Rothacker Reviews

Built to Sell

Built to Sell by John Warrillow.

Built to Sell is a most versatile book. Picture a good utility baseball player who can play different positions really well and hits at a batting average clip of .320. There is something in it for company owners, managers and employees.

Built to Sell is a fictional story about ad agency owner Alex Stapleton and his attempt to sell his company. His current business isn't worth a bucket of beans. Family friend Ted Gordon takes Alex under his wings and lays out an eight step process to build the company into a sellable entity. This process causes the company to increase in value and causes Alex to think, do I really want to sell this company now?

I wrote a review at The Technician Shop geared towards employees. The bottom line here is that employees would want to work for an owner who is passionate about increasing the value of his business. I also wrote a review for the Service Roundtable (not available to public) to show how John's book can help company owners. Today's note is directed toward managers.

Sarah Buckner is Alex's talented, senior designer. Primarily due to Alex's inability to run an effective company, Sarah is as disengaged as a person can be. Listen to how John describes Sarah after receiving an assignment from Alex:

"She accepted her sentence, donned her sound-canceling earphones to shut out the sorry world she found herself in..."

Sarah* goes on to quit Alex's company. The message for managers is: continue to manager poorly and your top performers will leave.

Check out Ivana Taylor's most excellent review of Built to Sell at Anita Campbell's Small Business Trends site.

The Service Roundtable is an online support engine designed to help contractors run efficient and profitable companies. If you are a contractor I highly recommend joining. All you have to do is sign up for one month and you'll be hooked. My only problem is that their price is so inexpensive, people will equate it to perceived value of less than what it is.Those people would be wrong.

*A quick note about folks like Sarah. In their most excellent book, The Art of Possibility, Roz and Ben Zander say that an employee who looks least engaged may be the most committed member of the group. Instead of speaking to their cynicism, speak to their passion.

Cynicism and Success

My manager is a moe-ron. Why else would someone agree to be a human fire hydrant every single day? His manager, the crew, staff and customers circle the hydrant, all jockeying for a clear shot.

The people who I work with are moe-rons. They punch in, punch their minds out and hang on by their fingernails to the day's end. They could care less about the company and customers. They care even less about themselves. Professional development? Huh, that's about a pro ball player going from the minors to the bigs. It has nothing to do with them.

The people who own this company are moe-rons. There's no connection between them and their employees. Reality has left the house. Customers? Oh yeah, they buy our stuff. The owners treat them like farm animals - give em some feed and box up the milk and eggs.

This guy sure has a distorted point of view, doesn't he? A cynical sot, isn't he. Sure not like us, is he?

He was me. He was so tired of the passion-less, focused-less, caring-less business world around him that he sank to cynicism. In the beginning he thought Dilbert was for losers. In the end he worshiped Dilbert. The system and the drones who ran it and those who trudged through it wore him down. His inability to escape from it brought illness to his body.

Don't be Evil

Google's Code of Conduct

Under the heading Serve our Users, Google states this guiding principle: Is what we are offering useful?

Whether or not you are a company or an author, is there a more clear and coherent guiding principle than this?

Ten Things Google has Found to be True

Under point # 9: You can be serious without a suit. Give the proper tools to a group of people who like to make a difference, and they will.

Just a couple of points that stood out to me.

One of Your Employees?

I went down a rabbit hole yesterday and discovered the United Breaks Guitar video along with this one. Forget the very last word in this video because it is of no relevance to me. I am more enamored in the most succinct description of many modern day corporate employees. Many thanks to Roy Williams for the inspiring inspiration.

United (Airlines) Breaks Guitars, Bullies and Indifference

United Airline's employees broke Dave Carroll's Taylor $3,500 guitar. Dave spent nearly one year trying to get United to repair his guitar, to no avail. They said no. This is old news, but when I saw the video that Dave and his band, Sons of Maxwell, composed to chronicle this customer-lack-of-service nightmare, the hair on the back of my neck came to attention, stood on end and then sent an internal message to my stomach which in turn sent a message to my brain which sent a message to my feet that then propelled me right straight to the bathroom.

