In Hollywood, Optimus Prime is a super hero from the planet Cybertron who transforms from a modified 379 Peterbilt Cab into a 30-foot tall, 10,000-part robot. He is the leader of the Autobots who roam the earth protecting humans from the evil Decepticons. However, in real life, Optimus Prime is the “baddest bull” in the Yunnan province of China (WSJ article by Bob Davis, 8/28/12).
Bull fighting in China is not a match of matador vs bull; it is bull vs bull. Like big horn sheep, they charge at full speed, smashing heads until one gets a migraine or is sent sprawling. Optimus Prime enters the ring draped in scarlet and gold like the champion he is. He doesn’t wait for the bell, but charges his unlucky opponent on sight, bashes him with his horns, sending him running away in panic—like a first round knockout in boxing. He celebrates his victory with four dozen eggs; his owner gets bragging rights and prize money of up to $8000—big money in that part of China.
By now, you are asking: what does this have to do with leadership? Be patient; I’m getting there.
Optimus Prime hasn’t always been Optimus Prime. He started his career as…Little Bull. (I didn’t make that up.)
A typical match went this way:
Announcer: “Little Bull is fighting Megatron in the next match.”
(Who would you bet on?)
One minute goes by.
Announcer: “Megatron is on the run. He wants no part of Little Bull. The Little Bull has taken out the big bull again.”
The point of this is that it is not his name that makes Optimus Prime a champion. He is a champion—the best—whether he is called Little Bull or Optimus Prime.
Now the truth is, from a marketing and branding standpoint, Optimus Prime is a better name than Little Bull. But if he were not the best bull, it wouldn’t matter what he is called.
The same is true for your organization. Having a great name may attract attention, but only being the best bull will win the prize. Is Apple a better name than Hewlett Packard? Toyota better than GM? Coke than Pepsi? Coke is the champion because it is better than Pepsi, not because of the name. (I admit to a bit of southern bias here.)
You can change your name from Little Bull to whatever, but it won’t matter unless you focus on being better than the other bulls. And that’s no bull.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Does your organization make heroes out of arsonists? Probably; most do. In my experience, it usually happens something like this:
TUESDAY AFTERNOON—TELEPHONE IN THE OPERATIONS VP OFFICE: RING….RING…RING!
Operations VP: “I’m busy. What do you want?”
Assembly Manager: “If we don’t get Part # 427bgf109942A by next Monday morning, we are going to have to shut down the assembly line.”
Operations VP: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! do you mean! We can’t shut down an assembly line. That will cost us thousands.”
Assembly Manager: “We will run out of work-arounds on Friday, so I have to have it by first thing Monday morning.”
Operations VP: “What happened?”
Assembly Manager: “Fabrication was expediting the part for us, but it got scrapped out in machining and they don’t have any more material to make another one.”
Operations VP call to the Fabrication Manager: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! is going on down there? You guys are about to shut down assembly because they don’t have Part # 427bgf109942A because you guys scrapped it.”
Fabrication Manager: “We got the material late and had to rush it. My best machinist, Williams, was at the dentist, so I put Jones on it. He set it up wrong and the finished part was out of tolerance. If we had got the material on time, Williams could have made the part and we would have had it to assembly yesterday.”
Operations VP: “When will you get more material?”
Fabrication Manager: “Not until Friday. We’ll work overtime all weekend to have the part by Monday morning. I’ll be in here personally to make sure it happens. And Williams has agreed to come in to make the part.”
Operations VP call to the Purchasing Manager: “Why was the #@**><*!@^%!! material for Part # 427bgf109942A late and why can’t you get more here before Friday?”
Purchasing Manager: “We got the purchase request from Production Control late. We have a special order at the vendors, but the material—it’s a casting—won’t be ready until late Thursday.”
Operations VP: “Late #@**><*!@^%!! Thursday! There is no way you’ll have it here by Friday, even with an express truck run.”
Purchasing Manager: “Yeah, I know a truck isn’t fast enough, so we have chartered a plane to fly it in. It should land at the airport by 6:00am Friday.”
Operations VP: “A #@**><*!@^%!! charter! How much did that cost?”
Purchasing Manager: “$12,000.”
Operations VP: “It’s coming out of your budget.”
Purchasing Manager: “It’s Production Control’s fault. They should pay for it.”
