The Little Big Things
Page 37
“Put simply, ‘retirement’ to me means being dragged off a stage and slipped into a simple pine box inscribed with these words: ‘He gave a shit.’”
Stay angry!
Change the World!
Never give up!
Never give in!
Die trying!
Literally!
162. Think Legacy!
“My life is my message.”
—Gandhi
LEGACY!
It can be a beautiful word!
(Why I/you mattered.)
(What I/you left behind that lasted.)
But I urge you also to think of it as a lifelong goal. And to consider your current assignment as head of a seven-person branch in an IS/IT department. (Or whatever.) Suppose you move on in 6 or 12 or 18 (or 21) months: What … one sentence … will summarize your “term”?
Please!
Take this exercise seriously!
Consider this a variation on a debate at tompeters.com over the number of priorities a person can have at one time. Well, I’m settling it.
One!
Here’s the logic. As I write, I have a day crammed full of miscellaneous (that dreaded word!) activities ahead, ending with a flight from Boston/Logan to London/Heathrow. But the … THE … Pressing Question is: What will the (One Sentence) legacy of this day have been for me?
Yes, I believe a Single Day can have as much of a “legacy” as a lifetime. In fact, that had better be the case! Why? Because this day … stretching out before me … is filled (at the moment) with limitless opportunities … and it is … all I have!
Right?
Just another day?
Hardly!
THIS IS … it!
All those things … the grand and the mundane … that I want to do with my life will either be abetted or thwarted or put off or ignored in the course of …
This.
One.
Unfurling.
Day.
So: What will Today’s Legacy be … for You?
My (hoped for) answer …
Despite all the “stuff” I’ve got to do to prep for my trip, I will make sure that I’ve got the books, papers I need to work on some “learning project,” beyond my seminars, that will move me, exhausted or not, an eighth-step down some novel path that I think is important; also, no matter how busy, I will spend an hour outside absorbing and appreciating, without distraction, the world around me.
(That’s a damn tall order—on a lot of days, maybe even most days, I flunk or score no more than the terrifying “Gentleman’s C.” But by holding up and at least glancing at … “the legacy mirror” … daily … at least I am checking in with myself—and trying to stay aligned with my longer-term aspirations.)
Your turn …
ART-FOB YOUR SAKE!
“Make each day a masterpiece.”
—John Wooden, basketball coach extraordinaire
(This sounds so wretchedly “motivational”—the nastiest thing I can say; but, to repeat, this day is, indeed, in the end … all we have.)
163. Don’t Forget Why You’re Here!
I was talking with a young lawyer, Harvard trained, now putting in her time at a big firm. She allowed as how her life at the firm was mostly a whirl of trivial activities. On the one hand that’s very normal, and part of the time-honored apprenticeship process. But it’s also true that in the midst of all the BS, you may gradually lose sight of why you chose to follow this worthy path (as you saw it and passionately felt it) to begin with—and, alas, you may if you’re not careful never again capture the wondrous, naive (lovely word!) enthusiasm of your youth.
I’ve heard doctors and other professionals say the same thing as my new lawyer friend. At the very top of the pyramid, former secretary of state George Schultz mused, and I paraphrase, on how you come to public service with the highest of ideals, but “you get so caught up in the game, that you forget why you came in the first place, you forget those grand aspirations.”
(Alas, many CEOs epitomize this. They become so ensnared by the growth-for-growth’s-sake game and earnings-for-earnings’-sake game that they forget the fact that they are meant to be “of service” to some Olympian objective—e.g., develop their industry’s equivalent of the next iPod or iPhone, or miracle drug or synthetic fuel. GM’s bosses are a classic case. Somewhere, somehow they forgot along the way how to make great cars!
I have a little ritual I follow to help get back on track, when I feel myself slipping away from those “naive” aspirations of yesteryear. I take a moment or five and skim In Search of Excellence—and remember what I aimed to do in the first place. And how far I have sometimes strayed; it helps me get centered, or recentered. (It’s not a matter of trying to revisit the past; it’s about trying to recapture the spirit of taking on the whole-damn-world while shouting, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.”)
I suggested to my newfound lawyer acquaintance that she invent some like ritual, perhaps re-read once a month the essay answers she provided on her law school admissions form. And I suggest the same to you:
“Why did I take this assignment, or choose this profession? Am I doing everything possible in my current project to hold to the principles that got me into all this? Can I renew? Can I recapture the spirit of ‘a glorious calling’ that I had when I started?”
Or some such.
My suggestion: Do a like exercise of your own invention every 90 days. Better yet, a micro-version every evening! Or, maybe, once a week, actually try to give an honest and complete answer to your spouse’s question, “How was your day?” So how was your day? Is it what you thought it might be 10 years ago when you started this supposedly virtuous journey?
“THE WORLD IS A GREAT LIAR!”
