Why there is no “Sarah Brightman’s Breakfast Buffet”

The Case Against Direction, Purpose and Structure

I’d really like to believe everything I was taught about management but I’m getting shaky. If human beings wanted structure, direction, and purpose in their lives they’d take their vacations on a military base or a monastery, - but they don’t. They go to an all inclusive in Cancun, preferably with a swim up bar, round the clock buffets, and the last thing on their mind is structure, purpose or direction.

They may leave the beach long enough to drink some more at a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville restaurant, but that’s about as structured as serious vacationer’s will get. Nobody ever approached Yo-Yo Ma with a restaurant franchise idea. Other restaurant theme ideas that were trashed include Josh Groban’s Grill, Sarah Brightman’s Breakfast Buffet, and Il Divo’s Dance and Dine. You know they would never get off the ground.

Jimmy Buffet turns out to be the concept guy. How do you beat a value proposition that features, “I blew out my flip flop.” Let’s go eat.

This is my management point. Mature adults value direction, purpose, structure and discipline because they know it represents long term benefit, but they don’t prefer it. It’s why we eat greens and not deep fried, out of long term self interest. To quote Jamie Oliver, “french fries are not a vegetable.”

The management point is that structure has a mixed role. We don’t gravitate to it automatically, but we value it. Structure does not motivate on a day to day basis, but it does appeal to an employee’s long term faith in the company. Although employees have faith in workplaces with structure, they don’t confuse it with a source of fun and good times. Structure is also demanding.

At a macro level, we need structure. At a micro level, we don’t like structure. Remember the line, “you can tell them what mountain to climb, but you can’t tell them how to climb it.” The result is higher productivity, less sick days, less grumbling, less turnover and above all, your management life will become very simple.

Just remind yourself of your own holiday choices. When was the last time you looked into a monastery retreat in Utah for your family? On the other hand, you may have toyed with the idea, wondering if you couldn’t all benefit from it. In the end, Jimmy Buffet won. To heck with structure, hello Cancun!

See you for breakfast,
Wolfgang

a.) Recruiting. Go back stage, go behind the presented person. June 16th, heavy focus on selection. Everyone knows how to recruit, but very few people know how to select properly. Selection is almost entirely about character, integrity, mind clarity, maturity, and all those qualities which neither the interview or the resume tend to reveal. We’ll show you new and different ways to get behind the person in front of you. Go back stage, go behind the presented person. It’s the real person, the hidden person, you will ultimately have to manage. There will be 120 managers in attendance. Each event has been sold out for the last five years. Book early.

b.) The economy. Most of our clients are not running at full speed yet. At the same time we don’t have as many candidates, for all position, as we’d like. Our staff did some thinking. They discovered that this week, over 700 job openings were posted ever single day on Craigslist Vancouver. Certainly for all positions. When companies are hiring it means better times for everyone! Things are changing!

c.) Always love euphemisms. “Our numbers are merely retracing,” in response to falling sales. Another one about Vancouver’s rainy days, “today is only a weather sampler.”

How to Hire "A" String Employees

There are people working in your company who were hired after a half hour interview, - twenty years ago. Luck. Dharma. The force. Could happen. It's just not the recipe to build a great company. Here is a more serious take on how to hire A string players. Some ideas!

1. A resume is the story of a life. It is a snapshot of a human being. If it's not authentic, then the candidate is not authentic. If it's confusing, or devious, or withholds information, that's also the character of your candidate.

2. You can hire either for skills, potential, or charity. It's when you confuse your motives that things don't work out.

3. People don't change. If you know anyone who has changed for the better, with age, - tell me, - I'd like to meet them. People change less than we all think.

4. In an interview, ask yourself, "what would be the most likely reason I'd fire this person?" What you come up with is probably their biggest weakness.

5. Write career ads about the candidate, not the company. Staging a home is so the perspective buyer can see themselves living there, - not you, (you turkey). Career ads have to show why the candidate would wants to work there. Career ads aren't puff pieces for companies. Write lifestyle ads that reflect the candidate's aspirations.

6. Do solid phone interviews before meeting in person. Phone interviews force you to deal more with the candidate's skills and personality. In person interviews should be done only in the final hiring interview.

7. Interview the person, not the resume. Have a conversation and listen a lot.

8. Nobody likes change or multi tasking but everyone claims they do. You can ask the question, but you should ignore the answer.

9. Where ever the candidate worked the longest, that is who they've become. Those were the 'formative years' and should you hire them, those years will influence everything the candidate does and thinks. Just be sure you're fine with that.

10. Save yourself some time and ignore the "achievements and strengths" section of a resume. Go direct to the chronological listing or employers and hope it includes detailed activities and measures for the role.

I will teach you the best recruiting processes ever at our next June 16th seminar. Each time you hire, you also define the future of your company. If you attract B string hires, you end up with a B string company. Learn to up your hiring game.

See you for breakfast,
Wolfgang

A.) Individual tickets at $135 / buy online. Member companies, just reserve. We will be full, as always, at 120 managers. Book now. 604-931-6813
B.) All BPG seminars are now available as "Lunch and Learn's" for your staff only. Price $600. Reserve your subject and date.
C.) I first wrote a version of this newsletter in November 2005, entitled "Everything I know about recruiting." Have reissued it here with changes, as we go into our annual recruiting seminar.
D.) It's easier to hire for results than to manage for them.

"How do you organize the music in your car CD changer?" (or do you?)

Can you hire for good time management? We think you can. Here's the question to ask a candidate.
"How do you organize the music in your car CD changer?" (or do you?)

My otherwise perfect Infiniti G35 has a problem. The CD player, as nice as it is can't tell me what disk is in each of the six decks. Suffering from the Teutonic gene, I've organized my way around that. Simple. Decks 1-3 are downbeat, chill and jazz. Decks 4-6 are Latin, dance and happy music! Left, right, no problem.

Nothing wrong so far until I discovered my daughter has organized her own car CD changer quite similarly. Decks 1-3 slower music, decks 4-6 faster, more aggressive club music. We live quite separate lives, so how did this happen? Well, we're both a bit detail oriented and also very aware of managing time. Must be in the DNA.

Behaviours is how we know someone's character. Want to hire someone great at managing time, ask them about their life, and maybe their CD changer! Get people talking around something, let them ramble. From that you will learn what they value, how they think and who they are and whether they are organized or not.

So, how do you organize your CD player?
See you for breakfast next week,
Wolfgang

p.s. I agree with you, - poor child. Depending on the job, you may not want to hire people quite so tightly wound.
p.s. Construction and electrical contracting project managers. We have candidates. Please call.