Operations VP call to the Production Control Manager: “Why can’t you guys get the #@**><*!@^%!! purchase requests down to Purchasing on time? We may have to shut down an assembly line on Monday because we don’t have Part # 427bgf109942A. And we don’t have it because we had to use Jones instead of Williams to do the machining because the casting was late, and the casting was late because the stupid purchase request was late getting to purchasing.”
Production Control Manager: “Sorry, boss. But the Program Manager didn’t release the production schedule on time so we were behind the eight ball from the get-go.”
Operations VP call to the Program Manager: “For crying out loud. Are you guys too busy going out for drinks with customers to release the production schedules on time?”
Program Manager: “Not our fault, boss. The computer was down 4 days for reprogramming. We have really been scrambling trying to catch up.”
Operations VP call to the IT Manager: “What the #@**><*!@^%!! is going on down there? We have a crisis in the shop because you guys shut the computer down for four stupid days!
IT Manager: “You must have forgotten. That new software you ordered us to install turned out to be a disaster. It took us four days to get it debugged. Even now I’m not sure it’s working right.”
Operations VP: “#@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!! #@**><*!@^%!!”
FAST FORWARD TO THE NEXT MONDAY MORNING OPERATIONS MEETING
Assembly Manager: “We got Part # 427bgf109942A at 4:30am this morning. We’ll have it installed by noon and be back on schedule by tomorrow morning.”
Fabrication Manager: “My guys did a great job this weekend. I was here all Saturday night with Williams to make sure we set up the machining correctly and carried the part to heat treat myself.”
Purchasing Manager: “The vendor really came through for us. The buyer was there Thursday to carry the part to the chartered plane and flew back with it. It was a Citation V. Did you guys know they serve free drinks on those things?”
Operations VP: “I am really proud of you guys. You saved the day for us. I’ll make sure the corner office hears about this. He’ll want to personally thank you, maybe even take you to lunch.”
END OF STORY
This is a classic case of making heroes out of fire fighters for putting out a fire they started themselves—heroes out of arsonists.
Don’t fall into this trap. There are people in your organization who prevent fires, or put out fires other people start. They seldom get attention in meetings because they aren’t often in crisis mode. Take a few minutes today to seek them out and thank them. Maybe even take them to lunch. They are the real heroes.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
If you love those golden, cream-filled, 150 calorie, spongy cakes called Twinkies, you better stock up. Hostess Brands—the maker of Twinkies—is in their second round of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The first round was in 2004-2009; this round was filed in January 2012. Are they going to make it? Maybe. They have asked their workforce for $200M in cost savings in wages, healthcare and pensions. We’ll know by the end of September if the workers accept the company’s ultimatum. (They have little choice if they want to keep their jobs.) But even these cost reductions may not be enough to save Twinkies in the long run.
How did they get in this mess? By years of lousy leadership—company and union. There is no other way a $2.5B company could end up with:
● twelve different unions
● 40 separate pension plans
● 36 plants● six different CEOs in the last ten years
● more debt when they exited bankruptcy in 2009 than when they entered in 2004 (I thought the purpose of bankruptcy is to reduce debt.)
● work rules that require different drivers to deliver different Hostess products to the same retail location
● sales sinking at a 10% rate
● losses exceeding $300M per year and escalating
● debt of almost $1T though hundreds of millions have been written off
(All the sordid details are in an article by David Kaplan in the 8/13/2012 edition of Fortune magazine.)
The company blames the “Atkins” diet (low carb means no Twinkies), the economy and the unions. The union blames management and those overpaid executives. The truth is, Hostess got where it is by what I call “cumulative effect consequences.” Hostess is suffering from hundreds of decisions made over decades that have the cumulative effect of destroying—or nearly so—the company. That is why no decision is inconsequential. In the long run, they add up. A questionable acquisition here, a labor agreement concession there, a self-centered CEO for a few years, slow response to changes in the economy or customer preferences, and before you know it, Chapter 11 bankruptcy is staring you in the face.
“Cumulative effect consequences” are a real part of life. One cheeseburger per week is probably okay. But add in a milkshake per week, a sugar-filled energy drink…or two…or three, a “loaded” baked potato, a couple of beers on Saturday afternoon, your “one vice”—a Twinkie every day, and before you know it, your health is threatened by obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, or worse.
“Cumulative effect consequences” are how we get in financial trouble. A car payment we can afford, a house we can’t, the vacation of a lifetime, the iPad we put on MasterCard, and before you know it….