“In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn’t. It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn’t, not really. The world admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue. At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. That’s what it really admires. That’s what we talk about in eulogies, because that’s what’s important. We don’t say, ‘The thing about Joe was he was rich.’ We say, if we can, ‘The thing about Joe was he took care of people.’”—Peggy Noonan, “A Life’s Lesson,” on the astounding response to the passing of Tim Russert, the Wall Street Journal, June 21–22, 2008
I wish you a long life, but if tragedy were to have struck you yesterday, what do you think “they” might say at your memorial service? This maudlin question is not to be dwelt on “24/7,” but it is worth considering on an irregularly regular basis.
Amen.
And good luck.
Dedication
One (me) would hardly denigrate the importance of Peter Drucker’s work in developing modern management practice. For better, and sometimes for worse, Drucker and Frederick Taylor gave us the superstructure, more or less in full, for thinking about managing enterprise as we know it today. But I was, as I sat down to write this dedication, reminded of a finger-puppet/finger-wiggling exercise we performed as children: “This is the church, this is the steeple; open the doors and see all the people.” If Drucker and Taylor gave us the church, Warren Bennis and his mentor and colleague Doug McGregor gave us the people. They added the blood and sweat and tears, that “all-important last 99 percent,” as I call it, to the grand production called human organization.
Warren is a humanist.
Warren is a polymath.
Warren is a scholar in the grand and classic sense of the term.
Warren is a principal combatant in the history of ideas that shape humanity.
Warren is a teacher without peer.
Warren is a mentor without peer.
Warren is a friend without peer.
I believe without hesitation that an encompassing history of ideas about the nature of humanity an
d our ceaseless efforts to organize and to govern ourselves would note Warren’s singular contributions. But Warren’s matchless efforts in the arena in which I, too, have chosen to skirmish is not the primary reason I have dedicated this book to him. I have dedicated this book to Warren Bennis primarily for selfish reasons; namely, because he has been a wonderful friend in the truest and deepest sense of the word. He has “been there” intellectually and emotionally, nonstop, for the last 30 years of my life.
It was my quirky good fortune to write (cowrite) a popular management book at a rather important juncture in U.S. business history. To say that I was not prepared for what followed would be gross understatement. After a few jolly moments of deafening huzzahs came decades of sniping and out-and-out attacks. To be sure, I have purposefully put (and kept) myself in harm’s way; I have been no shrinking violet. Nonetheless, one could not be prepared for the strength of the onslaught or the vats of blood that spatter the field of intellectual battle.
Enter Warren.
He was highly regarded by one and almost all, and, for reasons still unclear, he interceded with the world at large on my behalf and became my intellectual and emotional rock-guardian-soulmate. His repeatedly expressed declaration that I was following a useful track, and that come hell and high water I should persist, gave me the gumption to stay the course. I’m honestly not sure I would have survived without him. It’s really that simple.
In effect, Warren offered me the steady and warm assurance, from his Olympian loft, which I needed to keep going. And which I needed to hold my ground. And for better or for worse, I did and do just that.
I stand in awe of Warren’s contributions to our world at large.
And I am truly humbled by his friendship and support.
Thank you, my dear friend.
Index
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A
A.A. (Action Addicts), 214
Abrashoff, Mike, 153
Abt Electronics, 444
accountability, 47, 61, 184, 476
accountancy, 248, 373, 399
action, 207–17
Captain “Day” and Captain “Night,” 212–14
drilling wells, 215–17
patient-centric care, 209–12
“trying my damnedest!”, 207–9
Action Addicts (A.A.), 214
“action attitude,” 214
action words, 216–17
Active Listening (Hoppe), 331
Adams, John Quincy, 343
Adams, Marilee, 331
Adams, Scott, 51, 193
adhocracy, 309–11
ADRE (Act of Deliberate Relationship Enhancement), 100–101
ADWT (Amazing Demographic & Wealth Tsunami), 39
aesthetics. See design
agenda-setting, 128
Age of the Hare, 453–54
aggressiveness vs. “energy,” 116
aging population market opportunities, 23, 37–39, 479–80
Ailes, Roger, 116–17
aimless wandering, 257
