Weekly Bookmarks
54th Edition — February 16, 2020
Every managerial act rests on assumptions, generalizations, and hypotheses—that is to say, on theory. Our assumptions are frequently implicit, sometimes quite unconscious, often conflicting; nevertheless, they determine our predictions that if we do a, b will occur. Theory and practice are inseparable.
Douglas McGregor in The Human Side of Enterprise, Annotated Edition
1. Remembering WorldCom, But Only Briefly
I was telling my favorite company president this week that I have a Google alert set for ‘CFO fraud’ and the results are sad and disappointing. CFO fraud is not going away.
One of the most infamous acts of accounting fraud ever committed by a CFO was discovered by an internal auditor as WorldCom’s financial position was crashing downward.
Earlier this month, the CEO of this once behemoth telecom passed away. Bernie Ebbers had been sentenced to 25 years of jail time for his part in the accounting scandal. He was released last December for health reasons.
Accordingly, I’m reminded of the book Extraordinary Circumstances by Cynthia Cooper, the internal auditor mentioned earlier. Every CFO, Controller, Accounting Manager, and Staff Accountant should read this book.
2. The Marlboro Man of Leadership Insights
Rugged thinker, brash, independent-minded, self-assured, confident, humorous and definitely irreverent. Do a few of those qualities describe a leadership guru?
I’m calling this guy Robert (not Peter) Townsend and his book Up the Organization is a breath of fresh air. It’s an old book, and with the exception of the 1970 sexist remarks, I’d read more leadership books if they were written like his. Bruce Reed is the CFO of PracticeLink, and this is one of his favorite business books – thanks for getting me to read this.
By the way, Townsend was the CEO of Avis when he hired Bill Bernbach’s ad agency who came up with the ‘We Try Harder’ slogan. Genius.
3. Townsend Thought HR Departments Should be Abolished
If you work in HR, try not to take Townsend too personally. He thought the PR Department should be fired. And the purchasing group too (yes, really).
Regarding HR, the experience management company, Qualtrics, has published a Top 20 reading list for HR leaders. While there are familiar titles on this list, I’m adding Everybody Matters by Bob Chapman to my must-read pile as it’s written by a CEO who states that 7 out of 8 people in the workforce go home every day thinking they work for a company that doesn’t care about them.
Chapman’s $2.5 billion company doesn’t just manufacture products, it builds great people. I want to get to know this guy through his book.
4. The Human Side of Enterprise
Qualtrics goofed up – they left off a seminal book on people and management thinking (the good and the bad). That book is the classic, The Human Side of Enterprise by Douglas McGregor (and I’m referencing the 2006 annotated edition).
If you are a Dan Pink fan and his teaching about intrinsic motivation, then this book belongs in your Kindle library for reference and a quick skim where you’ll find the key differences between Theory X and Theory Y. Incidentally, Townsend was a Theory Y leader, and he made no bones about it.
5. Scanlon Plans
I think I own just about every book written about Scanlon Plans. A Scanlon Plan is named after a steelworker who brought wage earners, owners, and the union together through a system that was a win-win-win for all in the 1930s.
The original Scanlon Plan was not a profit-sharing plan, but close to it. Employees benefited from cost savings they achieved and agreed upon ahead of time by management.
I’m reminded of Scanlon Plans because there is a chapter about them in The Human Side of Enterprise. I’ve watched way too many CEOs screw up profit-sharing plans because they morph into manipulative and carrot-and-stick gimmicks with the sole intent to control staff toward higher productivity. The key, however, is creating an atmosphere of self- and participatory-management. The Scanlon or profit-sharing plan is merely icing on the cake.
Recent Bookmarks – 53 | 52 | 51
Thank You For Reading
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Take care and have a great week. Always be learning.
Title Photo Attribution – by Mr. Blue MauMau, and thank you very much.
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