In honor of Ben Stiller’s birthday, I offer up this stream-of-consciousness analysis of the fantastic movie Zoolander through the MBM lens (here’s the trailer if you haven’t seen it (you should really see it)).  Feel free to contribute HR-appropriate additions, offer critiques, and be ridiculously good looking:

• Fulfillment: “I’m pretty sure there’s a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. And I plan on finding out what that is.”
• Incorrect Mental Models: “What is this? A center for ants?!” after Derek sees a 1/10th scale model of a future building.
• Incentives: [Derek to other male models] “You know what would help you sort through these important issues?” [Models respond] “ORANGE MOCHA FRAPPUCCINO!!!“
• Theory of Constraints: “How can we be expected to teach children how to read if they can’t even fit inside the building?”
• Innovation: “I INVENTED THE PIANO KEY NECKTIE!“
• Prices, Profits & Loss: Estimated $28M budget, return of over $45M
• Integrity: “[Darnit] Derek, I’m a coal miner, not a professional film or television actor.” (Said by the film and television actor Jon Voight.)
• Challenge: [Derek] “What say we settle this on the runway… Han-Solo?” [Hansel responds] “Are you challenging me to a walk-off… Boo-Lander?”
• Virtue & Talents: “I’m not an ambi-turner.”
• Humility: “I’m sorry I was wack.”
• Respect–Teamwork: “If nobody has any objections, I believe I might be of service.” [David Bowie offers to help judge the "walk-off" competition.]
• Decision Rights: [Insider J.P. Prewitt] “Male models don’t think for themselves.”  [Derek] ”That’s not true!” [Prewitt] “Yes it is, Derek.” [Derek, meekly] “Okay.”
• Competitive Analysis: [VH1 Reporter] “Derek, are you worried about Hansel?”  [Derek] “Uhh, not as much as I’m worried about Gretel.”
• Compliance–Safety: [Derek lightly coughs] “I think I’m getting the black lung” [after his first few hours spent in a coal mine.]

Ben Stiller, culture, Fulfillment, Mental Models, Zoolander

Thanks to those of you who voted in the poll I posted last week. The voter turnout was a little lackluster, but I’m still going to try a group discussion during December.  Folks who want to read/discuss a selection split between three selections, so I just ordered the readings in the most convenient way for me (it’s the brutal truth, my friends). We’ll get to all of the readings in the next few months. Below is the schedule I’m going to follow (assuming this segment is well-received).

Theory to Practice Discussion Schedule
December 20th: “A Republic of Science”

January 24th: “Intellectuals and Socialism”

February 28th: A Conflict of Visions

I’d like to focus our discussions on action. As you read, think about what individuals can apply from these society-focused readings. I’ll post my thoughts and some questions on the dates listed above. If you think of questions/comments as you read, feel free to send them to me in an email (ann.zerkle (at) cgkfoundation.org). If I get enough emails from you, I may post multiple times on the topic. If the first selection starts up some good conversations, we’ll keep going on this schedule and expand as needed.

If you have any questions or ideas about how to enhance the discussions, please leave them in the comments. I’m looking forward to discussing these selections with you!

Conflict of Visions, Intellectuals and Socialism, Republic of Science, Science of Liberty

 
This is a guest post from Mallon Mackenzie. Mallon is an alumna of an MBM training program and works closely with training programs in an operational capacity. She is thankful to be part of advancing economic freedom and to work with so many intelligent and thoughtful people.

Over the last few weeks, I have received various forms of “thank yous” from colleagues. I’d like to think that it’s more than the upcoming holiday season that has prompted these gestures of gratitude, but I don’t mind if it is just the holidays.

At this time of year when thoughts of thankfulness for our country, family, friends, health, and happiness create joy and warmth in our homes and in the world, I’m thinking some thanks could do some great things in the office too. In fact, within this little concept there is a feast of MBM principles and models we can sink our teeth into.

A “thank you” is feedback. It provides a real time signal that you’ve done something of value for someone else. Receiving thanks from our customers is a good, small measure to help us know we’re doing something right. Giving thanks to our customers can also be valuable feedback for them and a smart investment in important relationships. For example, those working in development know that well timed, sincere and simple word of thanks can be the beginning of a prosperous and growing relationship between an organization and a committed donor. Thanks is also recognition and appreciation for a job well done – something employees crave and a valuable message for managers to send. It’s a valuable tool that is available to all of us all the time.

I’ll let you in on a secret: words of thanks can have incredibly long shelf lives. I keep a stash of unexpected thoughtful letters and brief emails from tough-to-impress customers to dip into when I need a little pick me up. No matter how much time goes by, those words of gratitude still connect me to the work I do, make me feel like my job matters and that I made someone else’s day better or easier.

