Review: How Excellent Companies Avoid Dumb Things
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Review by Richard Pachter
Though a number of historical (and recent) court rulings
posit the notion that corporations are people, or possess rights that are
superior to human citizens, companies generally behave as a collection of
disparate organisms, and then rarely symbiotically. They may occasionally
conspire to behave in a consistent and cohesive manner, per management edict
and other directives, but there are just too many moving parts and, frequently,
opposing agendas.
Internal politics, diverse missions, unclear goals and inept
leadership often result in a company at odds with itself. It’s not solely due
to malevolence or incompetence (although that happens, too). People are people.
Complexity, indifference, lack of urgency and other divergent forces often work
against the aggregated power that an aligned corporate organism could
potentially generate.
Structure sometimes is the cause. Some internal divisions
(and divisiveness) defy logic. Imagine, for example, a company where separate
departments devoted to customer acquisition and customer retention executes disparate
and unaligned marketing campaigns. Or several groups control portions of an
organization’s website, yet no one person or team “owns” it. What a clusterf@#(k!
Neil Smith, the lead author on this book (abetted by veteran
scribe Patricia O’Connell), is a veteran consultant. His specialty, as such, is
helping companies get out of their own way.
A consultant? Danger!
Danger!
I’m always wary of consultants and their books. Many turn
out to be extended brochures for their services. Nothing wrong with that, per
se, but I want to read a book that informs, enlightens and provokes me. I have
nothing against sales brochures — I’ve written a zillion myself, in fact — but
I’d rather spend time with a meaty and actionable tome than an extended,
self-serving sales piece.
Despite the annoying mantra-like repetition of “the PGI
Promise®,” Smith’s company’s guarantee, he and O’Connell do a solid job of
presenting their principles, then illustrating them with suitable anecdotes and
strategies.
Here are the eight
barriers that Smith identifies as being the main cause of the dumb things
companies do, in the form of an acronym (A PROMISE): Avoiding Controversy, Poor
Use of Time, Resistance to Change, Organizational Silos, Management Blockers,
Ignorance of Size, Superficial Assumptions or Wrong Information and Existing
Processes.
Fortunately
(or unfortunately; take your pick), there’s no acronym that covers Smith’s prescription
for dealing with the barriers. Instead, he explains and gives examples for each
barrier. In most case, it’s a matter of simplifying existing processes and
eliminating bureaucracy and reducing redundancies.
As
with many of these types of books, once the problems are laid out, everything
seems pretty obvious. But Smith has the advantage of not being a part of the
problem and can tackle the problems as an outsider with no partisan axe to
grind. Also, as a consultant, he’s empowered by his client to cut through the
red tape and bullshit, something internal managers may not be able to do,
Often, it’s a matter of sifting through data to determine why things are
happening (or not happening).
Perhaps
the best service Smith provides for readers is a chance to read about
organizations’ dysfunctionalities, his analysis and solutions, so they can look
at their companies and solve their own issues or, preferably, avoid them
entirely.
Smart
enough!
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