Beep-Beep

There is much to be learned from cartoons – they often reflect or satirize our society in very clever ways. 

Jed spent over 15 years with a Fortune 100 company in positions in Sales, Operations and Human Resources.  During that time, he learned first hand how world-class organizations manage their businesses and lead their people.  I also spent over 10 years working with a large multi-national, before transitioning to Management Consulting about 15 years ago.  Throughout both these careers I have learned from what companies do well, and often what they don’t do well.

So… what does working with and advising companies have to do with Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner?

Jed and I were chatting about one of our client organizations one day when one of us made the comment that it seemed as though many of the leaders we were coaching were constantly fighting a seemingly futile battle, and were actually making things harder for themselves.  “It’s like the Coyote, finding increasingly complicated and convoluted ways to try to catch the Road Runner”.

We pursued the metaphor further and wondered about what kind of arrangement Wile E. Coyote has with ACME Inc.  He apparently has an unlimited account with which to purchase rocket launchers, catapults, explosives and all the various accessories.  It would seem that ACME carries everything a Coyote could ever want.  Then we asked if ACME might carry Canned Road Runner.   Even with a healthy respect for “love of the hunt”, surely the Coyote should have settled for canned roadrunner by now. 

The people who run modern organizations are not so different from the Coyote.   I have worked in grocery stores and nuclear power plants, and the businesses are conceptually very easy.  Layers of managers, and well intentioned others then set out to diffuse energy away from the core business drivers and to a litany of “flavor of the month” projects and initiatives that no human could ever keep straight.

This happens to smart and hard-working leaders that are trying to do their best to satisfy all the various stakeholders they work with.  Often times external consultants and Human Resource professionals make it that much more difficult by adding more dimensions to a manager’s workday.  What modern organizational leaders need to do is to put down the proverbial rocket launcher, and move one aisle over at the ACME store, and buy some canned roadrunner.

What Jed and I want to offer here is a number of cans of different types of roadrunner to suite your taste.  Different businesses have different issues at different times in their life cycles, but there are many similarities.  Likewise, managers in different parts of the same business may have different requirements that cannot be met by the normal approach to organizational development.

Each “can” that we offer gives easy to understand and actionable advice for whatever concerns leaders most.  In a few minutes you can understand core concepts and tools, and put them to work right away in your business.  There are easy to understand explanations that are augmented by podcasts for each specific topic area.  Each “can” contains examples, checklists, evaluations and sometimes case studies to make a manager competent in the subject area quickly.

For leaders that want more detailed information than what we provide, there is a resources section for each topic area that will direct you to some books, articles or other resources that Jed and I have found useful during our careers.

We don’t claim to have all the answers to every one of your problems, but many of the most common managerial challenges that we’ve come across are addressed here.

Don’t be the Coyote…be a Wily Manager.