tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post5366467122957173163..comments2023-10-30T08:58:17.723+00:00Comments on Simplicity: Friend of Simplicity - David WikeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-88281362708803184162008-06-06T09:35:00.000+01:002008-06-06T09:35:00.000+01:00Thank you for your kind comments Gabe. As far as S...Thank you for your kind comments Gabe. As far as Semlerisation goes, Tom Peters has it about right when he says, “The starting point of all significant change is mindset.”David Wikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10971753336104484341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-48084595392586579482008-06-06T05:54:00.000+01:002008-06-06T05:54:00.000+01:00YAHHHH SEMCO! Fantastic that someone else is a fa...YAHHHH SEMCO! Fantastic that someone else is a fan too. Interestingly, I'm starting to see more trends that the ideas Semler discussed in his book are being revealed in other books. Two that I've recently read that really support his actions are The Starfish and the Spider (all about how loose confederations are beating command and control structures) and Wikinomics (about how collaborative businesses benefit from their open, dare I say, Semler-esque natures).<BR/><BR/>I really like your guest here. And he's dead on about implementation of Semler's ideas. It really comes down to guts and it seems many companies just don't have it. It's really all about changing paradigms and that's what Semler did. Companies can do it simply by <I>doing</I> it.Gabehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03491164740457304897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-79709530453157074342008-06-04T16:29:00.000+01:002008-06-04T16:29:00.000+01:00David--On being a curmudgeon:Adj. 1. curmudgeonly ...David--On being a curmudgeon:<BR/><BR/>Adj. 1. curmudgeonly - brusque and surly and forbidding; "crusty remarks"; one who holds strong, often contrary opinions and freely expresses same.Mike Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09510642077813476873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-21783954332128252772008-06-03T17:54:00.000+01:002008-06-03T17:54:00.000+01:00Hi Joel - the best quality discussions in England ...Hi Joel - the best quality discussions in England occur in the bar at the local pub my friend. Have a virtual pint on me! I love that analogy about Simplicity Blog - thank you - it is a great compliment and you always add quality to the pub discussions!Trevor Gayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01148705981847576706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-26001885053800603812008-06-03T17:34:00.000+01:002008-06-03T17:34:00.000+01:00Not directly related to the content of your interv...Not directly related to the content of your interview with David, but I love how the comments here always sound like a chat in the pub, jumping from subject to subject, challenging and agreeing and pontificating (in a good way.)<BR/><BR/>Now, if they just had a really good online pub . . . <BR/><BR/>David, over here folks actually like their curmudgeons. Andy Rooney has made a career of being one. It's not often used in a pejorative sense, though that definition would make it sound so.<BR/><BR/>I wear my curmudgeonliness as a badge of honor!Joel D Canfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15346047838739575447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-46468344615258260322008-06-03T08:54:00.000+01:002008-06-03T08:54:00.000+01:00‘I find a receptive audience for these ideas, AND ...‘I find a receptive audience for these ideas, AND — if the union allows — a workforce willing to take on more responsibility.’<BR/><BR/>John – that was ALWAYS my experience as a manager in healthcare – the front line employees KNOW how to do stuff – they just need freedom and ‘permission’<BR/><BR/>Sounds like schizophrenia would be a positive advantage in the song writing scenario you quote – reminds of me of the old joke about the aspiring CEO who didn’t get a job he applied for. When he was given feedback about the psychometric testing results the counsellor advised him they had discovered schizophrenic tendencies in his results. The disappointed but pragmatic applicant replied <BR/>‘Yes but both of us wanted the job’ …. <BR/><BR/>Forgive me John - hope the Brit humour travels over the pond!!Trevor Gayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01148705981847576706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-13452032157220839462008-06-02T20:40:00.000+01:002008-06-02T20:40:00.000+01:00"The Semco way requires the CEO to put his/her ego..."The Semco way requires the CEO to put his/her ego to one side and to encourage the challenges to their authority that a workplace democracy entails." Surprisingly I'm finding more and more leaders who are willing to do this. I work in the mining industry a lot where I find a receptive audience for these ideas, AND — if the union allows — a workforce willing to take on more responsibility.<BR/><BR/>Re the writing (and rewriting) process, as a songwriter I occasionally come back to a song I started 20 or 25 years earlier. I actually have the experience of CO-WRITING it, because I can no longer identify myself with the person who began the song - someone who had different musical (and life) values and tastes. Very strange...JOHN O'LEARYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224573243221385179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-74726342522119206612008-06-02T07:06:00.000+01:002008-06-02T07:06:00.000+01:00A few final thoughts from the grumpy old man: I wa...A few final thoughts from the grumpy old man: <BR/><BR/>I was debating the definition of a grumpy old man with a friend. We concluded that one acquires GOM status when one is old enough to realise that the world is run by half-wits and incompetents. In fact pretty much everybody falls into that category … present company excepted!<BR/><BR/>Let’s face it Mike, there is no way I’m going to fawn over a Manchester United supporter, even on the rare occasion he happens to be right about something!<BR/><BR/>Rocky, you are right about playing with cars for a living being fun. In reality 99% of the time was hard grind, meeting tight deadlines, lots of stress and pressure. But afterwards you forget all that and just remember the fun and camaraderie. I guess many jobs are like that but maybe cars are a bit more glamorous than making nuts and bolts or tins of soup. Do read Semler’s ‘Maverick’ and ‘The Seven-Day Weekend’. They are easy reading and a real eye-opener. My reaction was, “Why can’t all businesses be run like that, it makes complete sense.”