Tag Archives: management

September 23, 2015 · 10:10 am

Teshuva

It’s Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.  This was a post from several years ago.  As I read it over, looking for inspiration for something to write on the subject of change and business based on the holiday, I realized that I had expressed my thinking pretty well in the earlier post.  Those of you who celebrate the holiday are probably not reading this until sundown (I scheduled this yesterday in keeping with the spirit of not working on the day). Whether you do or don’t celebrate, I hope you’ll take a moment to reflect.

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year. For those of you unfamiliar with the holiday, it concludes the 10 day period at the start of the Jewish calendar – Rosh Hashanah – head of the year – during which all Jews are supposed to reflect upon the past year and examine how they’re going to change their lives going forward. One also seeks forgiveness from those against whom he has transgressed – both those of this earth and higher powers. There is a lot of other imagery connected with the period – inscription in the Book of Life being a big one – but I think there’s something each of us can take as a business lesson in a non-denominational way.

We all get off track.  Sometimes it’s in little ways like eating badly or drinking too much.  Sometimes it’s in big ways like alienating our families or hurting friends who love us.  The concept in Judaism of repentance is called Teshuva  which means “return”.  I love the notion of coming back to one’s self as well as to the basic human tenets that are common to all religions and peoples.

We can take a period of reflection and “return” in our business lives as well.  The most obvious way is for us as individuals   Whom have we alienated this year?  What client have we taken for granted?  But it a bigger opportunity.  How has the business diverged from the mission?  Why have we stopped getting better and are just marching in place?  What can we be doing to grow our people but are ignoring?

We ask those kinds of questions from time to time, but I guess I’m suggesting that it become a more formal process.  Set aside a period every year for “return” thinking.  A period of repentance?  Maybe, in some cases.  But in all cases a chance to change.  A chance to regret past bad actions and to vow not to repeat them.  Most importantly (this is true in the religious sense as well), to correct the transgression.  To apologize.   To make restitution.  Whatever is right and lets everyone move forward with a clear conscious and a vow to do better.

Sound like a plan?

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September 21, 2015 · 11:39 am

Eddie Haskell Software

Our topic today is something so mind-numbingly stupid that I hesitate even to write about it. There was an announcement late on Friday from the EPA about diesel engines from Volkswagen. These are the engines that the automaker markets as “Clean Diesel.” The announcement was shocking. As reported in the NY Times:

Eddie Haskell

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Volkswagen has been ordered by the Environmental Protection Agency to recall 482,000 diesel cars in the U.S. over software they say was intentionally designed to circumvent smog regulations. The cars, all diesels from 2009 to 2015, have a “defeat device” programmed to detect when the car is undergoing official emissions testing that only then turns on the full emissions control systems.

Many of you might not remember the Eddie Haskell character from Leave It To Beaver, the old TV show.  Eddie was a bad kid who acted like an angel in front of parents and other adults.  That is apparently what VW designed their software to do – behave nicely in front of the standard EPA tests while belching out unhealthy levels of nitrogen oxide emissions when the testers weren’t looking – as in 40 times more than the allowable levels of emissions..  It’s not something recent either: the bad software is in 6 model years of cars. Nice right?

Here is the thing about big companies.  Rarely does one person make a decision.  In this case, the people (plural) involved have put VW in jeopardy of having to pay around $18 Billion in fines.  At a minimum, they’re looking at the recall of 482,000 diesel cars.  But the automaker isn’t the only company to demonstrate this kind of idiocy.  Samsung has been accused of the same sort of thing to detect speed tests on their phone chips in order to demonstrate speed that really isn’t there in real life use.  Antivirus company Qihoo submitted different versions for benchmark testing than those provided to consumers.  I’m sure there are other examples across other business categories.

Knowing this, would you buy any of the affected products?  I wouldn’t.  What else aren’t they telling us?  How safe/effective/good are their products?  More importantly, if they would knowingly cheat this way, how will they treat me as a customer?  Will they lie to me just as they have to the testers?

This kind of behavior goes global rapidly today.  Like the Cleavers, who were well aware of Eddie’s true personality, consumers are better informed and bad behavior is always front and center.  Putting aside the destruction of the bottom line due to getting caught, how can anyone with an ounce of business sense think this sort of activity is a good idea?

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July 9, 2015 · 12:06 pm

Two Feet In Front

I had a bunch of meetings in New York yesterday. NYC in summer is filled with tourists (as it is most of the rest of the year) and they’re pretty easy to spot. They are usually found standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, rocks in the midst of the rushing human stream. They’re something you learn to dodge as a native by, as we used to say in hockey, not skating with your head down.

Unfortunately, fewer people seem to do that these days. I witnessed a collision when a native, immersed in their smartphone, ran smack into a tourist taking a picture of the Chrysler Building. That’s become the norm too – people walking the streets in full stride while staring into a 4-inch screen. It made me think of how we tend to do the same thing in business.

Too many business people run their businesses staring at what’s two feet in front of them while ignoring the impediment that’s a hundred feet ahead. They don’t take evasive action because they’re unaware that there is a problem approaching. Instead, they’re way too involved in the present and not in looking ahead.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m as guilty as the next person with respect to checking my mobile device every time it beeps.  I try, however, to step to the side while I read and respond.  When I’m walking, I’m doing so with my head up and my focus is well in front of me.  I do the same in business, both my own and my clients’.  What is happening NOW is important but it’s critical not to get too focused on what’s going on right in front of you while missing out on what’s coming up.

Your business needs to skate with its head up.  You never know when the path that was clear the last time you looked has become obstructed.  Bumping into something you didn’t see can be expensive – the person’s phone crashed to the ground yesterday.  Deal with the immediate situation – read your mail, answer your texts –  but recognize that there is a rapidly changing world outside of your two-foot gaze.  Make sense?

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