Alinsky, Saul, 238
Allen, Woody, 136
Allende, Isabel, 342
“all-senses,” 259
Altman, Robert, 143–44
Amazon.com, 311
Ambrose, Stephen, 217
American Airlines, 490
amusing yourself, 66–68
Anderson, Dick, 212–13
Andretti, Mario, 342
angry customers, 203–4. See also apologies
animation, 117
Anixter, Julie, 52
Annis, Barbara, 296–97
Anthony, Susan B., 301–2
apologies (apologizing), 125, 157–60, 165, 184, 467
appearance vs. “substance,” xix–xx, 1–2
Apple Computer, 56, 314, 377, 456
appreciation. See “thank you”
Arden, Paul, 340
Are You Really Listening? (Donoghue and Siegel), 331
Armstrong, Neal, 446
Art of Asking, The (Fadem), 331
asking questions, 345–47
Asking the Right Questions (Browne and Keeley), 331
attire for work, 243
attitude, 7, 103–11, 287
cheerfulness, 107–8
“Eye-sparkle Factor,” 103–4
Flagman, 109–11
pleasant, caring, and engaged, 105–7
authoritarianism, 29, 229
Aviator (movie), 320
Avrakotos, Gust, 236–37, 241, 242–43
Axelrod, Susan, 392
B
“band of brothers-sisters,” 242–43
Barack, Inc. (Faulk and Libert), 153
Barbosa, Gerson, 351
Bartz, Carol, 143
Basement Systems, Inc., 35
bathrooms, cleanliness of, xxi, 1–2
Batten, Frank, 312
BDs (Bullshit Detectors), 403
Beckett, Samuel, 54
behaviorism, 65, 149–53, 337, 464
“being there,” 83–85
Bennis, Warren, 67, 272, 351–52
Ben-Shahar, Tal, 468
Berlin Wall, 446
Bernanke, Ben, 29
Berserk Standard, 311–12
Best Buy, 285–86, 415
best practices, 401
“bias for action,” 214, 216, 480
big change, 224–30
all at once, 224–28
in short time, 228–30
Big Plan, 264–69
Birchard, Bill, 197
BlackBerry, 365
Black Swan, The (Taleb), 45
Black Swans, 45–49
blame game, 61, 467
Blohm, Olle, 94, 146–47
Bloomberg, Michael, 54, 319
“blue oceans,” 20, 187, 422
BMW, 449
board directors, women as, 297
Boeing 747, 320
BOF (Balance of Favors), 184, 238
Bogle, John, 27–28
Bommelje, Richard, 331
Boomer/50-Plus Market Potential, 23, 37–39, 479–80
boring is beautiful, 34–36
Boyatzis, Richard, 247–48
Brafman, Ori, 4–5
Brafman, Rom, 4–5
brand (branding), 72, 391–93
brand loyalties, 38
Brand You, 18, 50–52, 63–66
Branson, Richard, 149, 190–91, 334–35
Bratton, William J., 6
Bread Loaf Construction, 391–92
breaking the rules, 325, 476
customer service and, 389–91
breaks, 364–65
breathing (breathing rituals), 49, 364
“broken windows,” 6
Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland, 444
Brookhiser, Richard, 80–82
Brooks, David, 397
Brown, John Seely, 73
Browne, Neil, 331
Buckingham, Marcus, 143, 273, 341
budgeting. See finances
Buffett, Warren, 232, 345
Built to Win (Movius and Susskind), 95
bullying, 269
Burley-Allen, Madelyn, 331
Burn, Harry, 300, 301, 304
Buse, H. W., Jr., 207
business hierarchy, 19
BusinessWeek, 216, 390, 414
C
calendar buddy, 481–82
calling customers, 133–35, 201–2, 470
calmness, 46
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), 296–97
candy jar message, 385–87
Captain “Day” and Captain “Night,” 212–14
Career Warfare (D’Alessandro), 113
caring, xix–xx, xxi, 1–2, 64, 105–7, 394–95
Carlzon, Jan, 251–52
Carnegie, Dale, 83, 96
Carrigan, Pat, 262–63
Carver,
Raymond, 161
“cathedral,” creating a, 431–33
Catmull, Ed, 56
Catt, Carrie Chapman, 303
centers of excellence, 315–16
centralization vs. decentralization, 400–403
Century of Struggle (Flexner and Fitzpatrick), 301
CFIO (Chief First Impressions Officer), 118
CGRO (Chief Grunge Removal Officer), 403, 406
chain of command, 46, 242
Chandon, William, 331
change, 219–34. See also big change
demos, 222–24
implementation of, 230–34
Zen and the art of achieving, 219–21
Change Your Questions, Change Your Life (Adams), 331
Chapman, Leonard, 207–8
Charles, Ray, 436–37
Charlie Wilson’s War (Crile), 236–44
Charmel, Patrick, 77–78
checklisting, 210
cheerfulness, 107–8
Chez Panisse, 308
Chief Design Guru (Officer), 375, 474
Chief First Impressions Officer (CFIO), 118
Chief Grunge Removal Officer (CGRO), 403, 406
Chief Hurdle Removal Officer (CHRO), 241–42, 424
China, 31, 281, 283, 446
Choosing Civility (Forni), 79
Chopra, Deepak, 385
Christopher’s Ghosts (McCarry), 333
CHRO (Chief Hurdle Removal Officer), 241–42, 424
Churchill, Winston, 54, 73, 208, 212, 343, 501
Cialdini, Robert, 94
Circuit City, 285–86
Cisco Systems, 310–11
Citigroup, 26
civility, 79–83. See also kindness; thoughtfulness
Civil Rights Movement, 446
cleanliness, xxi, 1–2, 391–95
Clinton, Bill, 471
coaches, 135
co-inventing with outsiders, 324, 472
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 342
collaboration, cross-functional, 177–79, 231, 324, 423, 454, 473
Collins, Jim, 229
Commerce Bank, 405
commitment to job, 109–11
common sense, 230, 408–9
Common Sense Ombudsman, 409
communication. See instant communication; overcommunication
competitors “enemy” ruling your life, 416–18
loving your, 418–20