9A. Peter Drucker Sees a Nonprofit in Your Future
For the first time in human history, people can expect to outlive the organizations that they work for. As we live longer and work for more years, we risk becoming "too good" at what we do. Work that felt challenging when we were in our thirties may feel dull when we reach our fifties--at which point we have 20 years left in our careers.

So we need new ways to manage the "second half" of our work lives. That might mean retraining yourself for a different kind of job. It might mean developing a "parallel career"--for example, working in a nonprofit organization that interests you while cutting back on your regular job. It might mean doing the same kind of work that you've done, but in a different setting.

"Peter Drucker," Fast Company, no. 27 (September 1999): 112.

Questions: What particular nonprofit organization would likely offer you new challenge and meaning later in your career? Explain. Does Drucker's concept of a parallel career appeal to you? Explain.

ANNOTATION 9-A: Peter Drucker Sees a Nonprofit in Your Future I am in the middle of my second career--some might say my third. I anticipate that I will be doing something completely different in ten or fifteen years, but I'm not sure what. Have you chosen a career for life? Or can you see that in ten or fifteen years, you may want to do something else? For many successful people, there may come a time when the goal of "giving back" to the community is more appealing than that next promotion. Drawing on your business experience to help a nonprofit organization that you believe in could be a logical next career for you. For others, starting their own small business may be the next step. Home and Garden TV presents a program called The Good Life, which features people who leave their standard work situations and choose an alternate life--either with their own company or in a different type of community. It's fascinating to discover why people leave their current situations and what brings them into the new ones. If you could create any life you wanted for yourself, what would it look like? Are you doing anything now to get there--if not tomorrow, then some day?

9B. Unruly Rules
Fire Chief Alan Brunacini, Phoenix, Arizona:

"When I got here, all our rules were the size of a bushel," he says. "Now they're on one sheet of paper. How many rules do you need? It only takes 10 to get into heaven."

As quoted in Jon Talton, "What in Blazes Has the Chief Done? Create a Model for Managers," The Arizona Republic (January 27, 2002): D1.

Questions: Do today's organizations have too many rules? Explain. Which rules should stay and which should go?

Author Notes 9-B: Unruly Rules The number of rules increases as top management's opinion of the capabilities of the company's employees decreases. How many times have you seen the warning on the label of a tube of ointment--"do not take orally." It seems obvious, but clearly that warning is there because someone is assumed to be an idiot. Many rules evolve out of a specific incident, or a fear that people are stupid. But why would you hire stupid people in the first place? Another factor affecting the number of rules is the type of organization. In Brynacini's case, let's face it, would you want a fire department employee stopping to look up the right way to save your life? I wouldn't.

9C. Back to the Opening Case
Jim Collins, co-author of the best-selling book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies:

... sadly, as we add years to our lives, it becomes increasingly difficult to remain dedicated learners. We become experts in our field and cease asking as many questions. We're all born as learning people, but most of us lose our innate curiosity and love of learning as we age. The more we know, the less we learn.

Jim Collins, "The Learning Person," Training, 36 (March 1999): 84.

Question: How does Microsoft keep the learning spark alive?

Author Notes 9-C: Back to the Opening Case Microsoft hires people who are committed to learning and growing, and then lets them alone to do it. It ignores the nonessentials, such as dress or various characteristics that don't affect a person's performance. It encourages people to have fun together, but at the same time, has high expectations--the goal is to ship error-free product. Most of all, the time spent interacting, working together, and getting buy-in requires constant exploring of the new to succeed. At Microsoft, it seems they won't settle for less.

9D. Any Slackers Here?
Nina Disesa, CEO of the New York advertising agency McCann-Erickson:

When you step into a turnaround situation, you can safely assume four things: Morale is low, fear is high, the good people are halfway out the door, and the slackers are hiding.

Regina Fazio Maruca, "Unit of One: Nina Disesa," Fast Company, no. 45 (April 2001): 82.

Question: As the new head of an organization in decline, what would be your top priorities and first moves?

Author Notes 9-D: Any Slackers Here? The first thing I would do is communicate. Tell employees the truth about where the company is, even if it's bad news. Make some commitments to the employees on what is going to happen to them and when. Not knowing what will happen tomorrow can demoralize the best employees, and the company can't turn around until the best are back in their high-energy mode. Spend time listening to the employees, in nonthreatening small groups, preferably without their bosses in the room. Acknowledge their concerns and pay attention to their ideas. Many times they know what's wrong with an organization, but have given up on getting anyone to listen. Listen. Carefully. Take some concrete action. The feeling that things are moving again can be a great motivator. The action doesn't have to be huge, just logical and consistent, and preferably based on the information you gathered from the employees.

9E. Is Training the Secret to Improving Productivity After a Layoff?
According to a 1998 survey by the American Management Association, companies that increase long-term training activity after downsizing are

• 80 percent more likely to increase worker productivity.
  
  
• More than twice as likely to report improvements in quality.
  
  
• 75 percent more likely to increase operating profits.
  
