Better Business Results

An Unexpected Acre of Green on Earth Day

I was walking in New York City on the north side of East 51st Street between Second and Third Avenues, looking for a place to grab a snack between meetings.  Suddenly, a small sign placed on the sidewalk directed me to make an immediate right turn.  But instead of Starbucks, I entered into another world - Greenacre Park. Although there are numerous parks in New York City, I must admit that Greenacre is special.  First of all, it's located in the middle of a row of commercial and residential buildings, so it can easily be missed if you're not looking for it.  Second, the entire park is slightly smaller than a tennis court.  Third, it has three levels including exquisite foliage, and a dramatic 25-foot-high waterfall composed of huge sculpted granite blocks, leading to a trickling "brook" running through the park.  As I later discovered, I was not alone in being amazed.  Greenacre Park has gained recognition as "one of the best parks in the world."  It was opened in 1971 for the people of New York City, funded entirely by the late Mrs. Jean Mauze, founder of the Greenacre Foundation, in the "hope that they will find here some moments of serenity in this busy world."  The park continuies to be owned and privately maintained by the Greenacre Foundation, and has won numerous awards for design and civic betterment from professional groups and associations.  Greenacre Park is open from March through December. As I soaked in the beauty of the environment and the tranquility I felt in the midst of chaos, I couldn't help thinking how appropriate it was that I made this discovery on Earth Day!

How Diffcult Deals Can Succeed

From media reports, it seems there are two points of view on the probable merger of Delta-Northwest Airlines:  1) The merger will immediately create tremendous financial and market synergies, OR 2) The merger will immediately create tremendous hassles and is not likely to succeed.  The fact is, both points of view may be right.  The question is, can difficult deals succeed despite extreme challenges?

While every deal has challenges, some are clearly more difficult than others. That being said, here are a few of the ways to increase success: 

• Create realistic expectations for the deal:  It's a recipe for disaster to focus on the positive side of the equation while downplaying the known risks.  For example, we already know that the two airlines have vastly different aircraft, organizational structures, and cultures. We also know that Northwest's pilots are protesting the deal. Given these challenges, leadership needs to assess what is truly realistic to expect in one year, in two years, and in three years. If the answers don't meet their criteria for "success," then it may be a wiser choice to explore alternatives.
• Create unity at the top:  I've seen more problems during integration when the new executive team (and board) are out of synch with each other.  When the new team clearly shares the vision, mission, values, key objectives, and strategy for the merged company, it's easier to accelerate subsequent decisions about supporting goals, priorities, and infrastructure.
• Communicate about the plan: Once it's probable that the deal will occur, employees across the merged organization need to understand how the integration plan will unfold so they can make adjustments to their jobs accordingly.  For example,  purchasing systems that had been in place and functioning well for years suddenly vanished immediately after two major companies merged .  Because there was no communication prior to the change, no one was prepared. This caused major delays on several key projects, as employees struggled to figure out who to contact for what.   The solution is a balancing act: find out from employees what information they need in order to continue to do their jobs well; share information to the extent that you can; and update them with enough lead time for changes to happen without firefighting.

Just because a deal is difficult doesn't mean it can't succeed.  However, it does require everyone to take off the rose-colored glasses and think through - in advance of making commitments - how they're going to pull this off so that risks are minimized and the projected benefits can really happen.   

Lessons from Leaders in the High-Tech Hall of Fame

Last night I attended what turned out to be a very inspiring evening.  Members of the New Jersey High-Tech community (AeA, NJ Bio, and the HealthCare Institute of NJ) came together for what has become a yearly celebration of business leaders, researchers, educators, and government officials working together to develop New Jersey's presence as one of the premier high-tech states in the USA.  (Click here for information on inductees from 2008 and previous years). Regardless of the particular aspect of technology that the inductees were from, they have common traits:

• Passion:  Whether it's growing a business, discovering a vaccine, providing a learning and research environment for the next generation, or promoting favorable legislation, each of these leaders are excited about bringing their visions to life.
• Commitment:  We heard about the countless hours that inductees invested in overcoming obstacles that go with taking big risks.  Rather than becoming discouraged and quitting, these people rose to the challenge to find new solutions during hard times.
• Humility:  Each person saw him/herself working as part of a team and acknowledged those people.  They realized that it takes joint effort to bring dreams to fruition. 

