Two Dozen Basic Management Principles

Introduction

The farmer opened the door with a suspicious look on his face. He looked at the group up and down. “Okay ,” he said, “you can come in but don’t touch anything. And don’t sit on my furniture.”  He opened the door wider and then said, “It will cost you five shillings apiece.”

Lopez’ heart sank. The other boys all pulled out their money without a moment’s hesitation. Lopez reached into his pocket and felt that wonderful coin – the first coin he had possessed in months. He had such plans for it. Lopez started to tell the man, “Forget it,” and leave, but he did not want to walk the five miles back to his tent all by himself. And he really wanted to find out what made this thing called the Olympics so special that these boys would hand over their hard-earned money so quickly.

Locals filled the farmer’s living room. Every piece of furniture had someone on it. Lopez looked around the living room. The Olympics was not what he had expected. Apparently it consisted of a box with wires running out the back of it. The wires were connected to a car battery. This is the Olympics? What is so special about this?

The farmer walked over and flipped a switch on the front of the box. Black, white, and gray images flickered to life. The box was not the Olympics. It was something that was on the screen.

The boys all cheered. Lopez cheered with them. Unfortunately, soccer players did not run out onto the screen – the only sport Lopez really understood. Instead, the athletes stayed outside the big field in the middle, on a little road with white lines drawn on it. They took their places behind a white line. A man held up a gun. It fired. The guys on the screen took off running. Thousands upon thousands of people filled the stands around the track. As the men ran, the people screamed and carried on. When the winner crossed the finish line, the crowd cheered even louder.

Watching people run on television was a revelation for Lopez. Never before had he thought of running as a sport. Running was his therapy, his release, his escape from the world around him. Yet, in the Olympics, running was a sport. And judging by the number of people in the stands, it was a popular sport. He was mesmerized. He was fascinated.

The highlight of the night was a race called the 400 meter dash. The announcers talked about one runner in particular – a man named Michael Johnson. Lopez did not know it at the time, but this was Michael’s final race, the capstone to one of the most successful track careers of all time. All he knew was the camera focused primarily on one man, a man with skin the color of his own. Across his chest were three letters: USA.

The runners took their mark. The gun sounded. Michael Johnson took off. He ran with a very distinctive style: head up, back straight, everything about him screamed confidence. Lopez thought: “I can run like that. I know that I can.”

Michael Johnson flew around the track. He ran through the string at the end before anyone else. The announcers said he’d just won the gold medal. Lopez was not sure what that was. He took a flag from someone in the crowd, a flag with stars and stripes on it. He wrapped himself in that flag with pride. He held it up and ran a victory lap with it.

Then something happened that astounded Lopez. The top three runners took their places on a small platform. A man came up and placed medals around their necks. Music began to play and flags rose up from behind the men. As the music played and the flags rose, Michael Johnson did something African men never do – he wept openly and without shame!

As Lopez walked back to his tent, an idea hatched in his brain, an idea that should have struck him as being ridiculous. In his mind’s eye, he watched Michael Johnson run his race over and over again. Then and there, Lopez decided that he would be an Olympian. Moreover, he wanted to run with those same three letters across his chest: USA.

The year was 2000 but there was a problem – Lopez was a 15 year old Sudanese refugee, without parents, living in a refugee camp in Kenya.

Transition

A study of basic management principles can be a rather dreary exercise. The typical presentation sets forth a list of principles and – if you are lucky – interlaces the principles with a couple of illustrations or humorous stories. This presentation is completely different. I plan on telling a story – an inspiring story. And from that story I will shamelessly borrow twenty-four basic management principles. In effect, I intend to provide you with a fresh look at basic management principles.

[1] Lopez Lomong with Mark Tabb, Running for My Life. Thomas Nelson Press, Nashville.

Merger & Acquisition Thoughts

Mergers and/or acquisitions provide the merged companies and/or acquirer with the perfect opportunity to evaluate systems and processes of the various entities. Best practices dictate that three factors be taken into account -- timing, objectivity, and analysis. Let me comment on each of these three factors.

Timing -- It is wise to move thoughtfully rather than expeditiously. Pressure to achieve synergies can cause a rush to judgement. It can also cause a loss in productivity and raise costs (lowering profits). There is a balance that must be struck. The best timing is the one that least negatively impacts operations while achieving cost savings at a modest pace of growth.

Objectivity -- It is wise to engage a third party. This is because both the acquired and the acquirer can be wedded to their systems and processes. The correct third party is one that possesses the requisite skill to do the analysis and the independence to objectively make recommendations. A failure to use a third party often leads to a biased decision that diminishes possible synergy savings.

Analysis -- It is wise to "ask the correct question." If the wrong question is being asked, then the wrong answer will be generated. For example, asking to compare the functionality of one HR system to another HR system is the wrong question. Who cares if one HR system is as good or slightly better than another? The correct question to ask is: does one HR system support superior or more efficient HR processes than another? That question is more likely to yield a correct answer.

