| As a CEO, I am always interested in learning how | | | | voice, "So, what do you want it to be?"The moral of |
| other people run their companies and how various | | | | this little psychodrama is that most people view the |
| functional managers approach their work. I've spent a | | | | world through their functional lens without ever trying |
| lot of time benchmarking other companies in this | | | | to see things through the whole company lens. I call |
| effort. This has allowed me the opportunity to | | | | this functional myopia.While this not a true story, the |
| conduct some original research into how managers | | | | scary thing is it really feels like it could be!Let me ask |
| from different functions think and act. It has been a | | | | you this, do you believe that if only the folks in the |
| fascinating experience. The way I approached this | | | | other functions really understood your business |
| study was to ask managers of various functions | | | | issues, your company would perform much better? I |
| simply this, "What is the sum of 2+2?"I feel | | | | bet you do. |
| passionately that everyone in an organization needs | | | | Now, do you believe that you adequately |
| to think and act as a general manager, not think and | | | | understand how your company works across |
| act exclusively as a custodian of their one or two | | | | functions and that you yourself don't suffer from |
| lines on the P&L. | | | | time to time from functional myopia? Be honest! You |
| The reality is that we all have functional areas that | | | | can't point the finger at the other guy in the first |
| we work in and we are influenced greatly by that | | | | question without being intellectually honest with |
| function alone. And that impacts how we see the | | | | yourself in answering the second question!Here's |
| business overall. | | | | what I hope you to take away from this anecdote. |
| One Fortune 500 Company I interviewed was | | | | We need to run our businesses, within the context |
| particularly interesting in their response.I first went to | | | | of our strategy, by the numbers. Not black and white |
| the CFO and asked, "What is the sum of 2+2?" He | | | | by the numbers, but by an in-depth understanding of |
| responded immediately, without any hesitation and | | | | what drives each number on the P&L and how those |
| said, "The answer is 4. Anybody who gives you any | | | | numbers interplay with each other. With this |
| other answer than that is either stupid or an outright | | | | understanding, we can raise the level of our dialogue |
| liar and I want to know who they are so that I can | | | | between functions from raised voices to raised |
| have them summarily terminated!" His right eye | | | | knowledge. We can engage in a business discussion |
| began to twitch and he broke out in a fit of turrets | | | | about the best solutions rather than fighting over |
| syndrome and kept yelling "Sarbanes - Oxley" with | | | | whose number on the P&L should take the hit.Now, |
| each twitch. So I just said "thanks" and got out of | | | | what does 2+2 really equal? In business the answer |
| there. | | | | must be greater than 4. If not, then we are not |
| Next I went to the Vice President of Engineering | | | | generating a profit, we are not providing a return to |
| and asked the same question. His response, after | | | | the shareholders and we are not adding economic |
| some considerable thought, was "Well in a linear | | | | value to our enterprises.Rob Waite is a senior |
| world the answer would be 4. However since space | | | | executive with over 20 years of leadership |
| and time is actually curved the answer is therefore | | | | experience in domestic and international business. His |
| 3.98675439 approximately."From there I decided to | | | | successful track record includes start-ups, |
| try this question out on the Vice President of Sales. | | | | turnarounds, multinational strategic partnerships and |
| He replied, "So you want to know the sum of 2+2?" | | | | global business expansions with Fortune 500 |
| I said, "Yes." I think he restated the question to buy | | | | companies.Rob is also a successful author and |
| some time since he's been tripped up on math | | | | dynamic speaker. His most recent book is The Lost |
| questions before. His response was this, "I believe | | | | Art of General Management, was dubbed "a must |
| that the answer is 4, but if that is too high for you I | | | | read for anyone who wants to be unstoppable in |
| can discount it a little."Finally I decided to wrap this | | | | business" by one well-known CEO. Also, joining such |
| line of questioning up with the Chief Legal Council. I | | | | luminaries as Bill Gates, Donald Trump and Suze |
| walked into his office, sat down and said, "So | | | | Orman, Rob is a contributing author to the Walking |
| councilor, what is the sum of 2+2?" Before | | | | With the Wise series from Mentors magazine.Rob |
| responding, he stands up and quietly closes the door, | | | | doesn't just talk the talk, he walks the talk as CEO & |
| and then he walks over and closes the blinds, he sits | | | | President of Metal Sales Manufacturing Corporation ( |
| down and leans over his desk and says in a hushed | | | | based in the Louisville, Kentucky area. |