The Art Of Managing "Yes"

Sometimes Agreement Can Turn Out To Be Bad

By David Miranda

The Yes man (or woman) has gotten a bad rap in business circles - and rightfully deserved. These bobble heads of assent, particularly when its viral, aid and abet in allowing a bad idea to be disguised as a good idea.

The higher a bad idea rises on an organizational hierarchry, the greater the potential damage. How does this happen? People in the enterprise not knowing how to manage "yes". We all know how to manage "no". We stop. We rethink. We revise. "Yes", however, gains momentum in the organization and, unless tested by constructive dissent, is like a snowball rolling down hill. It eventually becomes an unstoppable force. When a bad idea disguised as a good idea attains this kind of organization momentum, without constructive dissent, a disaster is waiting to happen.

Yes people whose little voice told them "this is a bad idea, but everyone else including the boss likes it, so I'll keep my opinions to myself" are accessories to the crime. These are the same people who comment after the disaster "I knew all along that that was a bad idea". It's like the old adage "success has many fathers (mothers), but failure is an orphan".

Bad ideas disguised as good ideas? There are many historic examples. Here's two.

Where were the voices within Coca-Cola during the creation of New Coke? Didn't somebody speak up in one of those many meetings and say "hey, what if we upset all those millions of people that like Coke just the way it is? Think any of them might care?" New Coke has too much momentum and senior management support of "yes".

How about IBM thinking it was a good idea to out-source the operating system for the IBM PC to an unknown firm called Microsoft? It's the hardware that's more important. Bad idea disguised as a good idea.

The moral of these story is that there is an art in managing "yes". Here are some guidelines

1. The higher you are on the org chart the more weight your "yes" carries. Be careful and prudent on your influential vote. Other people are watching and listening.


2. Trust your initial gut reaction. It's probably the most honest.


3. Speak out and be vocal of your opinions particularly if dissenting. Silence translates into tacit approval.


4. Don't dissent just to dissent or approve just to approve. Have good solid foundations for your opinion or you will just be considered just negative or a yes person.


5. Collaborate, listen, create dialogue with others in your organization - not to build consensus but to build confidence in the process and the ultimate decision whether it is yes or no.


6. Don't be afraid to expose a bad idea regardless of its maturity in the planning cycle. Saying its gone too far or its too late to stop is a cop out and implies corporate cowardice.


7. If everyone is agreeing, there is a problem. No one agrees on everything.

Bottom line? Don't take yes for an answer.

Capt. Sully Sullenberger - The Three Minute Manager

Crisis Management Lessons From The Pilot Of USAirways Flight 1549

By David Miranda

It was a remarkable feat. Now known as the "Miracle on the Hudson".

Listening to Capt. Sullenberger with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, one could only be amazed at the pilot's calm demeanor as he recounted details of the incident. Hearing his play-by-play and his interaction with air traffic control from the cockpit voice recorder, it was obvious he was a professional in control of life-or-death situation.

What is most amazing is that it all happened in a period of about three minutes. Bird strike, both engines fail, taking command of the plane, trying to restart the engines, communicating with air traffic control, determination that return to LaGuardia or to alternative airport was not feasible, gliding the plane over the George Washington Bridge, wanting to land near boats for best chance of rescue, keeping the nose up, wings level, announcing "Brace for impact" optimizing air speed and finally landing the plane on the Hudson River.

All this within three, yes three, minutes.

He said to Katie Couric - "I was sure I could do it" not in an arrogant tone, but one whose lifetime of training had prepared him to make all the right decisions.

What can we learn from Sully in crisis situations?

• As the leader, he took immediate control.


• He did not panic.


• He did not call a meeting to get everyone's input.


• He communicated to his team and stakeholders.


• He quickly considered all his options and their potential consequences.


• He made split-second decisions


• He ensured that those he was responsible for were all safe and accounted for at his risk of his own peril.

Sully had three minutes to make the right decisions. Those of us in business that have more time to consider potential actions in a crisis should learn from him.

Marie Antoinette Revisited - The American People Continue To Get Royally "F?#%d"

The Shameful, Arrogant, Unfathomable Behavior Of The Self-Entitled

By David Miranda

The past and (yes) continued behavior of the self-entitled on Wall Street and their enablers in the Washington and the State Capitols make the fictional Gordon Gecko in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street" look like Mr. Rogers (with no disrespect to Fred Rogers' memory).

