Note from Art: It is a pleasure and a privilege to have Eric Lieberman publishing his Management Lessons from the Memphis Belle as a guest author here at Management Excellence. I had the pleasure of working for Eric and the co-creator of the Rules, Paul Byrne, and it is exciting to see the wisdom that helped us navigate so many challenges come to life here on the blog. Just as the world waited eagerly for the next installment from Dickens to learn the fate of Little Nell, I predict you’ll find yourself looking forward to future installments of these creative, powerful and practical rules for managing and leading.
Sometimes the power of a rule is found in its exceptions
When my father learned that I had been drafted by a board of directors to lead a failing software company through a financial turnaround, he reacted: “But, what do you know about running a business?”
The words stung – but he was right: I knew nothing. I’d been an attorney for a wide variety of businesses for years – but had never been responsible for a bottom line, never done a budget, never managed people and had never created a strategic plan!
I began looking everywhere I could for advice. I devoured business and management books by the carload. Most often, I found good counsel in the talented people – like Art Petty – that surrounded me. They brought the experience and skills to the corporate table that I lacked. But, the single most unusual fount of wisdom came one night when my CFO, Paul Byrne, and I drank a bottle of Thompson’s Bourbon Whiskey in the corporate house we shared in Wisconsin and watched the 1990 movie The Memphis Belle.
The namesake of the movie is an Army B-17 WWII bomber (“Flying Fortress”) whose crew had flown 24 missions into enemy territory. According to military policy, the crew would return home if they returned safely from their 25th mission. The movie tells the story of that final mission.
We were in the early days of our trench warfare trying to save the company, so it was natural that we felt a kinship with the pilot and crew of the Belle. As we drank and watched, we began to discover business rules and management lessons within the war-movie plot. By the time we were done, we had Ten Rules of Management From The Memphis Belle. Then, Paul came up with an 11th. I cussed and said “you can’t just have an odd number like 11” – so we replayed the movie in our heads and thought of 9 more.
And thus we discovered the 20 Lessons From The Memphis Belle. We had them printed up on little cards and handed them out to employees. We gifted them to strategic partners and customers. We printed them on posters and hung them in our offices. When we ran into a hard issue in the business we would refer to the Rules: more often than not there was a rule that was right on point. Each time we’d be amazed, but then we’d say: “Ah! The Rules know all!”
I credit these rules with getting me through difficult times. Even today, after leaving the company upon accomplishing a turnaround and eventual sale, I see the continued applicability of these rules to the difficult times we face today. And so, when Art offered some of his blog space for me to do “my thing”, I jumped at the chance to share these rules with a broader audience.
Today, and in weeks to come, I am going to share the rules with you, describe their origin in the movie and illustrate their applicability with some real-world stories. its not mandatory – but you might think about renting the movie and watching it along with these articles.
Ironically, rule number one echoes my father’s comments to me:
Rule No. 1: Don’t pretend to do jobs you’re not trained for!
Val, the bombardier of the Belle, boasts that he has medical training. But when one of his crew-mates is seriously wounded by enemy gunfire, the bombardier must admit to having had far less medical expertise than he had claimed. Val proposes that the only way to save the wounded crew member is to parachute him into enemy hands and hope that he is rushed to a hospital. “Bad plan” say the rest of the crew, and the bombardier successfully treats his wounded mate despite his fear and sense of inadequacy.
Despite his lack of training, Val had the courage and resolve to succeed.
It doesn’t fare so well for another crew member that wants to try his untrained hand at one of the big on-board machine guns. Convincing the real gunner to let him try, he loses control of the gun and slices through another B-17 sending it crashing to the ground in flames and killing its crew.
Sometimes, it is just plain dumb and dangerous to put people in charge that don’t know what they are doing. But, sometimes…
When I was picked to run the company, I clearly didn’t appear to be a person with the right qualifications. I didn’t have the usual training or experience to accomplish what I needed to do. And yet, the board saw in me certain strengths and qualities that they valued more than traditional qualifications. For example, an old law partner told them that I was a “workaholic, he will not rest until the job is done”. And, they made a good call: I succeeded!
I had a young man working for me who was simply an outstanding person. He’d started in the company as a staff guy supporting the company’s internal computer systems and worked his way up the ladder to head the IT department. Despite his technology training, he proved to be a “Jack of all trades”. He was loyal to the company, a great leader and had a “can do” spirit that was unbelievable. Point him in the direction of a mission – and he would accomplish it without fail! I recognized his talents superseded any particular training he had, and I was able to deploy him in a variety of key company positions well beyond IT services. He was a big contributor to the success of the company. If I had limited him to his trained position – IT – I wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of the broader range of skills and talent that this “Jack” had.
Lesson Learned:
When you have a mission to complete, a task to be accomplished or a job to be filled, take inventory of the candidates and their qualifications. At times, on-the-job training might just be inappropriate. Be alert, though, to circumstances that require betting on a candidate that may be non-traditional. Before you write off someone for a position or a mission, figure out whether they have the courage, the mettle, the “right stuff” to succeed in spite of your perception that they lack the obvious qualifications for the job. Always consider whether the obvious qualifications for a job are really the true qualities that will define success. Don’t simply evaluate candidates – always test the premises of your qualifications.
Next time: Rule #2: Don’t Applaud the Event (especially good news) before it happens!
About Eric Lieberman: Eric Lieberman writes from his home in Evanston, Illinois and is available for comments and consultations and can be reached via e-mail. by writing ejlieberman@gmail.com. Click here for Eric’s personal website and resume.
Leader, What’s Your Questions to Comments Ratio?
Let’s face it, many leaders are expert talkers, and they like to showcase their expertise at every possible opportunity, much to the dismay and detriment of their team members.
Effective leaders understand that the respectful use of questioning is a powerful performance enhancement tool in the workplace. A leader’s questions challenge individuals and teams to look at issues from all angles and they help uncover ideas or suggestions that require a bit more baking.
The strategist understands that her role is all about finding the right questions to answer. The leader leverages questions to understand whether the issues have been thoroughly vetted and the dots connected between the ideas, the execution and the potential impact points for the business, customers and stakeholders.
Like Socrates, the effective questioner is helping individuals and the group explore the implications of different positions as part of the process of improving overall group knowledge. I had a manager early in my career that ended every project planning discussion with the question, “Have you thought of everything?” That annoying question served as a constant reminder for me to look at situations from every possible perspective, especially that of the customer.
So, what’s your Questions to Comments ratio? If it’s not more than 1:1 (considerably more!) you need to quit talking and start thinking more about the right questions to be asking your associates. Make a conscious effort today to start moving your Q:C ratio in the right direction. You might just be surprised at how much more effective you are as a questioner than a preacher.