But this time of year we often hear it’s more important to give than to receive. Can giving thanks be just as beneficial to the giver? At its core, I think giving thanks is a gesture of humility. It helps us acknowledge that we need contributions from other team members to get the job done. Giving thanks to others helps us be less focused on ourselves and more connected to team goals and outcomes that we all work towards together.

The exercise of true gratitude helps the giver see situations in a new light. There is a quote from the Roman philosopher Cicero, “gratitude is not only the greatest of the virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Deep and sincere thankfulness can open our hearts and minds to help us be thankful even for the struggles and opportunities to learn important lessons through failure. It gives us a chance for personal growth, to focus on opportunity and be principled employees.

At the end of a day focused on thanks, I don’t think we need a “thank you” for doing our jobs, but receiving thanks when it’s deserved reinvests us in our work. Giving thanks to others helps us build teams that appreciate each other. And isn’t it the darndest thing that giving thanks gives us a fresh perspective as well?

Thanks to Mallon for submitting this excellent Thanksgiving Day post and generally being awesome! How have you seen “thank yous” work for you in the office?

“What is the goal of a business?”

It was 1996 and a dozen of us were seated in a conference room with Jim Barksdale, the CEO of Netscape Communications. It was our new-hire orientation and he had posed this question to us. As a group we were a bit intimidated to even be in the same room with the CEO of the company we had recently joined. But Barksdale patiently waited until one brave soul spoke up. “Profit?” she asked.

Barksdale was used to this answer. Typically, it was the first response he received (go on, admit it – you were probably thinking the same thing). Barksdale firmly explained that profits were NOT the goal of a business. While profits are vital to the health of a business, just like breathing is for humans, profits are not the goal of a business, just like breathing is not our goal in life.

So what is the real goal? After prodding us a bit more for other possibilities, Barksdale revealed the goal he wanted us focused on: “to make, and to keep, customers.” He added some welcoming comments but this was the key message he’d come to deliver. The CEO of the fastest growing company in Silicon Valley took 30 minutes out of his schedule every week because he wanted every new employee thinking about the needs of our customers from the git-go.

To make, and to keep, customers.  This was a crucial insight that Peter Drucker made first in his seminal work, The Practice of Management, published in 1954. If everyone in your organization, from the management team to the engineers to the support staff, has a mindset focused on the needs of their customers, the chance of profits through value creation in the marketplace increases dramatically.  An unhealthy focus on profits as the goal can lead to business pathologies that rely on government intervention – which can benefit a business without benefiting a customer or society.

Profits are a critical measure of the health of a business. And just like we want our bodies to be as healthy as possible, we want our businesses to be as healthy as possible. However, the best way to get fit is “to profitably anticipate and satisfy customer needs.”

Customer Focus, Drucker, Measures, Value Creation

This is a guest post by Jeff Proctor. Jeff just joined the MBM Team. He is interested in understanding the drivers of entrepreneurship in both the market and the firm.

Seth Priebatsch has been starting companies since he was 12 years old.  At 19, he dropped out from Princeton University to work full-time on his third venture.  Backed with $5 million in venture capital, his company hopes to create a mobile computing platform upon which people can earn rewards for taking part in real-life challenges and games.

Seth is the latest in a line of young entrepreneurs to be profiled by major media outlets.  He is hyper-driven, usually sleeping in his office.  His title is Chief Ninja.  There is clearly something about Seth that makes him different from his peers.  However, should we conclude that he is the prototype for entrepreneurship?  Furthermore, should organizations be looking to fill themselves with armies of Seths (once they are old enough to work, of course)?

In his book, The Illusions of Entrepreneurship, Scott Shane presents a different view of new venture creation (what he calls entrepreneurship) that I think can be a useful tool for understanding entrepreneurship within organizations (or corporate entrepreneurship).  Shane challenges many popular myths about entrepreneurship.  In particular, he notes that:

• Psychological factors do not explain the difference between entrepreneurs and other people.
• Entrepreneurs tend to start businesses because they want the autonomy.
• Many undesirable characteristics are typical of entrepreneurs: they are unemployed, frequently change jobs, often work only part-time, and earn lower salaries.
• Most entrepreneurs are middle-aged, rather than young.

Shane seems to view new venture creation as a reaction to external circumstances (lack of autonomy, employment problems, etc.).  Maybe the reason that most entrepreneurs are middle-aged is likely that it takes time to accumulate enough experience to be driven toward entrepreneurship.  To Shane, the picture of the bright-eyed young entrepreneur—of Seth—is the exception rather than the rule.

