Quotation of the Moment: Corporate Culture

This anecdote, by Robert Townsend (1920-1998), shows how one person can have an effect on corporate culture.  It comes from his book Up the Organization.

When I became head of Avis [in 1962--EFB] I was assured that no one at headquarters was any good, and that my first job was to start recruiting a whole new team. Three years later, Hal Geneen, the President of ITT (which had just acquired Avis), after meeting everybody and listening to them in action for a day, said, “I’ve never seen such depth of management; why I’ve already spotted three chief executive officers!” You guessed it. Same people. I’d brought in only two new people, a lawyer and an accountant.

Corporate Culture Commentary

There's been some discussion on corporate culture [1,2,3], and I'd like to add a few thoughts, as I've been included in discussions on finding ways to improve the culture at my employer.

• Different people have different experiences, and what works well for one person may not work well for others.  Some people may think that everything is just peachy, while others who report up to the same VP may be seething with anger.
• Project quality matters.  Give people kick-ass projects, and they'll do great.  Make them do crap work, and you'll get crap back.
• Experienced and secure employees will let you know when you've given them crap.
• Avoid frivolous organization chart rearrangements and cubicle relocations.  When people say "I've worked for x bosses in y years," minimize x and y.

[1]  In the Pipeline
[2]  Chemjobber
[3]  Rheo Thing

Quotation of the Moment

A colleague at work said

The toes you step on today may belong to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow.

Her point was that the food industry is small, and you may run into former colleagues down the road.  The same thing applies to the rheology industry.

Business Lessons

This last post reminds me of two business lessons from my time in the rheometer industry.

1. If you're not making money (i.e., no profits), someone's patience will eventually run out.
2. If you're not making enough money (i.e., profits don't grow at a reasonable rate), someone's patience will eventually run out.

Anyone else with words of wisdom?