by C. Villefrance Moeller, TalesOfLeading

This headline in Borsen caught my eyes this morning. I found the story interesting. A top executive from a German company had visited Borsen Executive Club to tell how he made 48.000 employees understand his strategy.

“If you achieve your objectives, you will certainly get promoted. If you don’t, you will certainly get transferred or kicked out. We measure everything, and our strategy is always strictly tied to financial targets,“

the top executive said. He also talked about a meeting he had with the top 40 managers. He asked them how many had been promoted within the last five years. 30 people raised their hands. He then reminded them, that this was only possible because other 30 people had left. Unfortunately, I didn’t attend the meeting, so my knowledge of what he said is limited to the summary in the newspaper and the translation from Danish is mine.

Creativity in a competitive world

I have seen a lot of creativity in highly competitive environments, though it does not necessarily lead to better and cheaper products for the benefit of the customer. In addition, it does not necessarily lead to better and more efficient business processes. Instead, I have seen a lot of creativity in making the numbers look right and bullying internal rivals. If I had attended that meeting, I would have liked to ask the top executive the following questions:

• How does your customers benefit from this internal competition?
• How much innovation has been created within the last five years?
• Do you dare to take time off to reflect and spend time with your family?

Enjoy the summer