the case for wasting time and other management heresies - by howard pines

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“Chock full of practical, straightforward advice on successfully navigating through the business world.” –Ellen Marram, Former CEO, Nabisco Biscuits and Tropicana HOWARD PINES AND OTHER THE CASE AND OTHER WASTING TIME MANAGEMENT HERESIES FOR

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It was in thinking about the importance of “wasting time” that the idea for this book came to me. The Case for Wasting Time and Other Management Heresies book, however, is not to provide simple answers. The intent is to show that even subjects and problems that appear to be relatively straightforward may in reality provide interesting dilemmas and puzzles that require creative thinking and non- traditional approaches if you want to achieve the best solutions.

TRANSCRIPT

“Chock full of practical, straightforward advice on successfully navigating through the business world.”

–Ellen Marram,Former CEO, Nabisco Biscuits and Tropicana

“ ”

HOWARD PINES

An essential business read for anyone interested in getting the best out of human relationships in their daily business lives and becoming a more effective executive. This little gem is a primer on how to get things done!

—Michael Mardy,Executive VP, Tumi Holdings and

Director, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Understanding the basic tenets of management is certainly important, but following the conventional wisdom—such as not “wasting time”—is not necessarily the key to solving problems or achieving personal success. Providing advice that goes against that conventional wisdom is exactly what this book is about, whether it concerns how to get things done as you move up in a company or how to develop relationships and support both inside and outside an organization.

“Wasting Time” does not, however, provide simple answers. Rather, based on Howard Pines’ fty years of experience as a senior human resources executive with Standard Brands and a consultant with BeamPines, the consulting rm he co-founded with Dr. Jerome Beam, the book shows how even issues that appear to be straightforward may, in reality, provide interesting dilemmas that require creative thinking and non-traditional approaches if you want to achieve the best solution!

THE CA

SE FOR W

ASTIN

G TIM

E A

ND O

THER MA

NA

GEM

ENT HERESIES

HOW

ARD PIN

ES

AN

D OTHER

THECASE

AN

D OTHER

WASTINGTIME MANAGEMENT HERESIES

FOR

The Case for WasTing Time

and Other

managemenT heresies

hOward Pines

AuthorHouse™1663 Liberty DriveBloomington, IN 47403www.authorhouse.comPhone: 1-800-839-8640

© 2013 Howard Pines. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 3/19/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-2296-4 (sc)ISBN: 978-1-4817-2297-1 (hc)ISBN: 978-1-4817-2298-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013903823

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

v

Table of ConTenTs

Acknowledgments ������������������������������������������������������������� vii

Introduction ������������������������������������������������������������������������ ix

On “Wasting Time”1 ������������������������������������������������������ 1

On Adding Executives2 �������������������������������������������������11

On Negotiations3 �����������������������������������������������������������17

On Anticipating Change4 �������������������������������������������� 25

On Assumptions5 �����������������������������������������������������������31

On Acting Tough6 ���������������������������������������������������������39

On Being Supportive7 ����������������������������������������������������47

On Price8 ������������������������������������������������������������������������57

On Coaching9 ��������������������������������������������������������������� 65

On Finding the Right Place10 �����������������������������������������75

On Evaluating Future Leaders11 ������������������������������������81

On Risk and Surprise12 ���������������������������������������������������91

On Communications13 �������������������������������������������������� 99

vi

On Hard Workers14 ������������������������������������������������������107

On Having Successful Meetings15 �������������������������������113

On Controlling Leaders16 ��������������������������������������������121

On Unions17 ������������������������������������������������������������������127

On Investors18 ���������������������������������������������������������������133

On Leaving When It’s Time to Go19 ���������������������������141

On Credibility20 ������������������������������������������������������������147

On Teams21 ��������������������������������������������������������������������157

On Successful Leaders22 �����������������������������������������������165

Some Closing Thoughts23 ���������������������������������������������175

About the Author �������������������������������������������������������������181

vii

aCknoWledgmenTs

One thing I learned from the experience of writing this book is that it was certainly more difficult than I imagined it would be, and without support it may have been impossible� I want to acknowledge the great help I received from Rob Kaplan, who provided skill and insight into the editing of this book far beyond what I expected when we agreed to work together� In addition, my wife, Judith, as usual was a great partner, and along with Charlie Albright, Jack Johnson, and Steve Ardia, was terrific in providing me with honest feedback� And of course I can’t forget Peggy Stanton, who listened to my stories and then encouraged me to put them on paper�

I also need to acknowledge some great clients who don’t play big parts in the book—like Rick Goings, Fred Corrado, Andy Hines, Linda Quaranto, and Laurane Magliari—who were not only there for BeamPines, making our assignments challenging and fun, but also became good friends along the way� In addition, clients like Art Baer, Brian Koenig, Bill Holland, David Jaffee, Matt Kissner, and Karl Wyss

viii

were there early on for BeamPines, and made it possible for us to grow� In addition, there were my partners Russ Glicksman, Jay Santamaria, John O’Neill, Mike Keosky, and Jerry Beam, who helped make our business a success� To all of them, thanks for your efforts and support�

ix

inTroduCTion

A great many changes have taken place in business since I joined the workforce fifty years ago� For example, in those days we always took a lunch break, and the more senior the executive, the longer the lunch� We also stayed around after work socializing and having drinks with colleagues� This was where deals were made, ideas developed, and relationships secured� That’s why, as a young executive at P� Ballantine & Sons, I often had meals with department heads and union leaders as well as with key personnel who were not executives� We talked about business, of course, but we also talked about many others things, from sports to current affairs, from movies to music, and virtually everything in between� While doing so didn’t get me everything I wanted, the relationships I developed provided valuable information and insights that became the key to success in the future� In fact, some of my biggest successes can be attributed to what my wife, Judith, lovingly calls my “wasting time” with others�

It was in thinking about the importance of “wasting

1

on “WasTing Time”

What many people call “wasting time” is not only crucial to building relationships and trust, but many times helps you uncover opportunities you might have otherwise missed� I learned the importance of developing relationships and trust early in my career� I discovered that with people who shared similar interests and objectives it was easy for me to develop relationships, because it was so easy to spend quality time together� However, it was much more difficult to do so when our interests and/or objectives were not similar� I realized, though, that particularly if I wanted to achieve difficult objectives, these were the people who really counted� The key is to show them that, while you may have issues with their objectives and/or approach, you are supportive of them personally� And spending time discussing issues and listening to their point of view is one way to bring this about� So while all of this may look like “wasting time” to someone else, to my mind its potential value is immeasurable�

One of my first experiences along these lines occurred

2

Howard Pines

in 1967 when I was working as the benefits manager for P� Ballantine & Sons, the famous New York brewery� We had close to 4,000 employees and ten unions, so doing something about controlling workers’ compensation costs was considered important� It wasn’t until after I was hired, though, that I learned this area of my department was very dependent on the company’s medical doctor� I also learned that the doctor, who was thirty-five years my senior and spoke better Russian than English, did not have any use for the management of the industrial relations department, and that he and my boss did not speak to each other� When I called my boss to discuss the issue, he admitted it was a problem, but he stated it was not “his” problem� “Someone has to make this work,” he said, “and I have chosen you�” What to do? The doctor wouldn’t set up regular meetings with me, and I was not only becoming frustrated but worried, because my boss had told me that if the doctor failed to cooperate I rather than the doctor would be in trouble� I’d also heard that the doctor was close to the Badenhausen family, which owned the company, and was therefore untouchable�

Finally, I learned that the doctor came to the office on Saturdays to catch up on his paper work� I decided this might be my best opportunity to develop a relationship with him, so one Saturday I went to the office� No one else was there, but the light was on in his office� Around lunchtime I knocked on his door and asked if he wanted to share a sandwich and a soda� He said okay and invited

THe Case for wasTing Time and oTHer managemenT Heresies

3

me in� He immediately began to vent about the company’s failures and how the industrial relations department was a disaster� I listened for almost three hours, asking some questions about the situation and the key players� While he obviously had a slanted view, especially about the department’s management, some of his insights about the union leaders proved helpful�

The next few Saturdays, and many other times over the five years I remained at P� Ballantine & Sons, I would stop in and visit the “good doctor�” Most of what we discussed was not substantive, nor did it usually add to the company’s bottom line� However, he began to cooperate with me and my department, and we actually began to reduce our workers’ compensation costs� To many executives these meetings would be construed as “wasting time�” However, to me, this relationship made my job much easier to perform� In addition, the fact that I was able to pull it off impressed not only my boss and some of the company’s senior executives, but also the union executives who found the doctor irritating�

This success also made an impression on me, leading me to the realization that most people, regardless of their status, need people around them who they feel are supportive� And this, in turn, led to another success� Ballantine had three different Teamsters Union locals and seven craft unions, and the Teamsters had a reputation for being extremely tough negotiators� Because of that, it was said that the breweries agreed to a forty-hour-week even before the