Of course I'll place United Airlines on the last-airline-I'd-fly-on-list. But this company just symbolizes how corporations can act as bullies and how an atmosphere of indifference can rot away a company's foundation. Kind of like "I'm a bully, I'm a bully, I'm a bully," as the bully's body begins to slowly disappear starting at its feet.

It's all about people. I am sure that there is a United Airlines crew in one airport, somewhere, that rocks. But as consumers, once we buy a Pinto, it's highly unlikely we'd ever buy another. Lack of customer service aside, what is of interest to me is the culture of companies like UA and how it influences Generation Y. Would they base an employment decision on how the company treated Dave Carroll? Or would tough times influence them to place those feelings on the back burner and take the job if they had the opportunity? And if so, how do they cope with corporate bully-ness and indifference - once they are immersed in it?

Oh well. Sit back, warm up those facial muscles responsible for smiling and enjoy Dave and his band.

I Despise Goals!

Yes it's about semantics. And ridiculous expectations. And out-of-touch-with-reality managers. And corporate. And I state that with every ounce of conviction that I can muster like the big ugly wad of gum stuck on your shoe that it is. And it's about lack of achievement. And crutches for managers. And reasons to not engage. And big ole hockin' stomach aches.

The gurus say you must have goals and grade to those goals. So those of us who secretly disagree with the whole notion, keep to ourselves. I was recently talking to a twenty plus year ex-manager and she told me that she HATES goals. I was shocked. Did I mention that she was an extremely successful manager? It turns out she just did to her corporate manager what most teenagers do to their parents. "Yes mom, yes mom, yes mom." They did the goal thing on paper and then she went about working with her coworkers in ways that produced excellent results. I believe that the physical description of this event involves taking one's hand and sliding it up and down a fictitious pole.

I do not disagree with the practice of setting a target and then striving for it. There's just so much muckety-muck slimed around the practice of what is known as goal setting and in most cases the inevitable failure to achieve such goals, that I think a change in both terminology and view are in order.

Marcus says that most people don't change much. I agree. I don't however, have the time, energy and evangelistic characteristics needed to mount a crusade. So all you folks out there who are goalies, no sweat, keep on keepin' on with your goals. I am more interested in folks like the young ex-manager above who despises goals. 

How deep-seeded have this woman's sentiments run? Well I've known her since 1974, married her in 1977 and produced offspring with her in 1981 and 1992, and I never knew she despised goals. For one stretch of twenty years when we were both managers at the same time, we spoke every single day after work, about all things management. I think the whole goal-crap thing is burnt so deep by corporate and the gurus into our neural pathways, that we have become desensitized to it...kinda like going to the bathroom. Given our druthers we'd rather not do it, but its part of human nature so we just do what we have to do.

I'll follow up this post with some different ideas in terminology and viewpoints.

Is Management Broken?

Is management broken?  Management author Rosa Say loves this question.  For it implies that what is broken can be fixed.  Can managers learn?  And can they take that knowledge and effect enhanced performance from their coworkers?  Quite frankly, I am not so optimistic.

To be sure, we cannot throw all managers into this soup of incompetence.  Many are not broken.  Many achieve enviable performance from an engaged workforce.  Engaged because coworker's strengths are utilized, two-way communication is in order, expectations are made clear, frequent feedback is given, resources are made available, the whole (mind, body, heart, spirit) coworker recognized, achievements are noted and rewarded and respect is afforded.

Is it possible for the coworker to teach the manager to be a better manager?

Let's ask Ronald McDonald.  Do you suppose that parents buy their kids Happy Meals because of advertising that is directed towards them?  Or do you suppose that parents buy Happy Meals because their kids want them to buy them?

So we can offer managers a myriad of educational opportunities and encourage them to participate.  Most likely the book gets shelved, the DVD gets put away, notes are lost - and it's back to work on Monday.  I really like that new management idea.  And I'll implement it the first moment that I am not so busy.

