dispatches from the new world of work

The Reeeeeeally Big Two?!

For whatever reason/s, I've been in a "boil it down" mood for quite a while (see my outbreak of new Special Presentations). Somehow, somewhere, recently I was confronted with a "What have you learned in thirty-five years?" moment—maybe it was concerning Katrina. From my lips emerged but two words (after a long pause): DECENTRALIZATION. ACCOUNTABILITY. Upon (much) further reflection ... I will pretty much stick with the two (profound) (and related) words/ideas.

There's a potent analysis of Big Co performance I regularly use in my seminars; the bottom line is that over an 80-year period only one Giant Company in the U.S. has thrived to the point of staying ahead of the stock market for eight decades. It's: GE. Not "Welch's GE" of 1980-2000, but Welch et al. et al. Forever & ever, amen. I've known the company pretty damn well for three decades, and at even its worst and most bureaucratic moments the Big Two have been the rule: Go to Cincinnati to "do" aircraft engines—and you are The Big Boss, almost as much as if you were a corporate CEO. You are pretty much on your own to Succeed ... or Fail. And the Upside & Downside consequences are Clear & Severe. PepsiCo ... same deal. And J & J. (And my old employer, McKinsey & Co.—they weren't screwing around about the "Up or Out" "idea." "Idea"? Try: Stark REALITY.) Yup, damn few other Big Cos get it—or even seriously try it. New HP Mr Big, Mark Hurd, is attempting to undo Ms Fiorina's accountability-draining centralization "strategies" and a horrid (spirit-draining!) matrix org structure—and re-introducing two HP pillars ... DECENTRALIZATION & ACCOUNTABILITY!

This ain't a "boxes on the org chart" drill! Brian Joffe runs South Africa's amazing BIDvest. They perform mundane services (e.g., building maintenance) in much of the world—and make a ton of $$$ in the process; and they are growing like blazes. I attended a BIDvest corporate fest in Bangkok last year, and I listened to the irrepressible Brian J preach the Gospel of Decentralization & Accountability, which he insists must go all the way to the "bottom" of the organization. (Hey, there were South African front-line maintenance folks at the Bangkok event!) Here was the keynote line from BJ that I scribbled in my notebook: "Decentralization' is not a piece of paper. It's not me. It's either in your heart, or not." In other words: True Decentralization is Decentralization-in-Spirit ... a Heart Matter, not a Chart Matter.

Tom Peters posted this on 10/13/05.

Comments

Decentralization and Accountability are human issues, becoming your own person and aligning your talents with your opportunities - the ultimate success. A question for human resource managers is this, "How are you screening your talent?" Are they are asking questions that unveil the true identity of the candidate? Are you trying to align it with the identity of the company? Or are they focued on what the candidate "did" or "achieved" in a prior position? I believe true marketing, and human connections, will flourish when we begin to recognize that you work on those products/services we believe in, not what we think others want...perhaps a new definition for decentralization.

Posted by Wendy at October 13, 2005 9:01 AM

Well said Wendy. How about: True/effective decentralization is (1) getting like-spirited folks (2) organized as close as possible to the action (3) around achievable projects (4) which will contribute to their growth, (5) make them proud, (6) enhance their sense of self-directedness, (7) raise their aspirations, and (8) provide experiences of remarkable value to clients (9) who will (in the for-profit world) pay a fair price for the provision of said "remarkable experiences" and then (10) tell their friends about the experiences in glowing terms!

Posted by tom peters at October 13, 2005 9:15 AM

As usual, not only does Tom Peters "get it" - he's driving it. Way ahead of the pack.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Mark Hurd and HP near and long term. It certainly appears that he gets it too. Thank goodness. He survived AT&T's takeover of NCR (even renamed GIS for a bit!). Yes - DEcentralization and accoutability. That's the ticket.

Thank you Tom.

