‘You Can’t Polish a Sneaker’ and Other Rules of Successful Business

The July issue of Business 2.0 shares business secrets you can't get anywhere else. Image: www.business2.com

YOU CAN’T POLISH A SNEAKER. My apologies to those who cherish their sneakers, but my point is that even if you polish a hollow shell, it’s still nothing but a hollow shell. When I was growing up, we used white Kiwi polish to make our sneakers look new, but no matter how hard we tried, an ugly sneaker remained an ugly sneaker. Now when I see a briefing that’s heavy on style but short on substance or focus, I say, “You’re not going to be able to polish that sneaker.” It’s a polite way of saying you haven’t started out with anything meaningful. Trying to polish a sneaker can actually be dangerous because it may inadvertently convince others that the sneaker has a value that it doesn’t really possess. This can lead organizations down unproductive dead ends.

LOOK FOR WHAT IS MISSING. Many know how to improve what’s there; few can see what isn’t there. This is one of my favorites. It hit me in the middle of the night. It isn’t an obvious lesson; it only came to me later in my career. When people look at a design or a problem, they’re good at refining the details – it’s human nature to focus on what’s in a presentation. But sometimes what isn’t there is even more important. The idea becomes especially critical as you take on more responsibility, because it speaks to the importance of strategic thinking.

TREAT THE NAME OF YOUR COMPANY AS IF IT WERE YOUR OWN. My father always said, “You were given a good name when you came into this world; return it the way you got it.” A company’s reputation is built on the actions of each employee. I spend a lot of time emphasizing ethics and integrity, but I humanize those issue by asking people to treat the Raytheon name the same way they do their family name. Anyone who would bring embarrassment to our name should find work somewhere else.

A PERSON WHO IS NICE TO YOU BUT RUDE TO THE WAITER – OR TO OTHERS – IS NOT A NICE PERSON. This rule never fails. Watch out for those with situational value systems – people who turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person with whom they’re interacting. Those people may be good actors, but they don’t become good leaders. There’s a consistency in leadership that’s greater than mere situational awareness. I was reminded of this recently while dining at a high-end restaurant with several other CEOs. One guy’s meal didn’t come out right and he decided to take the waiter down a peg or two. The poor server didn’t prepare the food – he simply carried it from the kitchen! I looked across the table and thought,” What the hell is this guy trying to prove?” He was trying to show who was in charge, but really he was just being an ass.

WHEN FACING ISSUES OR PROBLEMS THAT ARE BECOMING DRAWN OUT, “SHORT THEM TO THE GROUND.” This metaphor comes from my engineering training. “Shorting issues to the ground” means finding the quickest path from problem to solution. If you sense that your organization is spending more time on the bureaucracy of problem-solving than actually on solving problems, it’s time to simplify the process. This came up when my division was developing the Patriot air defense system in the 1980s. We were having problems with the radar and there were lots of meetings and reports, but no solutions. I shorted the issue to the ground by going down to the shop floor and talking to the people who had soldering irons and circuit boards in their hands. In the end, we were able to eliminate weeks from the product’s test cycle.

Source: Business 2.0