<BR/><BR/>Hello again John. I’ll look out for Mike Neiss blogging about the auto industry and maybe join in the debate with a UK perspective.<BR/><BR/>I was thinking some more about Semler’s way of doing things. I realised that there is another obstacle. Possibly THE obstacle. The Semco way requires the CEO to put his/her ego to one side and to encourage the challenges to their authority that a workplace democracy entails. That probably doesn’t sit too easily with the type of personality required to fight to the top of most large organisations.<BR/><BR/>There is another, less obvious, obstacle. The front line doesn’t always want to take on more responsibility. If you think about it, from when we are small children we are told what to do by our parents. This continues right through school. Maybe we have a bit more freedom at college or university, but when we start work we are told what to do again. Then some years later along comes a boss with more liberal ideas who tries to set us free to make our own decisions. If we have previously worked in the kind of culture where ‘if it works it was my idea but if it doesn’t it’s your fault’ prevails, we are naturally going to be wary. Indeed, Semler tells of the difficulties he faced at Semco from unions that were suspicious of his motives.<BR/><BR/>Although my book hasn’t yet been four years in the making, it has been long enough for me to revise my thoughts on what I want to say. When I go back to it I fear that I shall want to start it again. Trevor seems able to hard-wire his brain to the PC and have half a book written by bedtime (although I suspect that he doesn’t ever sleep). The ‘Random Ramblings’ title of my monthly email business newsletter probably gives an indication of my thought processes!David Wikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10971753336104484341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-4713847115304566792008-05-31T15:36:00.000+01:002008-05-31T15:36:00.000+01:00David, you and Mike Neiss, my Tom Peters Company c...David, you and Mike Neiss, my Tom Peters Company colleague, should compare notes sometime on the auto industry. Mike occasionally blogs on the subject at tompeters.com/ Mike paid his dues in Motown and is a pretty tough critic of GM (who isn't?), tho they APPEAR to be waking up at last. From what I've read recently, they're betting the farm on green tech.<BR/><BR/>I agree with your skepticism of mainstream business applying Ricardo Semler's model - at least in the near future. There are too many forces and structures (legislated and otherwise) that keep the old system in place. But we can begin to re-imagine a different future thanks to Semler.<BR/><BR/>I can relate to your writing struggles. I'm 4 years and counting on my business opus!JOHN O'LEARYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224573243221385179noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-74040065080584528102008-05-31T11:38:00.000+01:002008-05-31T11:38:00.000+01:00David,You background is interesting. It must have ...David,<BR/>You background is interesting. It must have been great fun to be involved in the auto industry at the level you were. I am very interested to follow your plans to get into speaking and consulting. I am not familiar with Ricardo Semler, but will check out his work. nice interview.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-48704356622051859872008-05-30T18:53:00.000+01:002008-05-30T18:53:00.000+01:00Hi John - not sure about the face thing – scared m...Hi John - not sure about the face thing – scared me to death when I saw the size of the picture Trevor had posted! <BR/><BR/>Mike – I have appointed myself to keep Trevor on the straight and narrow. You should hear what I say to him ‘off stage’! According to my dictionary a curmudgeon is a surly or miserly person – I’m hoping it means something slightly different in the US! But I would cheerfully admit to being a grumpy old man!David Wikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10971753336104484341noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-63281586300675759902008-05-30T16:10:00.000+01:002008-05-30T16:10:00.000+01:00Mike - I love it when people 'fawn all over me' an...Mike - I love it when people 'fawn all over me' and I also love it when ‘old curmudgeoners’ disagree with me. Disagreement and harmony are both essential parts of brilliant communication between us all. I love the banter I have with you and David – you both always keep me on my toes and also keep me grounded! Thanks as always my friend for supporting Simplicity Blog without ‘fawning’ :-)Trevor Gayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01148705981847576706noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-83380806974204021322008-05-30T15:57:00.000+01:002008-05-30T15:57:00.000+01:00I always enjoy David's comments here because he do...I always enjoy David's comments here because he doesn't fawn all over Trevor and constantly tell him how right he is like many others do. ;-) I sometimes detect a bit of the curmudgeon in David's writing, though. And that is a GOOD thing. From one old auto guy to another, "nice to meet you" David.Mike Gardnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09510642077813476873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9533912.post-11839595684530803142008-05-30T03:03:00.000+01:002008-05-30T03:03:00.000+01:00Finally, a face to go with the name! Great to get ...Finally, a face to go with the name! Great to get to know you, David. And thanks, Trevor! Nice interview. <BR/><BR/>I am a raving fan of Ricardo Semler. He gets it about the importance of capitalizing on conflict: “What traditional managers don’t consider is that decisions arising from debate are implemented much more quickly because explanations, alternatives, objections, and uncertainties have already been aired….And that means tolerating and even encouraging dissent.” And about a democratized workforce: “Why do organizations and their leaders cling to a rigid form of command & control that is at odds with the values of personal freedom that they cherish?” Why, indeed?JOHN O'LEARYhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13224573243221385179noreply@blogger.com