October 29, 2004
Jack Covert Selects–The Partnership Charter
Partnership Charter by David Gage, Basic Books, 260 pages, $17.50, Paperback, June 2004, ISBN 0738208981
I have to admit I found Partnership Charter completely by chance. I was going through a stack of galleys I received and opened the book to its Table of Contents. The first chapter called “The Rewards and Risks of Going Into Business Together” caught my attention and I decided to read on. These three points struck me as I read through:
1. Researchers from the Center for Study of Entrepreneurship at Marquette University investigated a sample of nearly two thousand companies and categorized the top performers as ‘hypergrowth’ companies and those at the bottom as low growth companies. Solo entrepreneurs founded only 6% of the ‘hypergrowth’ companies. Partner founded a whopping 94%, and many of those had three or more founders.
2. In a poll taken a few years ago, Inc. asked businesspeople if they thought partnerships were a bad idea. Two-thirds of the respondents said they were. When asked why, the majority said they disliked co-ownership because of the partners’ ‘inevitable conflicts’
and ‘unmet expectations’.
3. Business school could teach students how to minimize the risk of partner disputes, but they do not. They are schools of business administration. They teach students how to run large companies.
Although they have started to do a better job of teaching students how to be entrepreneurial, they teach next to nothing about how to be a partner. Because most business schools’ graduates who start their own businesses will have real partners some day, the school’s neglect is hard to fathom. But business schools are not the only schools with this gap in their curriculum. Medical schools train physicians without regard to the fact that the vast majority of their graduates will have to struggle sooner or later with partners. The same is true of other professional schools.”
I think all three of those are very compelling points. Entrepreneurs have a better chance of being successful if they partner with others, but many don’t even consider it because of the potential problems. On top of that, there is no place where people are trained to work together well as partners.
That is where The Partnership Charter comes in. Author David Gage talks about everything from roles and titles to ownership issues to the importance of understanding personal styles. The most important chapter in my mind is one on scenario planning. Gage lays out questions that would be easy for one entrepreneur to answer, but could be a nightmare for three or five people to agree on. What happens if one partner hires a key employee whom the other partner(s) dislike(s)? What happens if the company receives an unsolicited buyout offer from a competitor? What happens if the partners decide to close the business and the company has nothing but debt?
I recommend this book for ALL entrepreneurs. After reading the book, I think more people will consider partnerships and if they do, The Partnership Charter will give them a blueprint for creating a successful one.
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Six Sigma for All
I am a big fan of Six Sigma. When I worked at GE, I spent three years working in the quality program. So, understand that I am going to be a little partial to books on Six Sigma. The most recent title to cross my desk is Six Sigma Beyond the Factory Floor: Deployment Strategies for Financial Services, Health Care, and the Rest of the the Economy by Ronald Snee and Roger Hoerl.
The book is meant for managers and leaders in non-manufacturing companies. The authors lay out their case for why Six Sigma can be used by anyone. You will find definitions, process explanations, and plenty of case studies. The book is meant to convince you that you can do it too. I think they do a pretty good job of it.
Hardcore Six Sigma folks might be left disappointed, because most of it your already know. There is a section at the end of the book that does discuss some of the challenges in the non-manufacturing environment. These include the heavily reliance on discrete data and difficulty of verify your measurement systems.
This book is the third in a series for the authors. Their other books include Statistical Thinking: Improving Business Performance and Leading Six Sigma: A Step by Step Guide Based on Experience With GE and Other Six Sigma Companies.
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October 28, 2004
Fireside Chat
Lisa at Management Craft is taking some time to talk about Claiming Your Place at the Fire: Living the Second Half of Your Life on Purpose by Richard Leider and David Shapiro. She had the opportunity to meet with Mr. Sharpiro and chat about the new book. She has two posts of Q&As (here and here) so far and it looks like there will be one or two more.
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October 27, 2004
The New Yorker Cartoons
Fun stuffAll work and no play makes Jack awhatever.
