that second guesses are always 20/20.

It also seems to me that since this guy watches everything everyone does all the time and trusts no one’s word, you have two people performing every task -him and whoever the supposedly responsible person is. If that’s the case, what do you need the employees for? This guys doing all the work. No wonder he never goes home. I’m surprised he doesn’t work 24/7/365. But, as a matter of pure business efficiency and maximization of time and effort, the key to success is effective delegation. Hire the best, train, motivate and incent them properly, then let them run and leave them alone…that’s what instills, builds and breeds success.

Though I could go on for a while, I’ll just make one last point and shut down. I think the main reason that this guy is surrounded by incompetence is: no competent person would work for or with him. I sure as hell know I wouldn’t listen to some old gasbag routinely bitching and moaning about my performance and looking over my shoulder. I’d be out the door in a heartbeat.

PS. There are a couple of points I’d agree with, though. Never work for or with relatives or friends, and certainly never hire one except for situations where you're absolutely positive it will work for proven reasons. Most often, you’re better off just sending them money. It also can’t hurt to let slackers know that you’re aware and that they’re on a short leash. But, if they’re really slackers, you’re better off blowing them out in the first place. It’s very difficult to motivate those who truly don’t give a damn, and basically a fool’s errand to try. That’s why the phone company sucks.

A last thought occurred to me while I was re-reading the above. This guy’s life is about showing up some place for a while, doing whatever he does and moving on. There’s no long haul for him, so win lose or draw he’s on to the next one and doesn’t really care because he has no downside. To me, that evidences a flighty character and an inability or desire to see things through. The real evidence of that though isn’t in his business life, it’s personal. He can’t commit to marriage either. So, everything in this guy’s life is hit and run and moving elsewhere. So, the real issue here is: he probably can’t stand himself and keeps on trying to escape from that.

That's it for today folks

Adios

No comments:

Post a Comment