It seems like every day a new Congressional hearing, a New York Times or WSJ article, or investigative television journalist exposes yet another of the self-entitled's evidence of a total disregard for anything but their own self-interest. Clueless comes to mind, but using that word is an insult to the naive and uninformed.

Someone once said that the difference between ignorance and stupidity is this - ignorance means you don't know; stupid means you'll never know. The self-entitled are not ignorant people. They are shamefully, arrogantly, and unfathomably stupid of the plight of anyone and anything other than their own self-interest.

Each day new members are added to this "Marie Antionette Rogue's Gallery". On the public side examples abound - auto execs flying corporate jets to DC to ask for a handout; Merrill-Lynch rushing through $18 billion in bonuses (the firm lost $34 billion for the bonus year) just before begging for a bailout; AIG, after receiving bailout funds, hosting a $400K junket to a 4-star golf resort and spa; Merrill-Lynch CEO spending $1.2 million to redecorate his office; CitiGroup ordering a $50 million corporate jet (since canceled after the news got out); Bernie Madoff, the $50 billion Ponzi man, under house arrest at his $7 million NY apartment where he attempted to send $1 million in jewelry and $173 million in checks to friends and family.

On the political front, more examples of the self-entitled - Louisiana Congressman caught in a sting with $100K in his freezer; the impeached Governor of Illinois wanting to sell the vacant seat of President Obama to benefit himself and his wife in rather vivid and vulgar taped conversations; the former senior Senator from Alaska indicted for having undeclared renovations done to his home, and on and on and on.

Marie Antionette didn't get it and it seems neither have the entrenched self-entitled. President Obama ran on a platform of bringing hope and change to America - "Yes We Can".

It is now time to change aspiration for change to action - embracing "Yes We Will" both in the public and private corridors of power. If not, voters, shareholders and consumers will storm the Bastille and demand for their heads.

People Should Have Warning Labels!

It Would Make Business So Much Easier For All Of Us

By David Miranda

It's high time that everyone in the business world (and maybe the personal world as well) had warning labels. It would save a lot of time and frustration.

For example, I was held hostage in a recent marketing meeting by several attendees who, if they had warning labels, I could have been better prepared.

There was one male participant at the meeting whose warning label should have been "I like to hear myself talk and I seldom, if ever, get to the point." One of his colleague's label should have been "I ask a lot of dumb questions demonstrating I have little grasp of the subject we are discussing." Another's should have been "I have no opinions of my own". And finally, the person who wasted the most time's label should have been "I create long and boring powerpoint presentations designed to show how smart I am and how dumb I think you are."

These labels would go far in making meetings (and business) more productive. Imagine how great it would be if these labels were noted next to each person's name on the agenda.

How about a label on the supposed "decision maker" at the meeting that says "I know I am supposed to be a decision maker, but actually I cannot make decisions."? Or another for a boss that says "I encourage my people to be innovative, but I really prefer the status quo".

Now let's all get out those label makers!

"Contact Us" On Web Sites Really Means "Please Don't"

If You Really Mean It, Post Your Personal Email Address And Answer Your Phones.

By David Miranda

Every web site has the obiligatory "Contact Us" on the "nav bar" and corporate telephone numbers, but don't really mean it.

It really means "send an email to a generic email account that one or more people have access to and one of these people may get back to you or you may get a programmed response like 'Thank you for your email. We appreciate your feedback. Someone will be back to you within the next 24 to 48 hours.' "

The telephone version is the 1-800 number, as in,

"Thank you for calling, X Company, press 'one' for English or 'two for Spanish'."

"Thank you".

"For billing, press 'one'. To open a new account, press 'two'. To cancel an account, press 'three'. For all other requests, press 'four'.

"Thank you".

"Your call is important to us. We are experiencing an unusual level of call volume. Please stay on the line for the next available operator."

Music.

"Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line for the next available operator"

More music.

"Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line for the next available operator"

Recommendation: "Contact us" should mean "we really mean it". Put real people's email addresses on web sites and have real people answer the phone. If real people can't, then have the call go to a recording - and not vice versa.