  
• 80 percent more likely to increase the value of their stock.
  
  

Unfortunately, training budgets typically are among the first items to be cut when times get tough.

Marc Adams, "Training Employees as Partners," HRMagazine, 44 (February 1999): 66.

Questions: Based on this information and what you have just read about the ethics of downsizing, what would you say to a top executive who is thinking about resorting to a big layoff?

Author Notes 9-E: Is Training the Secret to Improving Productivity after a Layoff? During a layoff, training is often dropped, because it makes little financial sense to train employees who will soon be out the door, potentially working for your competitors. However, after the layoff process has been completed, the organization needs to rethink decisions made during the layoff process--stepped-up training is only one of those decisions. Training serves two purposes after a layoff. It refocuses employees toward the new directions desired by the company, and it reassures them that the company still values them and the contribution they can make. Also, just getting employees together in some type of structured setting can allow them to vent and bond, as well as help prepare them to go on after tough challenges and trying times. Unfortunately, the type of managers who pull the layoff trigger as a first response to hard times probably won't listen. They are motivated by fear instead of a desire to learn and engage in creative problem solving. Their goal is often to get rid of people and then return to a close semblance of "business as usual" as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, business as usual was what got them to the point of layoffs in the first place. In contrast, managers who value employees as human resources and rely on layoffs only as a very last resort probably will heed these new research findings and build training into their post-layoff plans.

9F. Loyalty Is a Two-Way Street
Nucor, a Charlotte, N.C.-based steel manufacturer, hasn't laid off any employees due to lack of work since it entered the industry in the 1960s. The firm has more than 7,000 employees. Cutbacks have included work schedules and travel restrictions but no job cuts.

"A lot of our mills are in rural communities, and you can decimate the communities by laying those workers off," CEO Dan DiMicco says. "How can you build loyalty when you pat people on the back when times are good and when times are tough, you show them the door?"

Stephanie Armour, "Some Companies Choose No-Layoff Policy," USA Today (December 17, 2001): 1B.

Question: Why aren't corporate no-layoff policies more common?

Author Notes 9-F: Loyalty is a Two-Way Street Layoffs are the lazy way to solve financial problems. In tough times, you either spend less or make more. Making more is doubly hard when the market is down. It's also hard to sell off assets such as property and equipment at bargain-basement prices. Getting rid of people is comparatively easy. In addition, in these days of litigation, layoffs are a great way of getting rid of employees you would like to fire, but are afraid or too lazy to go through the process. It also enables managers to dump employees who are doing an OK job but for some reason they don't like having around. Not all layoffs are prompted by these reasons, but some definitely are. Finally, layoffs are the quickest way to improve a company's stock price during a slump. The "leadership" is perceived as taking decisive steps to stop the bleeding. Of course, the fact that they've stopped the bleeding financially by inflicting pain on employees is not important to the stock market, unfortunately.

9G. Back to the Opening Case
How many of the six characteristics of organizational cultures are evident in the Microsoft case? Explain.

ANNOTATION 9-G: Back to the Opening Case All six characteristics of organizational cultures are evident at Microsoft. The concept of "collective" is shown by the man who referred to the company as a country. The image of the secret garden fits well with the concept of culture as emotionally charged. Certainly the stories of successes and the depth of the culture are rooted in the history of the company. Items such as the ship plaque show the importance of symbols. Change and fuzziness are both part of Microsoft's success; both are needed to succeed in its rapidly changing field.

Would you like to work for Microsoft? Is this culture for you?

9H. What Is Your Unlearning Agenda?
Edgar H. Schein, pioneering organizational psychologist:

Clearly, when we speak of cultural change in organizations, we are referring to transformational learning. The current fads include creating an environment of genuine trust and openness; building flat organizations where employees are truly empowered; and creating self-managed teams. Change of this magnitude requires people to give up long-held assumptions and to adopt radically new ones.... [T]his kind of process of unlearning and relearning is unbelievably painful and slow.

As quoted in Diane L. Coutu, "The Anxiety of Learning," Harvard Business Review, 80 (March 2002): 106.

Question: Generally speaking, what do today's managers need to unlearn and/or relearn to make our organizations more effective?

Author Notes 9-H: What is Your Unlearning Agenda? By the time people move into management, they already have a definite idea of what managers do and how they should behave. This may have developed by watching other managers and imitating them, or by watching other managers and swearing they will never be anything like that. No matter what, they've learned in the old culture, and unlearning is harder the longer you've been somewhere and the more successful you've been. Suppose you moved up because you were tough on your employees and shipped more than any other department. Now, all of a sudden, success is based on having less rework, not how much you ship. This creates two challenges--having to acknowledge that you were wrong in your old approach and discovering an approach that focuses on doing it right the first time rather than just getting it done. If I had to work with some old-line managers, I'd spend time one-on-one discussing the basics--listening to employees, treating them with respect, and managing inappropriate behavior in the department such as sexual harassment. Once these are operational, I'd move on to the system concerns such as percentage of defects, because if they can't manage the people part, they're not going to get anywhere with the product part.