While the inductees have all made extraordinary contributions, I believe that each of us has the potential to make big things happen.  The more we can tap into the traits above, the faster we can accelerate progress. 

Better Late Than Never

When I arrived slightly early at the Asheville, NC airport for my flight to Newark, I was greeted by the following sign:

 

As it turned out, the flight actually departed and arrived on-time.  While this was clearly an employee's idea of humor, the timing was poor considering that it coincided with the release of a report citing slipping quality across US airlines (including more frequent delays), and increased complaints from passengers. 

What can we learn?  1) Consider what else is going on and the perceptions of others before using humor; 2) Don't do anything you don't want to see published on someone's blog. 

Lessons On M & A From An Award-Winning CEO/Chairman

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing William J. (“Bill”) Kroll, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Matheson Tri-Gas, for a webinar on “Avoiding the Pitfalls of Mergers & Acquisitions.”  Bill’s company is a leading supplier of industrial and specialty gases and equipment, and the company has continuously grown around the world through a series of successful acquisitions.   Bill has over 30 years executive management experience in almost every area of business.  He has been presented with numerous awards for his business acumen, including being inducted into the High Technology Hall of Fame in 2004.  In 2006, NJ Biz Magazine named him as one of the top 25 entrepreneurs in the State.  Here are just a few of the lessons he shared about leading a company through the challenges of Mergers and Acquisitions:  

• “Don’t shy away from big deals:  These investments when considered as part of a long-term strategy may provide the needed foundation for future growth and opportunity, ultimately generating strong returns overall.”  He shared that recent deals from the past three years “have allowed Matheson Tri-Gas the opportunity for visions beyond $1BN with a national footprint.”  

 

• “Know your partner in order to assure common goals: This is critical when arrangements consider ongoing relations.”  Bill went on to tell us that knowing a partner – especially one from a very different national culture – can take time.  However, the return on investment is well worth the effort.

 

• “To achieve high performance results during integration do not force change for the sake of short-term gains.  Have a learning attitude and be mindful of an acquired company’s history and culture; assure common goals; agree upon strategies and timelines; and align rewards with integration and performance goals for integration and management teams."

Ultimately, it seems that the characteristics necessary for a leader to grow a company through M&A are those that are necessary for a leader to grow a company under any conditions: the ability to plan, dedication, and a focus on long-term performance. 

Are Your Assumptions Serving You Well (Part II)

Okay, you caught me.  Just when I was discussing assumptions that don’t serve us well, I have first hand experience to share with you.  Over the last few weeks I’ve experienced a combination of challenges that got in the way of posting to my blog.  The issues included continuous problems with both my computer and Internet connections, followed by travel to an area that had problems connecting to the Internet.  I was making all kinds of assumptions that didn’t serve me well – even when I knew better! 

Here are a few of the warning signs that can lead us into danger:  

• Blindsided by problems:  Often this comes from making mistaken assumptions about situations.  In my own case, I mistakenly assumed I could recover from my computer and Internet problems faster than was reasonable to expect.  I also assumed that I would have more Internet access during my vacation than I actually had.  What will I do differently?  I'll build in more checkpoints to assess what's happening and contingencies to use for this type of "predictable emergency."
• Continuously in “firefighting” mode:  We all have the occasional urgent and important issue to handle, but I’ve found that when firefighting becomes the norm instead of the exception, it’s usually because of mistaken assumptions at the planning stage about the practical aspects of the plan, such as your own and others’ priorities and resources to get things done. This is especially true when an individual or group is making many changes at once and trying to meet more commitments than is realistically practical in that time frame.
• Good plans grind to a halt:  While this turn of events may seem mysterious, the reasons can often be traced to a series of overlooked and/or underestimated assumptions about stakeholders, such as mistakenly assuming that you and or others have the commitment, knowledge, skills, or abilities to implement the plan.

Just as with assumptions that do serve us well, the key to catching assumptions that don’t serve us well is to recognize which aspects of our situation are based in fact and which are based upon values, beliefs, and attitudes that are strictly in our minds. 

Ultimately, we must make assumptions in order to grow and move forward in an uncertain and constantly changing world.  They key is to be accountable for this type of thinking, and to realize that using assumptions wisely is as much an art as it is a science.