In a National Football League “shocker” earlier this season, the Dallas Cowboys lost a game to the improving, but still seriously inferior, Washington Redskins. Close study revealed that an amazing one-third of all offensive plays were called to go to Terrell Owens (T.O.), the Cowboys star pass receiver. The Dallas play-callers abandoned a solid running game, with a tandem of good running backs, as well as the balanced offense schemes that had previously served the team so well.
What happened? The coaches gave in to T.O.’s petulant complaints about a lack of touches of the ball, particularly, during the prior week’s game, when he was involved only six times-and the Cowboys won. The coaches let the wrong guy take charge.
In another “shocker,” the week I wrote this column, our elected representatives handed more than $700 billion or so of our money to the guys and the cohorts of the guys who made the mess on Wall Street and let it expand into a dire crisis. Many of their cronies absconded with hundreds of millions of dollars, including one who, from two weeks’ work as a bank CEO, left with $20 million. Paulson & Friends are the wrong people to put in charge, similar to the fox guarding the henhouse or the pickpocket holding you wallet.
These incidents made me think about the oh-so-ordinary mistake of putting the wrong people in charge of the wrong tasks and responsibilities; and this includes you and your employees.
We err with others in any number of ways. There’s the infamous “Peter Principle,” named for management guru Dr. Laurence Peter, who recognized the negative phenomenon of so many people being promoted past their level of competence. As an example, the top salesman made sales manager, so you lose your best sales pro who is replaced by a poor manager; a two-fer. Another example is foolish multi-tasking: asking a good bookkeeper with a barracuda’s personality also to take incoming phone calls from new customers. The list is long. It’s one of a myriad of topics in my new book, No B.S. Guide to Ruthless Management of People And Profits, which I un-humbly recommend. It’s available at all online booksellers and bookstores.
We err worse with ourselves. I constantly see people claiming to want major money, but only majoring in minor matters. Playing Trivial PursuitTM, instead of MonopolyTM. Letting their intellect, time, energy and personal motivation be drained by the mundane, tasks and chores in which they have no interest or competence, while neglecting those tasks central and critical to make money.
Maybe worst, is expending all their time on tasks and technology, so they have no time to think. If I could determine how much time you devote daily to read relevant newsletters and books, listen to relevant CDs, review competitive intelligence, study your school statistics, and think, deeply thinking about how you can be of greater interest, attraction and service to your clientele, then I can tell you the direction of your income, without seeing bank balances or tax returns.
If I knew how much time you invest per month away from your business, associating, networking and opportunity-searching with other like-minded, success-oriented businesspeople in your industry and a broad spectrum of others, and working with experience-based expert coaches, consultants, teachers and advisors, then I can predict your future, without the help of a crystal ball. If you have no time for such chief responsibilities, then you’ve put yourself in charge of the wrong priorities.
