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Posts Tagged ‘google’

I Got Outcoached in a Big Way

Monday, March 28th, 2011

In recent years, NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament has had a few upsets, a few memorable moments and a few captivating quotes. This year’s memorability quotient has reached new heights which includes:

  • Four teams with a combined 37 losses and a combined winning percentage of .755, second lowest since 1985.

  • Four teams whose combined seeding equals 26, breaking the record of 22 in 2000.

  • Not a single No. 1 seed for only the third time since seeding began in 1979.

  • Not a single No. 1 or No. 2 for the first time.

    • No surprise then, that out of the 5.9 million entries in the ESPN bracket contest, only two had this foursome making its way to Houston. Did they go on a hunch? Or just tie on a blindfold and throw darts at the bracket?

    While this year is special, from my perspective, the coach and the team to watch from a leadership/team perspective is Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs. Last year they were the Cinderella story almost beating Duke in the NCAA Championship game. This year, they’re back to their old tricks of playing the underdog role and toppling giants. And its Brad Stevens that I think leaders need study, understand and possibly emulate. Following Butler’s upset of Florida, this is what Brad Stevens said about his team and Florida’s coach, Billy Donovan.

    “They (Butler’s players) carried their coach today in a big way. I was saying I got outcoached in a big way.”

    This comment probably caught most off-guard, wondering how Stevens could even make such a statement. Was he simply playing his team’s underdog role to the max? Did he really mean it? Or was he simply giving credit where credit was deserved - to his players?

    Let me change gears here for a second. Last week, the New York Times ran a story about Google’s quest to identify what it took to be a good boss. Their search looked at quantitative and qualitative data, from which they identified 8-key criteria. They being:

    1. Be a good coach.
    2. Empower your team and don’t micromanage it.
    3. Express interest in team members success and personal well-being.
    4. Don’t be a sissy - be productive and results oriented.
    5. Be a good communicator and listen to your team.
    6. Help your employees with career development.
    7. Have a clear vision and strategy for the team.
    8. Have key technical skills so you can help advise the team.

    At first glance, these leadership traits have been taught for decades. Nothing new. Nothing fancy. No surprises. Pretty basic stuff. Yet its reassuring that the simple basics of being a good boss remain relevant in an era of “whats new lately” can dominate leadership classes. So let’s get back to Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs. I’m of the opinion that the question about whether Brad Stevens was outcoached or not isn’t even relevant. I think the question should be, “Who is the better leader/boss?” Because I’m coming to the conclusion that Brad Stevens is a pretty darn good coach, however he is a brilliant leader/boss. This is why the Butler Bulldogs have returned to the Final 4 two years in a row. It’s why his players give 110 percent and don’t choke under the heat.

    Just maybe, schools are doing a pretty good job of recruiting coaches, however they need to do a better job of finding leaders. I think its that plain and simple.

    What do you think?

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    Posted in Leadership, Uncategorized | No Comments »

    China’s Volatility Index

    Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

    Have you noticed recently that whatever China does, the marketplace listens. Google makes a tough decision, whether or not they will continue to comply with the censorship oversight of its search engines. Who notices? You and I.  China expands its money supply. Who notices? China moves to curb lending. Who notices? Of course, we do. In years past, the U.S., Europe, along with parts of Southeast Asia were the economic drivers. Today, Europe suddenly appears irrelevant in the big picture. Nobody really cares what happens in Italy, France or Great Britain, however everybody cares about what happens in China!

    The challenge here is that Europe (a transparent economy for the most part) is being displaced by China, an economy with a low degree of transparency. And as transparency declines, the chance for without warning events increases. So as we enter a new decade, I anticipate that marketplace volatility will increase, and its directly related to China becoming an increasingly powerful nation and economic factor.

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    Posted in China | No Comments »

    Google Insight

    Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

    In my presentation, Without Warning, I present the problem, silent problem and without warning trifecta. I discuss how a codependency exists between problems and silent problems. I illustrate how problems that are uncomfortable want to naturally gravitate toward becoming silent. And once they’ve become silent, over time they naturally want to gravitate back towards being visible (If more people understood this dynamic, they’d be less inclinded to pursue the silent problem option). Its as if a bozo switch exists that says to us, “If I can avoid disclosing this problem, I’ll be able to figure a way out.” It’s a seductive safety valve that rarely works, yet is often deployed. The challenge is, the silent problem morphs over time, growing more complicated and tenacious to the point where it wants to be visible. And when this occurs, a without warning event occurs.

