There was an interesting story in the Wall Street Journal (4/7/2010) describing GM’s culture. It’s Chairman, Edward E. Whitacre, Jr. said that one area he can make a big contribution is by “changing the company’s plodding culture”. The article relates a story of a past effort by GM to stamp out bureaucracy and ended up appointing a committee to oversee how many committee meetings should be held. Culturally ingrained habits die hard. And that’s the problem.
Big businesses have strong cultures, and often their culture is not unlike how GM’s culture is defined. Decision-making is slow; bureaucracy is high. Delegation is weak; empowerment is a word often spoken but rarely acted on. Staff do reports and run projects. Office politics sometimes trumps competence in promotions.
None of this works when starting your own business. Believing that doing what you did is the past will result in success is delusional. We once had a consultant refuse to do a task that he felt was beneath his skill level. He told us – you don’t understand, I was a Vice President. We replied – the operant word is “was”. He did not succeed as a consultant. You may feel our response was callous. It wasn’t; it was honest.
In our Quick Tips on Thursday, we will identify the differences you will find as you transition from the corporate environment to starting you own business.
Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest
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