The Future
Of American
Business:
Simon Sinek
Hate your job? Convinced there’s
nothing better out there? Think again.
Simon Sinek discovered one company that’s changing the game.
By Simon Sinek,
Career Adviser
This week I saw evidence of an idealized future, a
future that can exist – and it was glorious.
In September of 1962, President Kennedy gave
his famous “to the moon” speech. Standing at a
lectern at Rice University, he challenged our
nation to put a man on the moon and return him
home safely within the decade.
Kennedy must have been mad. At the time he gave
the speech, America had only sent two men into
orbit, and the longest a human being had spent
in space was 4 hours, 56 minutes and 5 seconds
– a record set by Scott Carpenter, who orbited
the planet at about 165 miles up. The moon, in
contrast, is 240,000 miles away. We had no clue
what the effects to prolonged time in space were
on the human body. Much of the technology we
needed to get there was not yet developed, and
some of the materials that would be used to build
the spacecrafts and the rockets hadn’t been
invented yet.
A Bold Vision
Kennedy’s vision was bold, for sure. Idealistic,
without a doubt. And the timing? Insane. It was the
collective genius of NASA, an organization practically founded to prove to the world the heights to
which America could reach, and the support of an
inspired nation that made that vision come true.
Though there were many setbacks along the way,
they persisted. Every successful mission served
as evidence that this idealized vision of the future
was possible. Eight years on and 16 missions
later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on
the moon and returned home safely. And it was
all done before the end of 1969.
I know another man with a
bold vision. His name is Bob
Chapman. He believes that
every man and every woman in
this country should go to work in
the morning and return home
in the evening feeling fulfilled
by the day. There are compaRobert H. Chapman
Chairman & CEO
nies that are great places to
Barry-Wehmiller
work, for sure. But what Bob
envisions is much bolder. Bob’s vision is not
based on the charisma of a single leader, but
on the collective genius of all the people inside
the company. “We’re building great people to
do extraordinary things,” as he puts it.
The Path To Fulfillment
I met Bob Chapman last year. He had seen my
TEDx Talk and wanted to tell me about the
company he was building. He offered to meet
with me no matter where I was. And so, one sunny day in Los Angeles, Bob flew out for lunch.
What was scheduled as a one-hour lunch turned
into a three-hour meeting that left us both absolutely inspired by what was possible. I too imagine this idealized world in which most people go
home at the end of the day feeling fulfilled. I talk
about the patterns that exist that could make this
possible – but Bob claimed to be building it. He
was the CEO of a company with a funny name
(Barry-Wehmiller) that no one had ever heard of. I
wanted to see it to believe it.
The future of American business’ is bright. Here’s
one company that’s making it happen...
In Pursuit Of A Common Vision
Last week I got a glimpse of what the future of
American business looks like, and it looks like
Barry-Wehmiller. There are plenty of start-ups
that have a vision of a bright future but never really
make it. Of those companies that do make it, it is
often their own success that distracts them from
their original vision. Their size and scale start to
add layers of management and bureaucracy that
hardly leave people inspired at the end of a day.
Barry-Wehmiller is a billion-plus dollar company
with thousands of employees around the globe.
And yet, the inspiration lives on. More significantly,
it did it in a way I didn’t think possible – through
acquisition. It is a collection of 50 companies.
It’s unheard of to take so many different cultures
and have them all gel so well in pursuit of a
common vision.
We crisscrossed the country for a few days, visiting a few of the company’s offices and factories.
We met employees with all job functions, from factory workers to senior management. Bob stayed
away for all of our meetings and factory tours to
ensure people would be more candid when they
answered our questions. And the feeling was
unanimous and overwhelming: employees loved
their jobs and loved this company.
They didn’t use the word “management” in the
company. No one was in “management” and
no one was a “manager.” The term didn’t exist.
Instead, they have only leaders. And leaders
were at all levels and in all manners of job function
across the company. “There is no ‘us and them,’”
one of the leaders who works in the factory told
me. “There is only ‘us.’”
At all the offices, on many of the walls, were
written the words that Bob would remind me
of over and over throughout our time together:
“We’re building great people to do extraordinary
things.” And they aren’t just words; they live it.
If there is a problem to be solved, for example,
the company expects those with the problem to
solve the problem.
My favorite example was a data management
system to track all the orders and jobs the factory needed to complete. Though “management” had bought a multimillion-dollar SAP
system to track it all, those who work in the factory thought they could do it better themselves.
And so they did: two wooden boards with rows
of plastic folders nailed on each. Their system
allows for an instant visual of what’s going on
in the factory at any time. Depending on how
many jobs are in each folder, they can tell which
jobs are piling up and which are done. Anyone
who walks past the board can see where help
is needed so they can go over to help. It is
an astounding system of effic i enc y. One
developed not by high-priced consultants with
a high-priced system to sell, but by those who
do the job and are trusted and empowered to
do their jobs. A novel idea.
The Future Of Business
Imagine a world in which we all go to work and
come home feeling fulfilled. We come home
feeling like we contributed to something bigger
than ourselves. Imagine a world in which we felt
a collective pride for being a part of the companies
we work for and have a genuine love of the people
with whom we work. This is not the ramblings of a
crazy idealist. There is precedence for this world,
and it’s called Barry-Wehmiller.
AskMen.com / January 26, 2011