Comments on: Whack meetings at Motorola (the new secret of success) http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html This Blog Sits At the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:43:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Grant http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6200 Grant Fri, 24 Jun 2005 17:04:32 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6200 Tom, yes, on small, there is apparently a fine line between it's recognized advantage (nimble) and the less recognized danger (premature). You could say that this is precisely what happened with the www.cultureby.com website, in which I waited for people to snap up "plenitude" only to discover that the printed page is still required by most (yes, even me.) Best, Grant CarolGee, Thanks for this like, it made for completely absorbing reading, and I was left thinking that all the whacks that rework the corporation are matched by whacks that promise the same thing for the individual. Very Parsonian somehow, except that articulation is only sometimes forthcoming. Thanks! Grant Tom, yes, on small, there is apparently a fine line between it’s recognized advantage (nimble) and the less recognized danger (premature). You could say that this is precisely what happened with the http://www.cultureby.com website, in which I waited for people to snap up “plenitude” only to discover that the printed page is still required by most (yes, even me.) Best, Grant

CarolGee, Thanks for this like, it made for completely absorbing reading, and I was left thinking that all the whacks that rework the corporation are matched by whacks that promise the same thing for the individual. Very Parsonian somehow, except that articulation is only sometimes forthcoming. Thanks! Grant

]]> By: CarolGee http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6199 CarolGee Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:47:00 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6199 What we know is that the individual "stuff" of the successful CEO makes a huge difference. (Read "Enron" for how not to be). Steve Jobs has good stuff. He recently talked to a group of Stanford graduates about how he reacted to three of life's "whacks." It is really worth reading: Link to http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html. What we know is that the individual “stuff” of the successful CEO makes a huge difference. (Read “Enron” for how not to be). Steve Jobs has good stuff. He recently talked to a group of Stanford graduates about how he reacted to three of life’s “whacks.” It is really worth reading: Link to http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html.

]]> By: Tom Guarriello http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6198 Tom Guarriello Thu, 23 Jun 2005 18:19:14 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6198 Several good ideas in this post and comments, Grant. Certainly the "whack" approach would help many big names, e.g., Wal*Mart. I particularly like the point about "small" being conducive to the problem of getting too far out ahead of the mainstream. I've been in that small boat many times and know the feeling of waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive. Sometimes they've gotten there, but often we've run out of provisions before they did. Several good ideas in this post and comments, Grant. Certainly the “whack” approach would help many big names, e.g., Wal*Mart. I particularly like the point about “small” being conducive to the problem of getting too far out ahead of the mainstream. I’ve been in that small boat many times and know the feeling of waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive. Sometimes they’ve gotten there, but often we’ve run out of provisions before they did.

]]> By: Grant http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6197 Grant Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:48:45 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6197 Ed, that's a great point, the trial, the real challenge, of smallness is being too early. Big, slow corporations do at least have this in common with the mass of the marketplace. So if a little nimble company is speaking to other early adopters, fine. But if they are talking to the mass of the market, it must feel like they are suddenly oblige to s..l..o..w t..h..i..n..g..s d..o..w..n, to be cast, as it were, against type. Thanks! Grant Ed, that’s a great point, the trial, the real challenge, of smallness is being too early. Big, slow corporations do at least have this in common with the mass of the marketplace. So if a little nimble company is speaking to other early adopters, fine. But if they are talking to the mass of the market, it must feel like they are suddenly oblige to s..l..o..w t..h..i..n..g..s d..o..w..n, to be cast, as it were, against type. Thanks! Grant

]]> By: Ed Batista http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6196 Ed Batista Thu, 23 Jun 2005 14:26:22 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6196 But "bigness" and "slowness" aren't the only challenges, Gary. I work for a small consulting firm that designs websites and conducts online marketing campaigns for nonprofits. The rise of blogging (a personal passion and a professional fascination) and the choking of the email inbox (with legitimate messages as well as spam) have the potential to dramatically remake our business in a few years. Grant's essay reminds me of the need to see our competitive landscape as unsettled and constantly evolving, but being such a small company, we have to time our moves carefully. We could turn our dinghy on a dime, but if we move too quickly, we'll be too far ahead of our market, i.e. sunk. But “bigness” and “slowness” aren’t the only challenges, Gary. I work for a small consulting firm that designs websites and conducts online marketing campaigns for nonprofits. The rise of blogging (a personal passion and a professional fascination) and the choking of the email inbox (with legitimate messages as well as spam) have the potential to dramatically remake our business in a few years. Grant’s essay reminds me of the need to see our competitive landscape as unsettled and constantly evolving, but being such a small company, we have to time our moves carefully. We could turn our dinghy on a dime, but if we move too quickly, we’ll be too far ahead of our market, i.e. sunk.

]]> By: Grant http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6195 Grant Thu, 23 Jun 2005 14:21:09 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6195 Gary, Bigness is a big problem and even very good ideas will not help you if the corporation is not very well mobilized. But the WSJ article and interview with Zander made it sound like he was insisting on Whack meetings and on more mobilized corporation. I think we are to understand that the "razr" is first fruits of the two working in concert. I think EK was merely making sure it didn't bolt before it had captured the last and the enduring moments of the silver based opportunity. And it looks as if Lafley at P&G has created a big corporation that's also mobile. I for one am reluctant to suppose that bigness by itself as a problem. Thanks, Grant Gary, Bigness is a big problem and even very good ideas will not help you if the corporation is not very well mobilized. But the WSJ article and interview with Zander made it sound like he was insisting on Whack meetings and on more mobilized corporation. I think we are to understand that the “razr” is first fruits of the two working in concert. I think EK was merely making sure it didn’t bolt before it had captured the last and the enduring moments of the silver based opportunity. And it looks as if Lafley at P&G has created a big corporation that’s also mobile. I for one am reluctant to suppose that bigness by itself as a problem. Thanks, Grant

]]> By: gary http://cultureby.com/2005/06/whack_meetings_.html/comment-page-1#comment-6194 gary Thu, 23 Jun 2005 13:05:08 +0000 http://localhost/wp_culture/?p=932#comment-6194 My experience has been that turning a battleship with whacks is an exercise in oversteering. By the time philosophical vectors get to the distant rudder, the captain's whackjobs are already blowing in a different wind. Bigness is the problem here. In the case of Eastman Kodak, their products are obsolete by the time they reach the end of the R&D process and land on the shipping docks. EK Corporate obviously was aware of the lethal consequences of the digital whale to silver-based photography and has let it escape unharpooned. The ship is too big to course-correct. Is EK alone? Moby, Moby not. My experience has been that turning a battleship with whacks is an exercise in oversteering.

By the time philosophical vectors get to the distant rudder, the captain’s whackjobs are already blowing in a different wind. Bigness is the problem here.

In the case of Eastman Kodak, their products are obsolete by the time they reach the end of the R&D process and land on the shipping docks.

EK Corporate obviously was aware of the lethal consequences of the digital whale to silver-based photography and has let it escape unharpooned. The ship is too big to course-correct. Is EK alone? Moby, Moby not.

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