Freedom, Inc_ - Brian M. Carney [88]
You may say that this laissez-faire attitude is all well and good in flush times, but can this approach possibly be maintained in a crisis? If there is no person concerned with the situation and emerging as a natural leader to take care of it, shouldn’t the people ultimately responsible for the company grab the helm and tell others what to do? A crisis presents a sore temptation to reassert control and “do something.”
But recall one of the reasons you gave up control in the first place: Those who have the best information to judge the severity of the situation and the best available solutions are the men and women on the spot. In “how” companies, their knowledge is ignored because the upper echelon believes it knows better. But in a freedom-based company these people and their knowledge are trusted. If they think their efforts and company resources are better spent elsewhere, their opinion is highly regarded and most often followed. Recall Vertex. Jeff Westphal first grabbed the helm and wanted everyone to redouble their efforts to salvage a failing project. But then he changed his management style and listened to people who had superior knowledge about the field. One of them emerged as a natural leader and helped to reorient the company’s resources toward a new, ERP-based software project. This saved Vertex and formed the basis of its continuous sales growth for years to come. Top managers in a crisis do not suddenly become omniscient. Indeed, grabbing the helm and trying to right the ship may well exacerbate the problem by cutting the leadership off from vital information.
AN OPPORTUNITY NO ONE SAW
Perhaps the most dramatic illustration we’ve heard of a person who saw a business opportunity—to win a huge client—and took a natural leadership role in it happened at GSI, whose liberating leader, Jacques Raiman, you’ve already met. In this situation, nobody in the company thought to grab the helm simply because nobody—except one employee—ever saw this opportunity.
One day in the early 1990s, Jacques Szulevicz,13 a salesman for GSI, learned by chance—through friends at other companies—that Disney, which was building their European theme park and resort just outside Paris, was organizing a bidding contest to outsource their information systems. Szulevicz immediately thought that this could be a huge opportunity to win a client with a worldwide reputation—a first for GSI. He told Jacques Raiman about it and got strong encouragement. However, while trying to obtain the bidding details, Szulevicz received disappointing news: The deadline for submission was over. Annoyed at having just painted the great prospects for the deal to Raiman, he decided not to give up.
Szulevicz learned that Price Waterhouse was organizing the bidding for Disney. After several calls, he tracked down Robert N. in London, who was in charge of organizing the bidding, and gave him a call to explain.
“You sound very nice, Jacques,” Robert replied. “But the deadline has passed.”
“Look, you have nothing to lose,” Szulevicz continued. He turned the conversation to London and the life there. Quickly learning that Robert loved great food, Szulevicz offered a proposition: “I’m coming. I’m coming to see you and to invite you for lunch. You have nothing to lose and you’ll have at a minimum a good lunch.” Robert agreed, perhaps forgetting the famous adage most often attributed to Milton Friedman: “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”14
So, without asking for anybody’s permission or authorization, Szulevicz arrived in London and hosted Robert for lunch. Szulevicz was pleasantly surprised that Robert spoke very good French and was married to a French woman. The small talk was going nicely as they enjoyed good appetizers and wine. And then came the main course.
“Look, Robert,” Szulevicz said. “I’m doing this not only for me but