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SEPTEMBER 25, 2006
By Jack and Suzy Welch The Rumsfeld Conundrum Replacing a Cabinet officer is far more problematic than installing a new CEO Forgetting politics, how long would you continue to employ Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld? He appears to have done a poor job planning and executing the war, and he has evidently lost the respect of the people who work for him. How do you look at this from a management perspective? -- Jeff Moskow, Las Vegas You can't forget politics in this case because Cabinet appointments are all about politics. In fact, you can't really evaluate this situation from a strict management perspective, although it's perfectly natural for a businessperson to want to do that. Government is not business, especially when it comes to dealing with performance issues. To understand what we mean, consider the recent spate of high-profile corporate departures. Bill Ford basically fired himself as CEO, stepping down from the family company he had run for five years. After more than two decades of close collaboration, Sumner Redstone asked Tom Freston, CEO of Viacom (VIA ), to move on. And in an opposite scenario, Dave Calhoun, a vice-chairman at GE (GE ), was lured to the private-equity world with an offer to run the privately held Dutch company VNU Group. All three of these departures caused reactions from surprise to disappointment -- Freston's was particularly unexpected -- but otherwise occurred without incident. The transitions were swift and smooth. Ford (F ), who will stay involved as chairman, announced his resignation as CEO at the same time he named his successor, Boeing (BA ) executive Alan Mulally. Freston was immediately replaced by a longtime Redstone adviser, Philippe Dauman, and within days was given a splashy send-off. Calhoun's job was filled instantly by another strong GE executive, John Rice. Now imagine what would happen if President Bush accepted the resignation letter Rumsfeld says he has tendered several times. Forget swift and smooth. All partisan hell would break loose, culminating in the confirmation hearings for Bush's nominee. Without a doubt, Bush would nominate someone closely aligned with his mission. So those hearings would surely last months, with both Republicans and Democrats using them as a big fat media opportunity to conduct a kangaroo trial of not just U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Iraq but also the entire Bush Presidency. Who would run the war during this political slugfest? Everyone -- and no one. What a dangerous mess. Business can be political, of course, but in a company setting, letting people go doesn't present the same kind of peril or complexity. Indeed, as the departures mentioned above show, top managers can leave with a minimum of upheaval, especially when successors are put in place immediately. That keeps the machine running and shouts out the all-important message that no individual is indispensable or bigger than the organization. In the best-case scenario, jobs should be filled within eight hours. Almost nothing in government happens in eight hours. So forget looking at the Rumsfeld situation from a management perspective. It can only be seen through a political filter. How can a low-level employee initiate change in an organization that has stuck with the status quo for a long time? -- Anonymous, Nairobi, Kenya You can't. Or 99% of the time, you can get killed trying. Look, most organizations these days understand the need for continual change. They accept the fact that if they don't constantly improve, they will be lost in the competitive dust. They also know that people generally resist change and have to be goaded into it by a passionate change agent. But it is a rare company that wants the rallying cry to come from the mouth of a junior player without dirt under his nails and sweat on his brow. That's why, at most companies, change is initiated at the top -- or at the very least, by middle managers who have earned their stripes with years of great results. So if you want to change your organization, follow their lead. As an individual contributor, don't just deliver -- over-deliver. Do what is expected of you, and more. Work hard to make your boss smarter, her life easier, and your whole team's performance better than ever. It may take time, but eventually you will be rewarded with a team of your own. You can then make it a model for the kind of change you imagine. And if that effort succeeds, eventually you will win the respect, authority, and higher-level positions you need to initiate the kind of wide-scale campaign you so desire. If our "work and wait" answer leaves you frustrated, then perhaps you need to move on. Next time, though, join a company you love as it is, not one you want to make over, especially from the bottom up.  Jack and Suzy Welch look forward to answering your questions about business, company, or career challenges. Please e-mail them at thewelchway@BusinessWeek.com For their podcast discussion of this column, go to www.businessweek.com/search/podcasting.htm
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