Shake up your company
by Miki SaxonAnyone who reads the current business press knows that corporate culture has been recognized as not only real, but also something that has enormous impact on all parts of the company. In short, your culture can send you to the heights or kill you.
How accommodating should your culture be? How far backwards should you be willing to bend?
Although I need to keep this story anonymous, I’m sure that it’s neither the first nor the last time that it or something similar has happened.
Jim was development vp for a small, 35 person/$25M manufacturer that makes its own designs and occasionally manufactures for others. The company enjoys solid revenue, is very stable and with little turnover.
Three years ago, Jim had an opening for a designer and interviewed four people; all were good candidates and three fit the mold of the current staff, except Arnie. He had similar credentials and experience, but his perspective was more than slightly off the wall. The other people, including the president and manufacturing vp, who interviewed liked him—but… Although they’re comments were all different, Jim heard the fear of change that underlay them.
But change was what Jim believed was needed and with little turnover this was his chance. After personally checking references, he cut an offer letter for Arnie and personally took it to Ted, his boss, for approval—and well-prepared for a fight.
Ted wasn’t happy, he felt that another candidate was better because he was “just like the guy who’s retiring” and would do a good job.
Rather than allowing the argument to escalate, Jim turned it by mentioning the recent product homeruns hit by a couple of their competitors. He said that he felt that they had just as much talent, but they needed to shake it up a bit. Nothing drastic, but Jim said he thought Arnie could help by inspiring others to more creativity.
In fact, Jim was sure that Arnie would do more than inspire, based on his interview and the reference checks he thought that new product ideas would pour out of Arnie, shaking up the entire company. He also knew that it would take all his skill to manage Arnie and avoid overwhelming the others.
Jim prevailed, Arnie was hired and he indeed shook up the company. Jim’s still there and to date four new products have hit the market adding nearly $12M in revenue, with three more in development. Of the seven, four are Arnie’s, while the other three are from the skyrocketing creativity in the rest of the staff. All of which is causing an innovation ripple effect across the entire company.
So the next time you have an opening look past what is comfortable and remember that it’s often the cracked who let in the light!
