Tag Archives: management

March 22, 2012 · 10:45 am

Me Or Your Own Eyes?

You’ve probably heard some version of the 18th century joke about a wife who, caught by her husband in bed with a lover, denies the obvious and adds: ‘Whom do you believe, your eyes or my words?’ The Marx Brothers used a variant of it in Duck Soup when Chico, dressed up as Groucho, asks “who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?” Obviously people believed their own eyes since the quote is usually attributed to Groucho.

Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx (Image via RottenTomatoes.com)

I thought of that quote as I was trying to explain a report to someone. They kept telling me the same story about what was going on in their business even though the data was saying something quite different.  Who was I going to believe: them or my own eyes?  Or my own data?

One of the big trends these days is a discussion of “big data.”  In a nutshell, almost everything we do these days in business generates data, and most of the managers I know are drowning in the stuff.  Despite that, most of the companies in which these managers work are not what I’d call a data-driven culture.  In fact, they suffer from the same issue mentioned above.  The will often fit the data to the story instead of letting the data help them solve the questions raided in the telling.  McKinsey stated in one of their reports that:

By 2018, the United States alone could face a shortage of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep analytical skills as well as 1.5 million managers and analysts with the know-how to use the analysis of big data to make effective decisions.

What’s needed is change management with a goal of developing a data-driven culture. Maybe that’s too strong – how about a culture in which data isn’t subordinated to the role of being used selectively to reinforce or justify bad decision-making?  At some point, people have to learn to trust their own eyes – the data they see – and not the stories they hear.  That’s what I think – you?

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March 16, 2012 · 9:07 am

Blind Tasting

Friday at last and while you might be expecting a lengthy piece on the history of corned beef for our Foodie Friday Fun approaching St. Patrick’s Day, I couldn’t really find any great business points buried in there.  Oh sure, we could have a chat about multiculturalism since corned beef is a food staple in many cultures (and strangely it came late to the Irish culture and it’s really more American Irish than it is native to the Old Sod) but that seems a bit forced.

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 24: Wine made by Dr...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

So for today’s Foodie Fun I want to think about blind tastings, specifically wine tastings.  There have been many examples of unexpected results when all the trappings of a wine are taken away (big name, fancy bottle, vintage year, even what grape).  The most famous of these if the Judgement of Paris which one could claim was the birth of the modern California wine industry and was commemorated in the movie Bottle Shock.  In 1976, California wines were rated higher than many top French wines in a blind tasting held in Paris and judged by mostly French wine experts.  Of course, these same judges believed it would be easy to spot the “inferior” California wines and had any one of them conducted the tasting and written the results on their own, they might have been laughed out of their profession.  Which is, of course, the business point.

There is an old saying that no one ever got fired for buying (pick one – IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, etc.).  It means no one gets fired for making the safe pick and choosing an industry leader. While there are other companies out there with better products or offer similar quality as the market leaders at lower prices, they come with the risk of ridicule should there be a problem.  Speaking as an independent consultant I can tell you that bigger companies, where decision-making is often a group matter, seem to feel most comfortable hiring other big companies – you all know the top consulting firms.  It’s an easy decision to justify.  Too bad – if they were to taste us blind – have a telephone conversation with the people doing their work as well as to look at our fees – the might get the same or better outcomes at better rates.  That’s not just in my field of consulting – many businesses overspend and get inferior results because they don’t do a blind taste test.

If you’ve got concerns about using companies other than the big guys in any field, raise those concerns directly with the firm that rated more highly even thought they’re not the brand name.  Build the answers – service levels, delivery dates, etc. – into the contract.  Ignoring your business palate when it’s telling you something is better – even if it’s a brand with which you’re unfamiliar – is silly.  Who knows – you just might find a $10 bottle that puts the $50 swill to shame.

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March 12, 2012 · 9:28 am

Taking Out The Garbage

At some point, the garbage can in the kitchen fills up.  Unless someone takes it out, it starts to smell.  We’ve all been there – a significant other asks us to take out the garbage and so we lug the smelly bag to the trash can or dumpster or incinerator chute (for you apartment livers).  Not a pleasant task but one I’m pretty sure nearly all of us do on a regular basis.  I don’t think any of us think “it’s not my job” or “I’m too good to be doing this.”  Something is starting to smell so we handle it.

store garbage bag #1574

(Photo credit: Nemo's great uncle)

I wonder, therefore, why that attitude doesn’t translate over into some managers’ thinking when they get to the office.  I’m always surprised when I hear tales of closed doors or having to make an appointment weeks in advance to see one’s supervisor.  I’ve also seen executives who won’t call their travel department, type their own memoranda, or get their own dry-cleaning.  They insist that their assistant does it.  These would be the first people to complain if their kids were snubbed in an autograph line by a truly famous person but who don’t understand that they are guilty of the same thing on a daily basis by snubbing their own employees.

“Don’t you know who I think I am?”

These are the folks who confuse who they are with what they do.  The reality is that those of us who were privileged enough to have supervised others had our positions defined by those folks.  We were there to help them accomplish the broader tasks of the business.  Sure, providing them with sound strategy and reasonable resources was part of it, but it also meant being available, supportive, inspirational, and honest.

If you’re too damn important to take out the garbage, you probably shouldn’t be allowed to manage others.  You’ll be more of a detriment than an asset.

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