When I was in a bookstore a couple of weeks ago, I found this HUGE gift/coffee table book called The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker. In fact, as Tom Ehrenfeld said The book just needs four legs and it could be a coffee table by itself. Tom contacted the publisher and got permission to run a selection of cartoons on the blog. We are creating a new category that will allow you to come on the blog and see all the posts. Everybody needs a little giggle.
What is especially cool is that the book comes with two cds and on the cds are ALL 68,647 cartoons EVER run in the magazine. We are talking about months of scrolling through some classic cartoons.
We’ll run one or two cartoons a day until either we get tired (or you do).
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Galdwell's Talent Myth
IT Conversations has audio archives from the recent PopTech Conference.
I want to point you to the recording of Malcolm Gladwell and his talk titled “Human Nature“.
You can also check out the changethis manifesto by the same name.
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Confronting Reality Interview II
Amazon also has an interview with Confronting Reality authors Larry Bosssidy and Ram Charan.
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Healthy Networking
While radically new business books are refreshing, most of us get the most use from solid and action-oriented titles that help us manage key skills more proficiently. Take the topic of networking. Some folks might dress up this topic as arguments helping one achieve a Tipping Point through spotting mavens and mavericks blablabla.but the most valuable books may be those that simply strip away the clutter and get to the point. Thats why, for example, I recommend the recent The Networking Survival Guide by Diane Darling. A strong, clear, and straightforward guide to mastering this key business skill.
And I must also cite a book closer to my heart, Networking Magic: Find the Bestfrom Doctors, Lawyers, and Accountants to Homes, Schools, and Jobs by Rick Frishman and Jill Lublin. (DisclosureI know both the authors, which, however, has little to do with this tout.) This book manages to practice its core message, which is that people should think of networking as more than a skill to develop but literally a way of life. The books warm and inviting tone will charm many readers, who will feel they have connected with the authors. So meet one of the authors. Here are a few questions I asked Rick Frishman.
Q: There have been a number of recent books about networking. How is yours different?
A: Networking Magic is about how to find the best, not just anyone. It teaches readers to strive for the best and how to get there. Secondly, it is based on interviews and information provided by acknowledged experts in their fields and networking pros who know the ropes and reveal the inside secrets. Finally, its much more comprehensive in the range and scope of the material covered in other books.
Q: Whats going on in the world today that makes it more important for people to develop their networking chops?
A: Life today is a contact sport. Having information and expertise is simply not enough. You can be a genius, the world’s leading expert, but you also must know how to use that brilliance to get the highest return. You must be able to identify and reach the right target market. In today’s world, where the best people are protected by electronic fences and are impossible to reach, good networkers can get through and do so in a way that can get their targets to actually listen and act. We teach readers those secrets.
Q You argue that networking entails more than developing a large database of names and addresses. Please define networking as it applies to daily practice and as a way of life:
A: It’s about giving, which is a way of life, not an occasional tactic. It encourages readers to establish a wide reputation as a person who is genuinely eager to help out and not simply to set up others to get something in return. It’s learning to be selfless, to be helpful and generous. It will enrich your life by making you rich in the resource of people and when we get down to core values, NOTHING is more important than having close friends in life. So giving is the key.
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October 26, 2004
Jonathan Tisch thoughts on leadership
Jonathan M. Tisch, chairman and CEO of Loes Hotels and author of our best selling book The Power of We: Succeeding Through Partnerships, wrote Managers Journal column in Tuesday October 26, 2004 Wall Street Journal.
He concludes by saying:
Raising a generation of We managers will require a serious ethical reorientation on the part of businesses, colleges and universities. And managing through partnerships may be tougher than managing through manipulation. But as David Neeleman [founder of JetBlue] and other exceptional leaders illustrate, it can be done. Its the only way to achieve lasting successand keep American CEOs from appearing on the docket in even more courtrooms.
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