The Playbook

A playbook is a powerful tool. It captures best practices. It provides a guide for those new to the team and its plays. It expedites learning. It increases the likelihood of success. But much like a defense that encounters an offense that it has never seen before, the playbook can become a document worthy only of being used as kindling. 

What are the potential problems of slavishly following the "playbook"? First, it can be wrong. The foundation for great leadership is humility. Humility allows one to consider that a proven playbook may yet not be appropriate for "this" situation. Second, it can create unnecessary havoc. Successfully marching toward a cause that ultimately fails is an avoidable disaster. Third, the playbook creates "drones." Drones follow the playbook even when it is obvious that it is failing. That is why defenses facing a new offense ultimately get blown out. They keep trying the same strategies that worked in the past. Finally, the playbook destroys morale. It destroys the morale of those that attempt but fail in following it. It also destroys the morale of those that it inflicts it damage upon.

Be careful when using a playbook. Hold on to it loosely. As Bob Lewis says: "There are no such things as best practices. There are only practices that fit best."  

Generational Management (Part 2)

Having identified the various generations in the workplace, their characteristics, and the potential conflicts, how do you manage different generations?

• Send your managers to class. They need to learn to recognize generational differences and adapt. 
• Facilitate mentoring. Match different aged employees to encourage more cross-generational interaction. 
• Offer different working options. Allow telecommuting and working offsite. 
• Focus on the results. Make sure the focus is on what the employees produce rather than on how they get it done. 
• Accommodate different learning styles. Utilize a variety of training methods and venues. 
• Keep all employees engaged. Provide them with regular educational and training opportunities as well as career advice. 
• Open up the office. Do not allow the office to be a cloistered environment. 
• Toss the routines. Recognize that younger employees feel constrained with a rigid schedule. 
• Customize motivation and incentives. Be sensitive to what programs motivate each generation. 
• Give all employees a voice. Older employees have a point of view. Younger employees want to be heard. 
• Don’t confuse character issues like immaturity, laziness or intractability with generational traits. Recognize that younger generations work don’t necessarily work fewer hours, they just choose to work those hours on something other than a 9-to-5 schedule. 
• Age differences should be built into diversity training taken by all employees. It is common to emphasize race, gender, and sexual preference. Age has to be a part of the training also. 
• Think skills, not age. Experience cannot be solely defined in terms of years. Likewise, age does not prevent an employee from possessing the latest and greatest skills. 
• Emphasize commonality. It’s easy for employees to become adversarial when they focus on their differences. Continually remind your team of its common goals. 
• Respect competence and initiative. Treat everyone, from the newest recruit to the most seasoned employee, as if they have great things to offer and are motivated to do their best. 
• Draw on the strength of each generation. Reject the tendency to impose your generational approach on that of your team. 
• Adapt your management style for each generation. The point is that you can’t manage according to your value system. Rather, you need to manage according to the employee’s value system. 
• Accept what you cannot change. No matter how hard you try, you cannot change the generations. 
• Adjust how you communicate with your team. Recognize the need for diverse and ever-changing communication methods.

Generational Management

To all those who were not children in the 60’s and 70’s -- We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, and tuna from a can. Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints. 

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets -- not to mention -- the risks we took hitchhiking. As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat. 

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and NO ONE actually died from this. We ate cupcakes, white bread, butter, and drank Kool-Ade made with real sugar. Nevertheless, we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! 

We would leave home in the morning and play all day. As long as we were back when the streetlights came on, we were not in trouble. No one was able to reach us all day – and we survived! We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms....... WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents. We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. 

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and -- although we were told it would happen -- we did not put out very many eyes. We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law! Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

How many generations currently inhabit the workplace? There are actually four generations inhabiting the workplace. For purposes of this post we will focus on just three -- Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation "X" (1965-1978), and Generation "Y" (1979-1999).

Baby Boomers are noted as being loyal, competitive, willing to conform, appreciative of hierarchical structures, not interested in work/life balance, believe in "paying your dues", slow to adapt to change, interested in the process, and like formal and infrequent reviews.

Generation "X" is noted as being skeptical and independent. They crave work/life balance. They are more impatient than Baby Boomers when it comes to the pace of advancement. They are more able to deal with change. They are more interested in the results determining how they are evaluated. They prefer more frequent and informal recognitions and reviews. 

Generation "Y" are noted as being collaborative and team-oriented. They multi-task continually and have a disdain for older definitions of a good work ethic. They demand work/life balance though it is different than that of Generation "X" (who prefer a distinct break between work and personal life). Generation "Y" see little distinction between work and personal life as work is an expression of themselves. Generation "Y" is a "child-centric" cohort and are very impatient because they have been told since birth that they can do "whatever they want." They prefer continual feedback and see any structure as being anti-thetical to "all of us being equal."

In future posts, I will look at common areas of intergenerational conflict in the workplace and how we can manage these three generations in the workplace.