dispatches from the new world of work

M.I.A.

Welch is gone from GE. Now the only thing, more or less, we hear about American business leadership (save for miscreants) is the daily tales of Welch Junior, Jeff Immelt.

GE is of interest. They do a lot of things right—I talk about them with borderline reverence, I must admit.

But, for instance, what about: FRED SMITH. FedEx has grown to be a $30 billion company. Their service is still good. They innovate left and right. And contrary to my dearly held beliefs, they have masterfully integrated major acquisitions such as Flying Tigers, Roadway Express and, more recently, Kinko's. And, without doubt, they have re-invented logistics for the entire world, including the likes of the military—such a monumental "disruptive" innovation hasn't occurred at GE in decades.

But, for instance, what about: the late SHEIK MAKTUM and, today, his successor SHEIK MOHAMMED. They are the current and immediately past rulers of Dubai. Short on oil, with matchless vision and energy they have built, more or less overnight, one of the world's great cities-hubs of global commerce. (One trivial illustration: Dubai's Emirates Air has placed the largest order so far for the monster Airbus 380.) The Dubai tale, to my mind, far outshines the Singapore story—and, again, GE.

Though I think Big Companies dominate the news far more than they should, among the giants there are giant success stories. I simply can't remember the last time I saw Fred Smith on a major magazine cover; and I don't think I've ever seen Sheik Mohammed on a Big Mag cover. Surely they and a host of others are worthy of our acclaim and perhaps emulation.

GE? Who they?

Tom Peters posted this on 07/25/06.

Comments

Short on oil? DUBAIesque is the now and future of the Middle East - free enterprise KILLS Islam-Fascisim.

Posted by sean at July 25, 2006 8:43 AM

It's a sad fact that much of the media (and a chunk of the public) seems to prefer bad news, scandal and savage criticism. With all due respect to those writers who do highlight good news and are constructive, it reminds me of the old saying: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." Maybe we should add to the latter: or write about it?!

I suggest we add Lord Brown of BP to that list. Head of one of Britain's biggest companies, he's managed it to an enviable global position and - now that he's coming to the end of his tenure - is suddenly being publicly recognised and also asked by shareholders to stay on! (Which isn't to suggest that his succession planning is off kilter, it just points out what a tough act he'll be to follow.)

Posted by MarkJF at July 25, 2006 8:51 AM

'I simply can't remember the last time I saw Fred Smith on a major magazine cover; and I don't think I've ever seen Sheik Mohammed on a Big Mag cover'

Maybe they are just too busy working Tom :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at July 25, 2006 9:22 AM

As started MarkJF, this reminds me of Lou Gerstner's Book, when he talked about 'doers' vs 'watchers' pointing to his bad experience with business media and other likes... and Trevor said exactly what Gerstner wanted to say... Too busy to let oneself 'watched' :)

Otherwise, I don't understand Sean's (first) comment!! What he said is far too cruel about Islam!!! more, Tom's post got nothing to do with such a private and/or collective beliefs!

Rgds,

Posted by Kamal at July 25, 2006 9:49 AM

I think its a good point to note also Prince Waleed of KHI (Kingdom Holding Company) and one of the wealthiest Conglomates in the middle east.

I think that a lot of many MSM, dont wont to cover thier Mag's with ME entities for the simple reason, that they will now seem to be aligned to such business and having a cosy partnership and in the west, that becomes a big no no in the eyes of the generic reader !!

Posted by /pd at July 25, 2006 10:22 AM

Wait a while--the centralized "batch & queue" system FedEx uses will cause their costs and our prices to rise more and more until some smart, lean competitor undercuts their business substantially. FedEx is way overpriced already. The high prices may be the only thing underpinning the good shareholder value. That's a house of cards. Mr. Smith had a good idea, but he doen't deserve accolades today. FedEx-osaurus will follow the rest of that ilk into extinction if they don't get their act together.

Posted by Mike at July 27, 2006 2:08 PM