Bob, I wanna Happy Meal, errrr, Bob, I need to sit down with you and make sure that you and I are on the same page with what you expect from me.

So, can we get managers to buy Happy Meals?  Tune into The Technician Shop and lets give it a try!

A Smokin' Hot Piece of Brain Candy

Egads!  If this doesn't elicit a hot smokin' visual, I'm not sure anything else could.

Although this artwork is breathtaking, I'm talkin' bout the artwork of Scott Ginsberg.  Go here for that artwork.  I'm thinking if Dale Carnegie were still around today, this is the kind of stuff that he would be writing about.

For an explanation of my post's title, please go to point 6 on Scott, the Name Tag Guy's post.

Do you know what at times, I am uncontrollably guilty of?  Picture Number Five, the robot from Short Circuit:

 

Need input.  Need input.  Need input.

I blast around to every little corner of the Universe looking for more.  More information, more knowledge, more wisdom.

I have some advice for you David.  Take a deep breath, and then exhale.  Relax.  Scott Ginsberg has just what you need...well, except for that mountain retreat with that huge window that overlooks the valley where you could take a journal and quietly address this bright and articulate young man's thirty points.  Seriously David, this isn't rocket science.  Scott tells you what you need to do. 

Listen man, I have an idea for you.  This will require discretion, courage and valor.  Perhaps you could work for folks like Scott and Dan Schwabel?  We both know how much you admire this generation! Perhaps you could infiltrate organizations over run with old coots like youself and teach them about folks like Scott and Dan?

Brain Candy photo from ruk777 on Flickr

Number Five from ygnacioduran on Flickr

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time

I recommend that you buy The 100 Best Business Books of All Time.  I haven't read the book.  I have never recommended a book without reading it first!

While on a little link adventure this morning I wound up on Andrea Learned's buzz up of The 100 Best Business Books of All Time at Marketing Profs.  I followed Andrea's link to the Web site that authors Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten, created for their new book.

Here are my reasons for recommending this work:

High-Andrea Learned-cred - In the past, Andrea provided fascinating insight on culture and trends through a gender specific lens.  Andrea has since replaced that lens with one designed to provide greater depth and clarity. 

The 800-CEO-READ lads - Jack and Todd - When one thinks of business books, one thinks of 800-CEO-READ.  I have been keeping an eye on Todd and his writing since the early Penny blog days.

Big Reason - Ok, this one pegged my dave-take-notice-meter.  800-CEO-READ sells books.  Business books.  What better platform to sell the book that you write and title The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, than that of your own company.  Right?  Well, Jack and Todd body slam caution against the wind.  Right there, directly on their Buy the Book page, they provide links to Borders, Amazon and IndieBound.  And, at least at Borders and Amazon, the price of the book is less than 800-CEO-READ!!

Ok, I am buying the book from Jack and Todd on principle alone.  This business tactic of theirs is the essence of cyber commerce humanism.  For those of you who are driven by left brain analysis's and practicality please note the value that you will receive if you do buy the book from these most excellent authors.

One Small Step Can Change Your Life

One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer.

Motivated by the questions, How do people succeed?  and How do successful people stay successful? Robert writes a book about change utilizing Kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement.

Robert's mantra is to perform small steps of continuous improvement.  One gaze at the chapters in his book and you will begin to get a feel:

Why Kaizen Works

Ask Small Questions

Think Small Thoughts

Take Small Actions

Solve Small Problems

Bestow Small Rewards

Identify Small Moments

Kaizen For Life

I like this book!  It is small, portable, digestible, believable and most importantly, doable.  You can crack it open, read five minutes and actually start to put it to work.  Really.

Rothacker Reviews has been going through some change.  I created a journal for guidance.  One thing that I try to write in it each day is...one thing.  What one thing can I do today that moves me into the direction of accomplishing my goal?  Thank you Robert for providing that one thing thing that has helped...your book.