How I discovered my Morganisms
I grew up in Cayuga, Indiana, a small town of about 800 people, not far from the Illinois border. My grandfather James and my father, Russell, owned and ran a farm and vegetable canning business called Morgan & Sons Canning. Our lives revolved around the cannery operations, which in turn revolved around the seasons of agriculture: spring planting, summer growth, and harvest, summer and fall canning, and the winter period of rest, repair, and preparation before it all began again.
Later I gained an excellent education in engineering and an MBA from Cornell University; a very meaningful two years in the U.S. Army as an officer in the Army Materiel Command Board; and several years in high-tech business and investing. Eventually, I ran a company, Applied Materials, which when I retired employed over 15,000 people in 18 countries.
Throughout my career, I often realized how my experiences in the cannery connected to other challenges and opportunities in business; many of those experiences became the basis of homilies and ideas I would talk about on the job. At some point, members of my Applied Materials team started calling them “Morganisms.” I realized that I could help fill a management void by passing these along. I’ve since discovered that they are just as valuable at nonprofits as they were in the for-profit companies where I worked.
I have always encouraged people to develop their own sets of guiding principles; perhaps mine can help shape yours. For many years I collected articles, lists, notes, and ideas I picked up reading, listening to speakers, or just talking with people. I urge everyone to do that as a habit that serves as a constant reminder that we evolve over our lifetime as managers, and there are always new ideas that can be helpful, or old ideas that suddenly apply to a situation in which we find ourselves.
Below are ten of the key Morganisms described in Applied Wisdom. Each one includes an excerpt from the audiobook.
Respect and trust your people.
Without those values, you will never be a successful manager. A key element of respect is modeling every behavior you expect in your organization and encouraging personal discipline and healthy habits so your teams have the stamina and energy to enjoy long term success.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Value collaboration.
Most organizations must develop the ability to collaborate internally among teams and also with outside partners. When you are engaged in any effort that demands collaboration, you must treat your partner’s issues as paramount and do everything you can to resolve friction and help your partner succeed.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Always listen for and even seek out signs of trouble. Bad news is good news if you do something about it.
“Good news is no news, no news is bad news, and bad news is good news, if you do something about it.” Create a culture that looks for and identifies problems as they occur and rewards quick response.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Develop court sense and align with driving forces around you to create momentum.
In making decisions about the future direction of an organization, it’s critical to assess the driving forces. Driving forces can be macroeconomic factors, technology innovations, industry directions, and global trends. Sense the psychological optimum pace for your organization.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Stress the importance of making decisions and managing the consequences.
Voltaire said, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” That’s good advice. Time is wasted and opportunities are lost when people become fixated on having perfect information rather than trusting their instincts, making decisions, and then managing the consequences.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Build teams deliberately; look for both competence and complementary skills and character.
Competence is essential, but not sufficient, for success. When assembling a team, seek a complementary mix of personalities, communication styles, experience, and ambitions.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Understand and commit to doing the “whole job.”
Most organizations are like airplanes. An airplane has distinct systems that work together to deliver the optimal result. Some help the plane take off, some keep it flying in a stable path, some monitor passenger safety and comfort, some create back-up resources for emergencies. All key functions must work, or the airplane won’t fly; if only some work, the airplane may reach altitude but eventually will crash.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Reinforce individual ownership of problems by always asking, “Who owns the monkey?”
Effective organizations communicate well and empower people to make decentralized decisions. Ultimately, when you lead a growing organization, it’s useful to think of yourself as “first assistant to” your direct reports. You want people at every level to understand the organization’s goals and objectives and make decisions that align with those goals.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Proactively prepare for the next major shift and always “face the elevator door.”
At some level all organizations, including non-profits, grapple with cycles. Early at Applied we developed the idea that we could best manage through cycles by reminding ourselves to “face the elevator door.”
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook Since modern life is filled with paradoxes, help your teams understand and work within those tensions.
Today’s most effective organizations must be global and local; product development must be fast and also low-defect; companies must attain critical mass but interact with customers in a personal, human way (this is sometimes called being both big and small). Non-profits face their own set of paradoxes: they need to be efficient and develop repeatable processes, but they need to be flexible to deal with individual human beings with unique challenges and capacities.
Hear Jim read this one from the audiobook
Walk the talk
Think deeply about these ideas, then develop your own list and regularly revisit whether, as a manager, you are walking the talk. For a more detailed self-assessment, download the worksheet or take the interactive version.