    What does this have to do with Google. As you likely know, Google as a company is admired and feared. It’s transformed businesses and made others irrelevant. It has helped change the world, and much of the world has adapted to it. So when Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google speaks, people tend to listen. Jeff Jarvis, author of “What Would Google Do” recently attended Aspen Ideas Festival where Eric Schmidt spoke and Jarvis wrote about it over at his blog, BuzzMachine. Here was my Silent Problem moment.  Schmidt states;

    I learned awhile ago that the right way to run human systems is transparency. Problems came from information hiding.

     Information hiding is one of the cornerstones for silent problems and a catalyst for Without Warning Events. Information hiding can and does occur at every level of the organization, from the individual, the group, the division and all the way up to the organization itself. It’s a dangerous path filled with short term gains, yet long term consequences. Just look at the daily news. Individuals as varied as Madoff to South Carolina’s Mark Sanford perfectly illustrate this point. It speaks volumes about the individual and their integrity. But take a moment and see how this actually manifests itself.

    Problem > Silent Problem > Without Warning Event

    Sanford had a problem - infidelity. He somehow believed he could keep it all silent(maybe there was some comfort that having an affair in a different country could be held in secrecy). And when it was exposed without warning, it ruins his career and potentially his aspirations for higher office.

    I’ve seen this over and over again. That is, the problem, silent problem, without warning trifecta. It’s a losing combination where careers are lost and opportunities squandered. Spread the word, and of course if you want to learn more - go to the book, Without Warning.

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    What Would Google Do?

    Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

    Less than 24 hours after the blast across the bow of GM and Chrsler by President Obama, newsmania and blogmania has devoured this event, licking its chops for more.  One blog refered to GM as Government Motors.  Some profess that GM will go to Chapter 11 as a means to find its new footing.  Maybe most interesting, Ford under the helm of Mulally is receiving high praise for the deep restructuring they underwent over the past 2-years.  Ford is suddenly the strongest, best managed and best run domestic auto manufacturer.  That’s an interesting story unto itself.

    So what does GM, Ford and Chrysler have to do with Google?

    Jeff Jarvis, a journalist of traditional roots recently wrote the book What Would Google Do (WWGD).  It’s one of those questions that could be asked of just about anything.  You see, since Google’s meagar start in this world less than 10-years past, it has become a behemoth, with 20,000+ employees. They’ve been a pioneer and a disruptor, taking on Microsoft, Yahoo and others. And along the way, it has created a pretty impressive resume, including phenomenal employee relations. I’m convinced that Google regards their employees as their number one asset.  Yet if I were lucky enough to spend a week inside Google and a second week inside GM, I’m certain there would be little similarity.  Google has a plan to move forward.  GM has a plan to step backwards slowly.  Google embraces entreprenuership.  GM has a well defined hierarchy that protects the status quo.  Google is a disruptor.  GM is a protector.  Google hires the brightest talent available.  GM use to hire the brightest talent available.  The list could go on and on.

    The comparison of Google to GM is not the point of this blog post.  In the March 30th edition of Fortune magazine, the article, “Growing Pains - The Axman Comes to Google - New finance chief Pichette gets tough” by Adam Sashinsky caught my attention.  It states:

    That’s right: Google, among the most chaotic, prolifigate, unfocused, engineering oriented, and self-proclaimed recession-resistant of organizations, had reached outside the Googleplex for a real business executive and charged him with ensuring that Google’s freewheeling culture wouldn’t become its own worst enemy.

    It’s the last phrase “wouldn’t become its own worst enemy” that resonates with me, whether discussing, Google, GM, Ford, Motorola, and millions of other companies.  Because this is what so often happens.  We become our own worst enemy.  Its as if we play Darwin unto ourselves.  To prevent Google from a similar fate, Pichette has shut numerous projects, facilities and perks. Layoffs were announced. Hiring has been curtailed. The impact, expenditures have declined and free cash flow has increased.

     So what would Google do at GM?  My guess is, Google would have the Axman come, and then watch out. And in the end, GM would look significantly different. And I wonder if GM really has the guts to do what it knows it needs to do.  Welcome to the world of Darwin.

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    Without Warning - Rondey Johnson

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