Posted by George Franks at October 13, 2005 9:17 AM

(Trying out a new moniker to see if it's apropos)

Wendy beat me to the punch. This puts a huge focus on hiring the appropriate individuals. So many interviews ask all the wrong questions and none of the "right" ones in order to discover the proper fit of the interviewee. Screw up that first step and good luck with the rest.

I've sent many people to your Interviewing Excellence ppt presentation, but I don't know if they get the point. Probably because the don't get D&A.

Posted by DUST!N at October 13, 2005 10:51 AM

Decentralization and accountability.
And also teamwork. Not only on a person-to-person basis, but on a division-to-division level. We should be careful with the â€œsilosâ€ that lead to duplicate efforts and irrational politics in organizations.

Posted by Gabriel Salcido at October 13, 2005 11:16 AM

Being a retired small manufacturing president, it never ceases to amaze me that simple common concepts (DECENTRALIZATION & ACCOUNTABILITY) become some kind of new magic formula. Then guys like Tom can charge big numbers reiterating the obvious.

Posted by Lisa Hinson at October 13, 2005 1:02 PM

Lisa, the most wonderful kudo I ever received came from a guy (Manny Garcia) who owned 50 wildly successful Burger King franchises in South Florida. Back in '84 he attended a 2-day seminar I gave. At summing up time he said, and I still remember it as if it were yesterday, "Tom, don't take this as an insult, but as a compliment. This has been the best seminar I've ever attended! It's been a blinding flash of the obvious." I liked "blinding flash of the obvious" so much that I used it as a chapter title in my next book, "A Passion for Excellence."

"In Search of Excellence," message #1? It's the people, stupid! May "simple" "common" concepts someday become simple and common--then I can get home, stay off the road, and forgo the big checks for, indeed, propounding the obvious!

Posted by tom peters at October 13, 2005 1:39 PM

Reminds me of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) said about his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales)... "Sybil Fawlty .. specialist subject ...the bleedin obvious".... Hope you guys in America saw Fawlty Towers - classic Brit sitcom in the 70's still repeated regularly over here and still iconic!

Posted by Trevor Gay at October 13, 2005 2:13 PM

D.A.R.E. Decentralisation. Accountability. Responsibility. Excellence.

There's a bunch of issues implicit in these terms, for example: Accountability = both personal and holding others accountable, too. Responsibility = taking it, giving, ethical behaviour.

D.A.R.E.

Posted by Mark JF at October 13, 2005 2:54 PM

Trevor: Oh my! Love it! How did I miss that Cleese-ism!

Mark JF ... made my day! Theft forthcoming!! (with attribution)

Posted by tom peters at October 13, 2005 3:46 PM

Glad to see you back Tom. It's always good to question ones positions. Most often, we return stronger. Great work! Your fan,
Steve

Posted by Steve Robert at October 14, 2005 5:33 AM

Wonderful Posts, everyone.

Posted by RTodd at October 14, 2005 5:52 AM

Tom - I've "borrowed" enough from your postings over the years not to worry about one act of "theft" in the other direction. In fact, I'd be pretty chuffed (in an understated English way) to be quoted!

Posted by Mark JF at October 14, 2005 6:54 AM

Mark JF, "chuffed" is one of my favorite British-isms; I use it in the U.S. regularly, and am greeted with vacant stares. (Erik loves it too!)

Posted by tom peters at October 14, 2005 7:45 AM

This D & A discussion all sounds so similar to that old Woody Allen line, "Those who do decentralize, those who don't dictate, those who don't dictate, blame."

Posted by Bert Hoffbeck at October 14, 2005 7:49 AM

Great encapsulation Mark JF! D.A.R.E. I love it!

Not to pop the bubble by any means, but D.A.R.E. in and of itself won't do it, right? It's a model into which you have to pour passion, vision, and talent.

What a powerful frame though! To set off the beautiful picture of what business should be like.

Rabbit trail: Tom, have you read Andy Law's Creative Company (printed 6 years ago)? If so, I'd love to know your take.

Posted by DUST!N at October 14, 2005 9:29 AM