In life and in leadership, every decision is important, even the “little ones,” because at some point, they all add up. So take care. In the long run, a number of “no big deal” decisions can become a very big deal.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
When Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877, he was worth 20% of all the cash and demand deposits in all the banks in the US—about 143 billion in today’s dollars (per Wikipedia.com). Today’s richest Americans must have trouble making ends meet when compared to Vanderbilt (Bill Gates is worth only $59B and Warren Buffet a paltry $44B per Forbes).
As documented by T. J. Stiles in The First Tycoon, Vanderbilt made his money in transportation: first steamboats, then railroads. He was successful because even as a teenager, “His life was regulated by self-imposed rules and with a fixedness of purpose as invariable as the sun in its circuit.” In other words, he had a high degree of self-discipline and a clear goal for his life.
One of his “self-imposed rules” was “to spend less every week than he earned.” It was a great rule in the 1800’s…the 1900’s…and still today. Dave Ramsey would have been very proud of him.
His “fixedness of purpose” was driven by a “…unending hunger for wealth….” He accomplished his goal and died as the richest man in the cemetery, sparking a court battle among his heirs over how to distribute the bounty.
Vanderbilt should have paid attention to an earlier richest man, Solomon, who experienced the same thing:
“I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun,
for I must leave it to the man who will come after me.
And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool?
Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored…This too is vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 NASB95
A thousand or so years after Solomon, Jesus said this about purpose fixed on riches:
“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”
Matthew 16:26 NASB95
All of us would do well to follow Vanderbilt’s example of living with self-discipline and a fixed purpose. But in your personal life and in your role as a leader, set your purpose on something greater than self. Do you really want to die believing, like Solomon, that “all is vanity”? I hope not. Whatever your age, whatever your status, it’s not too late to fix your purpose on something valuable and enduring—something worth really living for.
By the way, if you enjoy biographies, The First Tycoon is an interesting and worthwhile read.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
the USA…or Great Britain…or Jamaica…or Grenada?
The USA won the most medals (104), including the most gold (46) and the most silver (29). The host nation, Great Britain, won a total of 65 medals; Jamaica won 12, all in track and field; Grenada had only one medal, gold in the men’s 400m sprint.
If the winner is decided by the total weight of the medals, then the award goes to the USA by a large margin. But based on population, Grenada, with only 105,000 people, is the clear winner:
Grenada 9.5 medals per million people
Jamaica 4.4 medals per million people
GreatBritain 1.03 medals per million people
USA 0.33 medals per million people
(By the way,China, with the world’s largest population, won only 0.06 medals per million people.)
The USA is the richest nation in the world and has the most money to spend on athletics. We should win the most medals. We did. That was success.
Great Britain, as the host nation, wanted to make a great showing. They did—65 medals was their most ever! That was success.
Jamaica wanted to maintain their position as the sprinter capital of the world. They did. Will you ever forget watching Usain Bolt win the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay with ease? That was success.
Grenada won its first medal ever, and it was gold! They went home happy and feeling like winners. That was success.
If winning the most medals was the only measure of success, then there was one winner (the USA) and 203 losers at the 2012 games. I guarantee you that 203 teams did not go home feeling like losers.
Now…here is the point: do not let others define success for your organization or for you personally. Don’t let others try to squeeze you into their mold. You decide for yourself what success is, and then go for it. On your mark…get set…go!
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Have you watched the Olympics? If so, you have seen America’s newest sweetheart, Missy Franklin, a hundred times. She won five medals (four were gold). You also know who Rebecca Soni is; she won three medals (two were gold). Dana Vollmer won three medals (all gold) and Allison Schmitt won five medals (three were gold). Missy, Rebecca, Dana and Allison are called the “smiley girls” and why not? Their baggage will be loaded down with sixteen medals when they fly home. Hmmm…checked or carry-on?
If you were watching on Saturday night (8/4), you saw the “smiley girls” set a world record in the 4X100 Medley Relay. The medal ceremony was great. After receiving their gold medals, they all stood with hand over heart, singing our national anthem as the stars and stripes were raised. Yeah, I got misty eyed. I always do.
