Digital Thoughts – The CEO Handbook

Rupert Murdoch is here, and his entry is a sign of more purchases to come. No such event happened in time for this week’s publication, a fact that remedies itself, though, next week with coverage of Experian’s purchase of ClassesUSA. This week’s article is one of those that has been on my mind for some time but twice has been withheld from publication. The reason, I believe, has to do with the nature of our business. Those in our space operate nimble businesses; ones focused more on the speed of execution as opposed to the design of the internal processes behind the results. As such, we focus more on business models than organizational charts; we measure success by the speed of the boat, and we do not tend to deduct points for the size of the wake. That said, there is a definite, yet often hard to quantify, value on the operational side of the business, a type of thinking that most likely drives men such as Mr. Murdoch.

What do we want out of our fellow employees and ourselves? We want sound decisions and to lead effectively. Aside from twenty years running large companies or working directly for Warren Buffet, sound business advice often remains elusive. Most of us do not have the time required to accumulate that tried and true knowledge. Lucky for us, Bill Swanson of Raytheon has taken his twenty plus years and shared his combined learnings in a recent issue of Business 2.0. “The CEO’s Secret Handbook” more commonly known as Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management, has attracted not just fans from other top companies but also the approval of Warren Buffet. Given its cult status in the business world that rivals the White album, we felt it a worthy run down. It won’t tell the secret to the $2.00 zip or to picking out keywords on Google, but it might just help in your next negotiation or brainstorming exercise, both of which could equal if not add even more strategic value.

For those expecting magical sayings to rival the spells found in Harry Potter, be ready for disappointment. Swanson doesn’t espouse anything brand new. What he does offer is advice from one who runs a multi-billion dollar company, something that in many ways translates into a Cliff’s Notes of the most impactful sayings. Our own rundown of which begins with the rule, “You can’t polish a sneaker.” I’ve never polished a sneaker, but no amount of polish will have it looking like a dress shoe. The same goes for a bad idea or one that doesn’t have substance. Don’t waste time dressing it up. Every idea deserves a review but not every idea deserves development.

Five years ago when I was at Advertising.com, I remember a speech given by CEO Scott Ferber. Listening to Scott is like listening to Mozart playing Mozart – seeing the ingénue in action. In this particular speech he sounded as though he had not just read the handbook but written it. His speech highlighted another one of its principles: Anyone can find problems. Want to do something unexpected? “Look for what is missing.” That’s how Bill Swanson phrases it. In other words, “Many know how to improve what is there; few can see what isn’t there.” Like the Underground in London – mind the gap. When you’re tempted to simply correct or modify another’s work, take it to the next level and see if you can find what will make a circle a sphere.

Few would argue that the people are as important as the companies they work for and that good companies come from good people. Many often think of companies, especially those like Raytheon in the defense industry as heartless. They would expect rules telling us that a bottle rocket can’t be turned into a SCUD, or that too many people take the easy road with respect to product improvement and development. They probably wouldn’t expect the next rule, one I personally like the most. It says, “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter – or to others – is not a nice person. (This rule never fails.)” If you want to understand another’s character, watch him as he interacts with other people, especially those he does not have to impress. Good leaders and good team members need a level of consistency in all areas of life. These are people that we should be able to look up to and within whom we trust, often crucial, aspects of our business. Thus, while the world of business is often cutthroat, those in it do not have to be backstabbers. Other of Bill Swanson’s Unwritten Rules include:

· When faced with decisions, try to look at them as if you were one level up in the organization, and
· You remember only a 1/3 what you read and 1/3 of what people tell you but 100 percent of what you feel.

Unlike business model analysis and key lever discovery, it doesn’t take any special insight to copy, paste, and rephrase the rules, only the effort to uncover them. We’d rather focus on actions. We get paid on actions – at the office as part of our salary and at work from our advertisers. While helpful to hear from one who runs a billion dollar business, the real secret CEO handbook would be from one that has built billion dollar businesses. We all want to get the most out of others, and ourselves but what we really want is to keep doing better than the best others and we expected. Our industry handbook, were there one, would tell of focus and drive, of passion, intensity, and making the road less traveled the better route.