dispatches from the new world of work

Check It Out

Great article in current issue (April) of Business 2.0, titled "Best-kept Secrets of the World's Best Companies." Normally I dislike such stuff, but I think the odds in this case of finding something you can use are remarkably high. There are 25 ideas discussed. Among them: Toro's "Contra Team" that formally rebuts potential merger candidates; it in one instance led Toro to reject a hot $10 million acquisition candidate that was in fact a dud. Bloomberg's amazing offices. Corning's approach to R&D, utilizing outsiders. Southwest's hiring process ("The Job Audition"). W.L. Gore's peer-to-peer, almost hierarchy-free organizational processes—I was a pal of the late Bill Gore, and started writing about the company in A Passion for Excellence in 1985; but the approach is as fresh and provocative as ever; alas, the fact that it's still considered novel suggests how slow we are to adopt truly radical organizational reform. Urban Oufitters' support for partying on the company's nickel—that is, seeking out hot trends that can be translated into product. Etc.

Good stuff.

Tom Peters posted this on 04/27/06.

Comments

and BusinesWeek has a recent list of 25 most innovative companies. Southwest Airlines is only company in both lists. You can be operationally excellent, not charge an arm and a leg and still be innovative. I see too many companies who associate innovation with premium pricing.

Posted by vinnie mirchandani at April 27, 2006 11:39 AM

It is quite amazing, as you note, that these practices do not diffuse more readily to other companies - they are plainly available for everyone to see, yet still a source of competitive advantage. Strategy theory (and frankly, simple intuition) of course would in part predict that something this explicit could not be source of advantage, yet, there it is...interesting. Perhaps it is a variety of little things that all add up to the kind of complexity that simply cannot be mimicked.

Posted by teppo at April 28, 2006 3:52 AM

What do you think of the Egon Zehnder International "Anti-Star System"? (HR #5) "Compensation for its 300 or so partners is determined by two variables alone: seniority and corporate profits." Surely the young hot-shots will bail out, and the old fogies will cruise ...

Posted by Mike L at April 28, 2006 4:37 PM

Tom:

Assuming you have not done so, you may want to check Gary Hamelâ€˜s article in Wall Street Journal (4/26/06), discussing Googleâ€™s management system which, according to Hamel, will push Googleâ€™s revenues â€œupward for years.â€ Bottom line Hamel believes that â€œGoogle seems to have grasped the new century's most important business lesson: The capacity to evolve is the most important advantage of all.â€ Sounds like something you have been saying for ages.

http://online.wsj.com/search#SB114601763677436091 (subscription required).

Best,

Daniel Leon

Posted by Daniel Leon at April 29, 2006 9:03 PM

Fascinating list Tom, even though as you (consciously or otherwise) imply, one to be handled with care... for example the HP approach to Benchmarking sounds like 'death by KPIs' - interesting that it seems to be producing results in the area of cost-cutting; I wonder whether it will genuinely drive innovation, business growth and people growth?

Posted by Stephen Spencer at April 30, 2006 7:20 PM

I winced when I read about HP's benchmarking. In my job I am required to attribute my hours to a customer and an activity code. It is usually easy to decide which customer account I am working on, but the activity code is reported to my interpretation of the titles. I was recently discussing this with a co-worker and found he has very different intepretations. Woe unto any manager making decisions based on the database we are generating.

Posted by Richard at April 30, 2006 11:09 PM

Nice article, though slightly marred by the slideshow format. But thanks for sharing =)

Posted by hugh macleod at May 1, 2006 3:25 AM