Everyone knows who the “smiley girls” are, but who is Rachel Bootsma? Rachel is a backstroke specialist from Eden Prairie, Minnesota. She failed to qualify for the finals of her one individual event, the 100m backstroke. It was her only chance for the medal stand. Breeja Larson, a breaststroke specialist, also missed the medal stand, as did Claire Donahue (butterfly). Jessica Hardy, a freestyle specialist, got a 4x100m relay bronze medal, but missed out in her two individual events and did not get to sing the anthem with hand over heart.
Still, however, Rachel, Breeja, Claire and Jessica are all bringing a gold medal home. They didn’t get to stand and sing while the flag was raised, but they are bringing home gold anyway. Why? Because unseen and unlauded, Rachel, Breeja, Claire and Jessica swam the qualifying heat of the 4×100 Medley Relay on Friday night that set up the “smiley girls” to win the gold in the finals on Saturday night. Missy, Rebecca, Dana and Allison got their glory and gold on the medal stand. Rachel, Breeja, Claire and Jessica got their gold in a no-tv coverage backroom ceremony that only their teammates and parents knew about.
If your organization, large or small, is winning and setting records, you have both medal stand performers and backroom performers. A wise leader makes sure they are all recognized, appreciated and rewarded. Why don’t you take a few minutes today to go find a Rachel, Breeja, Claire or Jessica and thank them for putting you on the medal stand? You wouldn’t have got there without them.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company.
The only sign of life was a mangy dog fearlessly ambling down the middle of the road. There wasn’t a single car—parked or moving—anywhere on Main Street. The dog was perfectly safe and seemed to know it. Looking to the west, every building was boarded up, gutted or torn down; looking east…the same thing. There were no grocery stores, banks, dime stores or drug stores; no place for a boy to buy an ice cream cone or a nickel coke. Saddest of all, the RIO was closed! No more Tom Mix, Hopalong Cassidy or Gene Autry 15¢ cowboy movies on Saturday mornings. The nearest theatre is now 30 miles away; too far to walk and too far to ride a bike. Saturday mornings must be boring now.
It had been more than thirty years since I last visited my childhood home—a small, no-stop-light town on the Red River in southwest Oklahoma. It was a town of about 1000 farmers, refinery workers, teachers and preachers, shop keepers, one policeman and…well, that was about it. But it was a great place to grow up. There was swimming in stock tanks, pick-up baseball games in the park (no Little League), “quicksand chicken” in the river and playing Tarzan on the rafter rope in the seed room of the cotton gin. There were horses, real cowboys and real Indians, and donkey basketball games. It doesn’t get any better than that.
It wasn’t prosperous when I lived there and I didn’t expect it to be prosperous now, but I didn’t expect it to be nearly deserted. My boyhood friends have been long gone to pursue careers in Texas or Oklahoma City. People make the drive through the wheat fields and pastures to Lawton or Wichita Falls to shop and work. Except when the wheat is young and green in the spring, the drive always looks the same: flat, dry, hot and brown. Instead of the refinery (which is closed), some people now work in the casinos that are east of town. Some don’t work at all because there is nothing for them to do. There are still some teachers, part-time preachers and a lot of retired folks. The town has a handful of workers at the Farmer’s Co-op and cotton gin, and there are a few at the one and only café/gas station/grocery/convenience store; an insurance office…some city employees…a post office…utility workers…that’s about it.
In spite of the decline, my love for the town and the people is still strong. They are great people. They love God, love America, love each other and don’t expect Washington D.C. to take care of them. It is part—an important part—of my identity, and always will be. As I drove away, I was sad and had thoughts of returning to start a small factory to provide employment for 20-30 people. But I didn’t have passion to do it and I wasn’t willing to leave my comfortable life in Tennessee to do it.
There is a big difference between sentiment or emotion, and passion. You can drive away from sentimental and emotional things, but you can’t drive away from passionate things. Your heart won’t let you—you have to do something.
What are you truly passionate about? If you are a leader, I hope it is people. You don’t lead buildings, machines, computers, products, stores, etc.—you lead people. If you aren’t passionate about leading people, they will know it and follow you only because they have to, not because they want to.
Do you have passion for people? I hope so. My suggestion: don’t try to lead without it; it’s too hard.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
Island Fever by The Beach Boys
Do you ever get the feelin’ that you got to get away?
It’s a sympton of the fever all across the USA.
My family doctor told me,
“Son, the flu is what you have.”
But I know it’s island fever and I got it real bad.
Hey girl, I got some good advice: drive your dad mad and make him take you down to paradise.
