Times Change—The Questions Remain the Same

Posted by Bill - December 18th, 2007

Another pointer to one of my Harvard Business Online posts. The editors asked their “management bloggers” (a pretty impressive crew—I’m not sure how I made the cut) to reflect on what they’ve learned from the reader feedback they’ve received in 2007. Here’s a link to all the reflections. My comments are below:

I’ve been writing my “Game Changer” essays for about four months, and as I reflect on the commentary and feedback my posts have generated, I’ve re-learned a lesson that’s easy to forget—especially for those of us who are captivated by what’s new, what’s exciting, what’s “cutting-edge” in business.

And that lesson is simply this: The most urgent, most important, and most controversial questions about business are also the most fundamental and timeless questions. Times change, technologies evolve, the global economy rises and falls. But through it all, what both senior executives and rank-and-file employees wonder and worry about are basic matters of meaning and purpose. Am I proud to be part of this company? Does what I do matter—both to my colleagues and to the outside world? If my company went away tomorrow, or if I didn’t show up for work, how many people—if anybody—would notice?

This simple lesson became clear to me as I watched the response to an entry I posted on October 1. I recounted a presentation I’d heard from a consultant to the banking industry, whose firm has conducted thousands of “mystery shops” and interviews with front-line employees at retail banks. He told the gathering that during their visits, his researchers always ask bank employees a simple question: “As a customer, why should I choose your bank over the competition?” And two-thirds of the time, he said, front-line employees have no answer to that question—they simply “make something up on the fly.”

My question was: How can any business expect to outperform the competition when its own employees can’t explain—simply and convincingly— what makes them different from the competition?

But the reaction to my post focused on different questions: How can people expect to perform great inside their company unless they understand what makes their company great in the first place? How can executives claim to be effective leaders if they can’t imbue everyone in their organization with a sense of mission and purpose? In other words, how can any business expect to create economic value if the people who make up the organization don’t share a set of values that gives their work meaning and creates a sense of satisfaction that goes beyond market share, return on capital, and even shareholder value?

I was heartened by the breadth and intensity of the feedback my October 1 post generated. So in 2008, I certainly plan to continue thinking and writing about disruptive technology, distinctive strategic ideas, new models for growth and creativity. But I’ll also keep my eye on the real prize—helping visitors to this site do work that matters and build organizations of which they can be proud.

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