So how does this help us cultivate corporate entrepreneurship?  Specifically, do corporate entrepreneurs have a similar response to life (or work life) events?  If so, what kinds of experiences and environments are the most conducive to entrepreneurship in organizations?

Thanks to Jeff for writing this post. If you’d like to submit a potential guest post, email it to Ann (ann.zerkle (at) cgkfoundation.org).

How does the size of government affect what we typically consider “the American spirit”?  Similarly, how does the size of leadership at an organization affect culture?

A favorite radio show of mine–Intelligence Squared–explores the first question.

Normally heard on your NPR station, it’s a good ‘ole fashioned debate featuring titles such as “Is California the First Failed State?” “Will ‘Buy American’ Policies Backfire?” “Is It Wrong To Pay for Sex?” and “Is RootedInProsperity the Best Blog Ever?”  The debaters fight for the votes of a live audience, and attack topical issues from either a Left and Right slant (though the “Right” is almost always more what I would call a free-market or libertarian’ish viewpoint).

Last week’s show was entitled “Is Big Government Stifling The American Spirit?” and it’s definitely worth a listen.  My favorite quote, from Art Laffer, sums up how I see the issue.  He said, “I want to just say that it’s not partisan, it’s not Republican, it’s not Democrat, its not liberal, it’s not conservative:  it’s economics.”

In my view, Laffer was getting at results versus intentions as it relates to the culture of the U.S.  His position was that the Left and Right–though having very different ways of speaking about the size of government–typically both follow similar policies that increase the size and influence of government.  Looking at the result economically instead of dogmatically, we get the same outcome no matter who’s pulling the levers–less innovation, less accountability and less self-reliance.

For similar reasons, it’s generally safe to assume that as the size and influence of organizational leadership grows, the less innovation, accountability and self-reliance employees exhibit.

If a G or L (government or leader) favors the more controllable status quo over an unpredictable future, will there be much innovation?  If a G or L makes decisions for others, will those individuals feel accountable if projects succeed or fail?  If a G or L is overly protective of citizens or employees–even for the best intentions–how does this affect an individual’s ability to rely on herself when confronted with a problem?

To look at it from the other side, however, it’s important to realize that a key assumption is being made in the question above for both governments and firms: some leadership or governing body should exist.  It’s easy to get over excited about limiting the size of government or completely decentralizing a firm.  In both cases, going too far quickly gets you into trouble.

So, as in government, so in organizations, we should take time to consider whether the policies being implemented affect the overall culture in a positive or negative way as it relates to results.

Decision Rights, Intelligence Squared, NPR, Size of Government

I had our awesome marketing team put together this “Theory to Practice” graphic because I want to test the idea of the blog community reading and discussing an MBM source book or article. I want to focus on how to take ideas in a book (theory) and process what they mean for our every day behavior when trying to apply MBM (practice).

Below is a survey with some options for the first try. I figured with the holiday season approaching, no one would be up for reading Human Action (I could be wrong here…), so I opted for some shorter readings. Also, I couldn’t resist putting A Conflict of Visions in there.

At any rate, it would help me if you could either vote for a book/article or let me know this time of year is too crazy. I look forward to getting into the ideas of some of these readings in the future!

Though I missed National Unfriend Day, this post brings up an interesting angle: “National Unfriend Day Can Help Your Business.” The premise of the argument is “…National Unfriend Day might be the perfect time for you to sort and streamline your audience.”

Thanks to Derek for passing along two links. I’m hoping to get into the nitty-gritty of these and write more complete thoughts about them soon. The first link is a paper by Ken Elzinga called “Industrial Organization and Human Action” (via Division of Labor). The second page is titled “Do Middle Managers Really Matter?”

As an economist, I find the trends in the “Why Get Married?” infographic interesting. However, I’m just passing this infographic along because I think it is interesting [not because I agree or even want to get into a conversation about it].

Lifehacker suggests “Be More Productive by Getting Up Early.” Now this is a topic I could debate.

If you’ve come across a great link this week, please leave it in the comments. Have a great weekend!

Drucker, management

I’ve gotten a ton of book recommendations lately. Below is a list. It’d be great if you could leave thoughts about any of these books in the comments. Even a mini-review or highlights/low-lights would be useful as I pick where to start on this list!

Also, if you have another book to add to the list, please put it in the comments. Hopefully we can generate some good knowledge about some books! Thanks!  

• Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity by William J. Baumol , Robert E. Litan and Carl J. Schramm
• Government’s End by Jon Rauch
• The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies by Bryan Caplan
• The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder
• The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni
• What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly
• The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life (Revised Edition) by Paul Seabright
• The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves by Matt Ridley
• The Wealth and Poverty of Nations: Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor by David S. Landes