Tag Archives: business

August 27, 2008 · 6:48 pm

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!

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August 26, 2008 · 7:10 am

The One About Politics

As I’ve said before, this blog is not about politics.  However, with the opening of the Democratic Convention and the true beginning of the Presidential race, it seems an appropriate time to write about an aspect of politics that holds very true in business as well.

One big mistake about which I used to caution the people I managed was what I called the Sonny Corleone error.  As Tom Hagan says, “Your father wouldn’t want to hear this, Sonny. This is business not personal.”  What I meant by that was that personal attacks can’t ever take the place of sound logic and a good plan.  In debates, they call this argumentum ad hominem. The fancy Latin simply means argument against the person and is the error of attacking the character or motives of a person who has stated an idea, rather than the idea itself.

I am very hopeful that the two candidates will not commit this error.  I believe that most Americans want to hear what each of their respective plans are for our country and then make a decision about which plan to support.  You can do business with people who aren’t your cup of tea – you don’t like their clothes, their hair, their political party, their world view – as long as they don’t stray ethically in a manner that affects your dealings with them.  What I mean by that is that it’s unimportant to me if a business partner likes to drink or gamble as long as that drinking and gambling doesn’t cause him to rip off customers.  I’ve done plenty of business over the years with folks I probably would not invite to my home (and I’m sure they’re not itching to have me over either).  That doesn’t mean we didn’t have productive dealings.  Yes, I’m concerned if either of the two candidates is on the mob’s payroll but I don’t care if they got drunk 25 years ago.

As the campaign rolls to November, listen for who is emphasizing a plan and who is committing the error of argumentum ad hominem.  It’s not good in business and it’s no better in the business of politics.

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August 25, 2008 · 8:23 am

Careful with that fact, Eugene

I know it’s early in the week for an obscure Pink Floyd reference so let me explain.  The Olympics ended the other day and Nielsen is reporting some very large viewership numbers.  In fact, according to the Hollywood Reporter…

NBC Universal smashed yet another historic ratings benchmark: The Beijing Olympics is the most-watched U.S. television event of all time.  Through 16 days of coverage, 211 million viewers tuned in to the Olympics on NBC Universal’s broadcast and cable outlets, according to NBC citing Nielsen Media Research.  That’s 2 million more than watched the 1996 Atlanta Games, the previous all-time record-holder.

Lovely story, good for NBC, go USA.  But let’s spend a few seconds to look behind the numbers as an example of how one always needs to ask questions about any statistic.  There are roughly 115 million homes in the US and nearly 113 million of them have a TV (112,800,000 out of 114,890,000 to be precise). There are multiple viewers per home so there are around 285 million persons 2+ in the universe base.  I don’t have the 1996 people estimates but I think it’s fair to assume that ratio hasn’t changed very much.

In 1996, there were 97,540,000 homes and 95,900,000 TV homes.  So whilst TV homes grew nearly 17 million since 1996, and the number of people in those homes probably grew by 30+ million, Olympics viewing grew only by 2 million viewers.  Now, is that as impressive?  I’d say yes, given the fragmentation of media since 1996 but one could also argue that Olympics viewing has lagged, with 10% – 15% of universe growth actually reflected in viewing.  Heck, you’d expect a 15% pop in viewing just from the growth of homes.

The point is that in business, one can’t just hear a number and nod one’s head.  Ask questions, look for the numbers behind the number.  Challenge whomever is delivering the number to you.  Great executives will beat you to the punch and make sure every number they deliver is in perspective.

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