Steve Jobs on quality and other things
With Steve Jobs announcing his step down from the top of Apple the media is full of stories about him, his contributions, history and view of things. This from the WSJ listing of favorite Steve jobs quotes: When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.” [Playboy, Feb. 1,...
read moreDishonor your brand – the GM way
…and here I was seriously considering GM for my next vehicle. In spite of the fact that it took them forever to catch-up from the 1973 oil embargo; in spite of the fact that the reliability history and frequency of repair records have been among the worst for much of the last decade. I’ve been impressed with new design. The recognition and accolades the Volt all-electric has garnered, the Corvette Z06 and the Cadillac CTS-V together with their payback of bailout dollars made the company look like Phoenix rising. And now this from Reuters, “GM says bankruptcy excuses it from...
read moreSmall Short -Term Thinking – #2
There are three big things that ail us. This is #2. When in survival mode it is tough to think big picture and long-term. Economic realities of the late decade created a basic survival mode of thinking that seemed to dominate the landscape. Such thinking may play well to get through today, tomorrow and even next week but good people will not stay in it with you for long. “There just happy to have a job,” has a shelf life and it’s about expired. Small short-term thinking is largely fear based. Fear may rally a team for a short time to solve a particular problem. It is not a...
read moreDisagreement on Priorities – #1
A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action. This country song wasn’t written about business. The phrase, however has become a standard component of leaders lexicon. We hear it and say it regularly. Sometimes the opposite, more talk and less action is the right approach. There are three big things that ail us according to an author whose name I do not recall. He was writing about the current state of the US but it struck me that he also could have been talking about many businesses. Disagreement on priorities was his first noted big ailment. (The second will follow in the next blog post) If...
read moreMore…but don’t tell!
In the movie Wall Street II Shia LeBoeuf asks Josh Brolin, “How much is enough?” The answer, “More.” Last week a group, The HR Policy Association backed by 81 big corporate players successfully lobbied a House committee to pass a bill that would repeal disclosure requirements providing ratios comparing CEO compensation to that of average employees. First, let’s be clear, these are huge multinational Fortune 500 companies many of the biggest in their industries. Most CEO’s are not a part of this and no privately held CEO’s are included. Lots of...
read moreMiddle-managers or team leaders we still need beer
Grain, hops, glass, aluminum and cardboard came in. Beer in cans or bottles on palletized cases and kegs went out in a constant parade of 40 foot semi-trailers. That was the essence of my first professional management job. The top leadership was shared between the plant GM and the Brewmaster. There were department managers, (bottling, packaging, shipping, engineering, maintenance, QC, HR, Accounting). Each department had General foremen, foreman, and workers. There was a health and safety department with a nurse staffed infirmary which got a lot of business. There was a symbiotic relationship...
read moreComplementary Resources
LinkedIn
Twitter