If people at the company are too busy to respond to existing or potential customers via email or phone, what the hell are they too busy doing?

If you can't personally respond to emails or have humans answer the phone, change "Contact Us" to "Just buy our stuff and leave us alone".

"Contact me" with your comments.

The Business Prevention Department

The "Yeah, But's" Of The Corporate Bureaucracy

By David Miranda

You won't find it on any organizational chart, but it's there - the business prevention department.

It's prime objective is to champion attitudes that discourage the new and the innovative within the organization. They are "you can't get there from here" people. Chances are you have attended meetings with some members of this department. They are easily identified. They are most likely your boss or boss' boss or members of your peer group. They are the ones shaking their heads on your new idea after just seeing only the title slide. They normally begin their comments with "Yeah, but", as in, "Yeah, but, we tried that before"; or "Yeah, but, you don't understand".

The business preventionists come in all shapes and sizes, genders, ethnic groups, religious and political affiliation. They are good at what they do - resisting change.

Examples are many.

Take the IBM business preventionist who, after hearing a suggestion that "since we would be manufacturing millions of personal computers, we should also market our own operating system for it" replied, "Yeah, but, we don't do operating systems. We make computers. Let's get this guy, Gates, to do it."

Or how about the major television network executive who, after hearing a pitch for a 24 hour news channel replied "Yeah, but, who is going to watch news for 24 hours, Mr. Turner? I think this CNN idea is pie-in-the-sky."

Or the Barnes & Noble executive who, after hearing a pitch for selling books on the Internet said, "Yeah, but, I don't think you get it Mr. Bezos. People prefer to buy books in a real store. I am also not too crazy about the name, Amazon."

There's more. Newspapers could not see the threat of the likes of eBay and Craig's List. The music labels could not see the potential impact of Napster or the iPod. Microsoft missed the opportunity to be a Google, Yahoo!, MySpace, or YouTube. Blockbuster should have foreseen Netflix.

How about your organization? Is the business prevention department active? Here's a quiz:

• Are new ideas encouraged in your organization?


• Are they really? If so, what part of your marketing plan represents encouraging the new vs. reinforcing the status quo?


• Do new ideas come from the bottom up, top down, or as the result of competitor's initiatives?


• Is your company spending more time analyzing than doing?


• Does your company pride itself more in doing things right or doing the right things?

In summary, today's currency is ideas. The suppression of ideas and innovation is terminal. Don't let the business prevention department succeed.

Defeat the "Yeah, but's".

Key Marketing Metric - Understanding The Difference Between Displacement And Dilution

Unwise Discounting Can Reduce Profits And Market Share

By David Miranda

Revenue optimization, once known as yield management, is relatively new to marketing. It was developed first in the travel industry. The premise is that perishable inventory (airline seats, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises) is directly and dynamically correlated to key factors such as time, supply, and demand. It is the primary reason that the price of an airline ticket varies so dramatically among passengers on the same flight. Some passengers booked well in advance to get the best fare, while others who had to book at the last minute paid the highest price.

Of course, this is not an exact science, but a sophisticated "guessing game" by the airline, hotel, car rental firm, or cruise line. The process requires huge amounts of data to be "crunched" to determine the number of seats, rooms, etc. to be offered at any given price. When demand is low, more inventory is offered at lower prices and vice versa.

Revenue optimization has now made its way into other sectors, but caution should prevail. Many times business utilizing the practice displace or dilute revenues, so it's important to know the distinction.

Displacement refers to selling at a low price during periods of high demand. This unwisely "displaces" higher revenue to competitors after the company, who sold out its inventory at the low price, cannot meet additional demand. The result is that the competitor benefits from higher margins. Example: A company decides to offer a product at a highly discounted price and sells out. Unfulfilled demand is forced to competitors who charge more for the same product realizing higher profits.

Dilution refers to unnecessarily discounting prices to customers who either have already or would pay a higher price. Example: A company has already sold products at a higher price, but the product is moving slowly, so the company decides to sell remaining inventory at a lower price. Dilution occurs when the customers who already paid the higher price now demands the discount afforded others. The result - dilution.

The lesson is clear. A company must first analyze the potential effects of discounting - will it dilute revenue already realized or will it displace higher margin business to competitors?

Before considering discounting, do the math!