My daughter, Cathy, gets island fever almost every year. The only cure for her is a week at St. George Island with her family. I get to tag along to play with my three buddies in the surf and to pay the bills…a daddy’s privilege. Here are a few observations and comments from last week’s trip.
The best thing about the beach is the sand on the beach.
The worst thing about the beach is the sand in the house.
Walking 4 miles on sand is like walking 6 on land.
87 degrees on the beach with a 10mph breeze is like heaven.
87 degrees on the beach with no breeze is…for the devil and his angels.
Sand crabs are as ugly as sin. They must be part of THE FALL.
Watching my five year old “beach buddy” catch his first fish—it doesn’t get any better than that.
2 out of 100 women who wear bikinis look good—too good.
98 out of 100 women who wear bikinis look ridiculous and that’s an understatement.
100 out of 100 men wearing a Speedo look worse than ridiculous.
When it rains at the beach, no problem, pull out the Crazee Jumpin’ Beans Race Track featuring:
Barbie Bean (pink)
Stinky Bean (the other beans avoid)
T-Rex Bean (big, slow, ugly)
The King Bean (Elvis, of course, and the winner)
Dinner with friends and fresh gulf shrimp at Harry A’s is a great day at the beach.
The added pounds on the scales is a lousy welcome home.
The best part of the beach is watching Dottie smile at the beach boys and Cathy and Sam as they get an escape from their everyday life.
Speaking of escape…when is the last time you escaped? If you are in leadership, you need it regularly whether it is the beach or the mountains (my favorite) or wherever. And real escape is no email or texts or calls from the office. You aren’t so important that they can’t do without you for a week or so.
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
In his first-rate book, Getting Naked, Patrick Lencioni says, “There is nothing more attractive and admirable than people who willingly and cheerfully set their egos aside and make the needs of others more important than their own.”
In The Message, Eugene Peterson says that at times, leaders need to “practice playing second fiddle….” If you are the “first fiddle” leader, everyone already knows it; you don’t need to hog the spotlight to make sure they know.
One episode of my leadership I’m not too proud of occurred when an important general was going to visit our facility in Nashville to review our progress on a defense project. The visit was arranged by our COO who knew the general personally. As the CEO, I expected to have a role in the program, probably introducing the general to our employees. Guess what? The big day arrived, the platform was set up, hundreds of employees gathered, and my role was…nothing. I wasn’t even part of the plant tour. The COO took care of everything. He introduced the general; he escorted the general on the plant tour; he briefed the general on our project status. Guess what else? The general was pleased and impressed. It was hard for me to accept that it went so well without me. I sulked for days with hurt feelings. I didn’t play second fiddle very well.
One of a leader’s foremost responsibilities is to develop other leaders. There are several reasons you should stay off the platform at times:
I didn’t need to be on the platform when the general visited it. It wasn’t my show. As hard as it was for me, I needed to play second fiddle that day. How about you? How long has it been since you “set your ego aside” and played second fiddle?
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
On November 15, 2011, Duke beat Michigan State, giving Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) his 903rd victory—the most in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history. In his worth-your-time-to-read book, Leading With The Heart, Coach K says that “…basketball is a game of adjustments—just like business.” In basketball, the adjustments can be to change the line-up, use a zone defense instead of the man-to-man that isn’t working, call a timeout and so on. The need for adjustments is true for basketball and business…true for churches…true for life…true for you and true for me.
In the sports world, a lot of adjustments are made at halftime. Since it is halftime for 2012, this is a good time to take a look at your 2012 game plan, evaluate progress, then make adjustments for the second half of the year. The mid-year scorecard for my 2012 NYRs (New Year Resolutions) is not too impressive: one A, one B, two Cs, one D, one dropped. I am firmly committed to raising the C and D before the year ends.
How are you doing? Are you on track for the 2012 honor roll, or like me, need to refocus your efforts?
Is your personal life where you want it in terms of health, relationships, and faith?
How about your business? Are you facing any new challenges that have come out of nowhere?
If you are a church or non-profit, is giving on track? Do you have enough volunteers? How is the morale of your paid staff?
Six months—July through December—is a long time. Don’t let a poor start to 2012 keep you from having a strong finish.
If you are the leader, everyone is watching you. You will set the pace that determines where you finish in 2012. It’s up to you. Step it up!
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© Copyright 2012 by Dick Wells, The Hard Lessons Company
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