Is a good
education the key to success? There is no doubt that reading, writing and arithmetic
are important to get ahead in the world. But what about a college degree? What
about a graduate degree? What about an MBA?
Whatever the
value of these degrees are, you can’t get a job in corporate America or Wall
Street without them. In particular, an MBA is the gateway credential into the
corner office. So anybody who wants to be a CEO, a CMO, a CIO or a president, a
vice-president, or a director of a company heads off to business school at age
27.
In
particular, an MBA degree from Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton, Stanford, or a handful
of other top-tier schools almost guarantees graduates top job offers and a
bright corporate future.
But are these
business schools giving our future leaders the skills they need to succeed?
Judging from
the current economic crisis, something is amiss. Our companies, our banks, and our
government might have the brightest and most educated people in the room, but I
question their decision-making process. Most notably on Wall Street. With 40%
of MBA graduates going into finance, this sector is in the worst shape of all,
clearly something is wrong. What’s wrong starts with our business educational
system.
First of
all, an MBA is not necessary for success. Many of the most successful people in
business never even went to or completed college, let alone business school.
Leaders,
visionaries and business successes like:
David Ogily
Bill Gates
Russell
Simmons
Liz
Clairborne
Rush
Limbaugh
Dave Thomas
Henry Ford
Richard
Branson
Barry Diller
Michel Dell
Richard
Grasso
Larry
Ellison
Anita
Roddick
Sydney Frank
Second of
all, an MBA could be harmful. School teach scientific analysis and logical
reasoning. Students focus mainly on maximizing shareholder value often ignoring
potential risks and long-term effects. Long-term ideas like branding are frequently
dismissed or under-valued.
MBA schools graduate
analytical, left-brain thinkers are often unprepared to deal with the realities
of brands in the real world. What left-brain MBA students need to be taught is
the value of an intuitive, holistic approach. In other words, right-brain
thinking and marketing sense.
I wanted to
go in marketing so I thought about getting an MBA. But what I realized is
everything I would be taught in business school would be the opposite of the approach
that Al preaches. To get good grades I couldn’t argue with professors, I'd have to play nice and I knew I
would be miserable. But most kids don’t have the luxury of working with a
master marketer like Al Ries. So they go and get an MBA.
There’s
nothing wrong with an MBA. And there’s nothing wrong with logical, analytical
left-brain thinking as long as it’s combined with intuitive, holistic
right-brain thinking.
It takes
both types to make the world go round. It takes both types to manage the
affairs of a corporation, especially in the marketing department.
Too many
companies are missing the big picture. They’re focused on the trees instead of
the forest, on the short term instead of the long term.
Too many
companies don’t have a “vision.” They’re so busy running off in too many different
directions that they overlook the opportunity to develop a powerful brand that
actually stands for something today and tomorrow.
Too many
companies have boardrooms filled with only MBA graduates and left-brain thinkers. There is
no diversity of thought so bad strategies are followed by more bad strategies and are these days followed by a bailout.
To get these companies back on track, they need to invite in and listen to a
few right-brain marketers. Sooner rather than later.
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Top 5 Reasons Management got us into this Recession:
1. Management is focused on reality, when the real problem is perception.
Bob Lutz, global product development chief at General Motors, recently said that the company's Saturn brand probably won’t survive. "We spent a huge bundle of money in giving Saturn an absolutely no-excuses product lineup, top to bottom. They had a better and fresher lineup than any GM division, and the sales just never materialized."
That's the reality, but what’s the perception? Ask anyone "What’s a Saturn?" and you’ll probably get a blank stare.
Oddly enough, Saturn did have a favorable perception as an inexpensive, entry-level car. Four years after its introduction, Saturn reached its high-level mark selling 286,003 vehicles in the U.S. market. Last year Saturn’s "no-excuses product lineup" managed to sell only 188,004 vehicles.
2. Management is focused on expansion when the real opportunity is contraction.
Initially Saturn was available in one model only, the "S" series, although you could have it in a two-door, a four-door or a hatchback version.
So what did Saturn management do next? They expanded the line to include a larger, more expensive Saturn, the "L" series. That was the first step in the long decline of the Saturn brand.
Today, of course, Saturn has five models: Outlook, an 8-passenger crossover. Sky, a sports car. Astra, a compact sedan. Vue, a compact SUV. And Aura, a midsize sedan.
When Saturn was introduced, it was the only U.S. automobile brand available in one-model only. Its enormous initial success should have convinced General Motors that you build brands with a narrow line, not a full line.
3. Management demands "better" products when the real opportunity is "different" products.
Both Sony and Microsoft introduced videogame consoles that were vastly more powerful than their previous products. So who won the videogame battle?
