There’s a story about Mickey Mantle. 
When he was asked what kind of salary he would get as a Yankee in the modern era, Mantle’s response was that he’d go to George Steinbrenner and say “Howdy, Partner.” Continue reading
Category Archives: What’s Going On
Partners
Filed under Reality checks, Thinking Aloud, What's Going On
Crowdsourcing Andy
My friend Andy Nulman is conducting an interesting exercise to help promote his book about surprise. Andy is a brilliant marketer and his blog about surprise is one I read regularly. Despite his inherent skill in marketing, or maybe because of it, he’s crowdsourcing the marketing plan by encouraging his blog readers to send in “those ideas that you always wanted to do, but for some reason couldn’t and didn’t.” A firm believer in The Wisdom of Crowds, Andy is
looking to embrace, and put into play, your way-way–way out-there ideas for it; the type your employer was always too conservative to go with you on, the type that you may have been afraid to bring up, the type that nobody in their right mind would ever even contemplate.
I have some “out there” ideas but I think I’ll share those with him directly. I also have some thoughts about doing things this way and they’re mostly positive. Mostly.
Even the guy who wrote the aforementioned Wisdom of Crowds notes the shortcomings inherent in the process. The crowd can be too homogeneous (not enough perspective to weigh all the factors), too emotional (if you’ve been watching the political conventions the last couple of weeks you understand…), unable to reach consensus, and other factors. That said, I’m a believer in the process but I prefer to use the crowd’s output as an important factor in decision-making, not the only factor. Businesspeople often rely on research as a crutch and not as a tool. Don’t make that mistake!
So Andy, this post is my surprise to you today. Hopefully someone who is smart enough to read my blather is also “out there” enough for your purposes. Help Andy. Send him your ideas (I’m starting to sound like Jerry Lewis) – Andy@AndyNulman.com and please tell him I sent you!
Filed under What's Going On
All My Children
We dropped our youngest off at college today and are now officially “empty nesters.” The president of the college made a brief speech to the parents of the Class of ’12, reminding us that while we had delivered these young adults to the world, they (and we) are now at the point where they’re ready to take on lives separate and apart from us.
Which, of course, got me thinking about managing projects (OK, actually it was during the car ride home). As an executive, very often one initiates something that is fleshed out and executed by others. Like children, while these projects may start off being very dependent upon the person who brought them into the world, at some point they involve many other people who have a big influence on what they ultimately become. Even later, one often finds that the project has taken on a life very much of its own and it may or may not be what the initiator had in mind. That doesn’t make it bad, just different. The key, as an executive, and a parent, is to have the courage to let these ideas develop on their own. Make sure they don’t get off track, keep them out of financial trouble as best you can, but if the idea’s foundation is sound and you’ve entrusted it to good people (in business, your staff; in the real world, teachers) part of the fun is seeing how it develops.
I can’t wait to see how our little idea turns out after the next four year developmental cycle (and aren’t you glad people don’t speak management in the real world!). So far, so good!
Filed under Thinking Aloud, What's Going On
Consult Keith 