Today, Jack Welsh is speaking here at MIT. I'm live blogging some of the nuggets of wisdom:* The trend in environmentalism is a HUGE opportunity for capitalism. If I were a CEO today, I wouldn't even have a choice about embracing this trend. Regardless of whether it's true or not, the perception is driving consumers and must be capitalized on.
* China is a huge market, growing at 8%. The US is an enormous market growing at 3%. I'd bet on the US keeping up that growth trend. We have an incredible entrepreneurial environment driven by a free market and a powerful educational system. We need, though, to keep letting the smart people that come here to MIT in with the Visas that they need.
* The worst manager is a kind manager. "I'm too kind to tell them what I think about them." That's not good enough.
* The nice thing about a baseball team is that the statistics are up there all day. Everyone has an opinion about how everyone is doing. In the business world, the stats are less obvious but the objective is the same. Your goal is to build the best team and you need to identify the best and eliminate the worst. They have to know where they stand at all times so that when you have to let them go, they know exactly why.
* The problem of firing is this. When you fire someone, there are 2 cycles. When you release someone you're relieved, but they are pissed! They linger around the office during their severance period and become a leper. Its your obligation to treat them as well as possible AFTER you fire them, because they are going out there and will become customers or whistle blowers. You would rather have customers.
* The secret to management is this: rigorous appraisal systems and loads of training. Constantly reinforce their education with successful leaders. Candor is the most important thing we develop. Its the only way to let everyone where they stand.
* Giving rewards with intrinsic value but not great pay is a losing proposition. This is what private equity has going for it right now. Its interesting non-bureaucratic work that has great pay straight away. The compensation is outrageous, a starting Harvard MBA going into Private Equity last year made $289k. That's unbelievable money. Its causing a brain-drain for the modern American corporation.
Would you consider an offer to join us as Dean here at MIT Sloan?
* My ability to be the dean of a school where tenure exists is non-existent. My 20-30-10 just wouldn't work here.
If you were CEO of GM from 1981 till now, how would the American Auto Industry be different?
* In hindsight, its easy. Letting the UAW run your business is not good business. The job banks are outrageous, people literally show up to do nothing. This is killing the business. Would I have been smart enough to take on labor and change this? I don't know, it would be pompous to say I would but I'd like to think I would have taken them on.
* You can guarantee a 100% correlation between a union election and a horses ass.
You believe in a lot of the skills that are gained through military leadership. Do you believe that America would benefit from some type of military service requirement?
* The question started out so well, but I'm not going to tough the last part. I think doing something like that would tear this country apart. I was at West Point yesterday, though, and its an incredible environment. Applications are at the highest point ever and the students are amazing.
How would you influence people who don't like you and don't want to work for you?
* I suggest that generally spend as little time with them as possible. Why would you want to spend time with someone who doesn't like you. With these people you have a talk with them and if they don't buy onto the program and move forward with the business, shoot them. You will not have everyone liking you, so long as they are buying into the program and moving forward its okay. If they are a resistor, you can't have that -- you need to have people on the same page buying in and moving forward.
What is your take on work-life balance? Is there such a thing?
* The problem with that work is "balance." The word is choices, and you make them. You in the end make choices, and you live with them. Its not a company's job to make your choice or to make the choice easy for you. I respect all the choices you make, but no company is working to make your balance; they're dealing with your choices. If firms can't attract people with intrinsic value and pay packages, then they have other problems.
* Without face time, you're dead. If your not in the trenches, if your not there when they need you, when it comes time for the promotion, you're not going to get it. You're looking for the people who are going to be there with the team, because they get results. You think a manager is going to promote the telecommuter who they haven't seen in 12 years? Come on, quit kidding yourself with this crap.
Labels: business, Jack Welch, MITSloan
On the first axis, which measures Extraverts vs. Introverts, I fall squarely as an extrovert. Not surprising, really. I think you can see the distinction when you see the types of things that I typically blog about -- its pretty interesting actually. Wikipedia provides a description of this axis as:
The terms Introvert and Extravert (normally spelled 'extrovert' outside of the Myers-Briggs context) are referred to as attitudes and show how a person orients and receives their energy. In the extraverted attitude the energy flow is outward, and the preferred focus is on other people and things, whereas in the introverted attitude the energy flow is inward, and the preferred focus is on one's own thoughts, ideas and impressions.
On the second axis measuring Sensing vs. Intuition, I'm strongly along the Intuition axis (denoted by the 'N'). This mostly makes sense, as I tend to have a reasonable ability to come up with rational hypotheses and tend to look toward the future when I build plans and actions. Wikipedia:
Sensing and Intuition are the perceiving functions. These are the nonrational functions, as a person does not necessarily have control over receiving data, but only how to process it once they have it. Sensing people tend to focus on the present and on concrete information gained from their senses. Sensing prefers to receive data primarily from the five senses. Intuitives tend to focus on the future, with a view toward patterns and possibilities. These people prefer to receive data from the subconscious, or seeing relationships via insights.
The third axis, I clearly fall along the thinking dimension. According to the Wikipedia entry:
Thinking people tend to base their decisions on logic "true or false, if-then" connections and on objective analysis of cause and effect. Feeling people tend to base their decisions primarily on values and on subjective evaluation of person centered concerns.
No question that its the right dimension for me -- I would tender a bet that most programmers fall along this dimension at some level. Knowing this about myself is important in group settings for a number of reasons. First, I focus on results rather than feelings. For better or worse, I think this allows me to evaluate people based on actual actions rather than on emotional responses. Second, it exposes something that I need to focus on when I start my new job managing people. It will be important for me to put some extra thought into the "subjective people-centric" aspects of decisions before I make them.
The last axis is that between Judging and Perceiving. On this dimension I fall on the Judging side, which means that I really prefer an organized life. In other words, I'm anal -- no shock there. Wikipedia again:
Judging and Perceiving reveals the specific attitudes of the functions. J or P records which of the strongest of the judging functions or perceiving functions is outwardly displayed. People who prefer judging tend to like a planned and organized approach to life and prefer to have things settled. People who prefer Perceiving tend to like a flexible and spontaneous approach to life and prefer to keep their options open. (The terminology may be misleading for some—the term "Judging" does not imply "judgmental", and "Perceiving" does not imply "perceptive".)
In J-types, the preferred judging function (T or F) is extraverted (displayed in the outer world). J-types tend to prefer a step-by-step (left brain: parts to whole) approach to life, relying on external rules and procedures, and preferring quick closure. The preferred perceiving function (S or N) is introverted.
The combination is where it starts to get really interesting, because apparently I'm a pretty rare bird. Of the sixteen possible combinations of types, ENTJ is the least common showing up in merely 1.8% of the population. The type is often referred to as "Entrepreneur" in Socionics circles because it is a combination of traits highly corellated to those found in successful entrepreneurs. Also "ENTJ is sometimes considered to be the ideal type in business - for example MBA students who take the MBTI are expected to test as ENTJ," which I think is cool.
The official descriptive summary of an ENTJ, and I suppose a basic warning about who I apparently am, is:
Frank, decisive, leaders in activities. Usually good in anything that requires reasoning and intelligent talk, such as public speaking. Are usually well-informed and enjoy adding to their fund of knowledge. May sometimes appear more positive and confident than their experience in an area warrants.
Check out the Jung Personality Test at Similar Minds to see what you are.