The Nintendo Wii, a far-less powerful product, but one with a difference. The controller, a wireless motion-sensing remote that has revolutionized the videogame industry.
When Red Bull arrived in its unique 8.3-oz can, every major beverage company tried to introduce "better" 8.3-oz energy drinks. Except Monster which was introduced in a 16-oz. can and rapidly became a strong No.2 brand.
4. Management expects rapid growth when the real opportunity lies in the opposite direction.
Almost every powerful brand started slowly. It took Red Bull 9 years to break $100 million in sales. It took Microsoft 10 years to break $100 million in sales. It took Starbucks 11 years to break $100 million in sales. It took Wal-Mart 14 years to break $100 million in sales.
Too often, management tries to accelerate this process with massive up-front marketing expenditures. Take Webvan, for example, the first Internet grocery store. The company opened up in eight with a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign. Two years later, Webvan folded, losing $800 million.
On the other hand, FreshDirect started slowly in New York City only. Today, FreshDirect does $200 million in annual sales and is profitable.
And look at the fiscal disasters of Sirius and XM Satellite Radio. Both were launched with massive marketing campaigns and massive upfront talent investments ($50 million a year to Howard Stern, for example.)
A slow, but steady growth might have made a big difference.
5. Management values "creativity" when the real opportunity lies in "credentials."
Take Tropicana’s recent redesign of its packaging. The new design might have been clever and creative, but consumers rebelled. "It doesn’t look like Tropicana anymore." As a result, PepsiCo backtracked and agreed to bring back the original packaging.
A leading brand, over many decades, tends to become accepted as the only authentic brand in the category. The original. The real thing.
When you change the look of the brand, consumers get nervous. Did the company change the product, too? If not, why did they change the packaging.
You can’t separate the product from the package. The classic Coke bottle reinforces the authenticity of the brand.
Why does management continue to make the same mistakes?
Because they are logical thinkers. Cleverness, rapid growth, better products, expansion and reality are all logical ideas. They just don’t happen to work in marketing.
Actually there are two kinds of thinkers: Left brainers and right brainers. Left brainers are verbal, logical, analytical. They tend to be extroverts and good talkers. Right brainers are visual, intuitive, holistic. They tend to be introverts and good writers.
Now what do you suppose the boardrooms of corporate America are loaded with?
Left brainers, of course.
The vast majority of managers in America today are talkers rather than writers. Extroverts rather than introverts. Why is this so? Because of the way people move up the ladder in the corporate world. There's an old saying: You don't get promoted, you get elected.
Management is like politics. Your fellow workers determine who they would like to work for. Left-brain extroverts are particularly good at schmoozing with people. Right-brain introverts are totally outclassed when it comes to office politics.
As companies grow up and get bigger, their upper levels tend to be staffed almost exclusively with left brainers. As a result, the innovators (primarily right brainers) tend to leave or get pushed out. Like Steve Jobs who was effectively fired from Apple before returning to lead the company to staggering successes.
In spite of their absence from most boardrooms, it's the entrepreneurs who have contributed the most to the U.S. economy. People like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Howard Schultz and hundreds of others.
Did you ever wonder why almost every successful new brand was launched by an entrepreneur and not by an established company?
Amazon.com was not launched by Barnes & Noble, the world's largest bookstore chain, but by Jeff Bezos, an entrepreneur with no experience selling books.
Southwest Airlines was not launched by any of the major carriers, but by Herb Kelleher, an entrepreneur with no experience in the airline industry.
Google was not launched by any major media company, but by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, two Stanford Ph.D. students.
Both The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, Inc. are more than 100 years old, yet neither company introduced the new brands that would become leaders in the soft-drink categories. Red Bull, Snapple, Gatorade, Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew were all introduced by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs who were right brain thinkers and understood marketing.
To get us out of this economic crisis our corporate leaders to understand marketing and take advice from the right brainers in the boardroom.
More of the same left brain thinking is not going to fix GM or Citibank. Now is the time to let the right brainers help clean up this mess and get companies, brands and our country get back on the right track.
Watch this video to find out more about the War going on in the Boardroom.
Do you live in Atlanta? Well you are in luck! I'll be speaking at an Atlanta Ad Club & Atlanta AMA meeting on Wednesday, March 11th. Register today. Both Al & I will be signing books.
Have you checked out the all new Ries.com? It is awesome. Visit us today.
Have you read War in the Boardroom? If so, get over to Amazon or BN.com and write a review today. We are counting on you to help us get the word out. We certainly won't be doing any advertising, we are only doing PR. So if you are interested in an interview or inviting me to make a speech contact me today.
And if you haven't taken our quiz check it out today. You may be surprised by the results.
