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Eight Lessons Big Business Can Learn From Small Business
Posted by Lee Palmer at 11:42 AM

When talking to a large carrier earlier this week, we shared our thoughts on having to cut back staff, work harder and do more with less. Our experiences were surprisingly similar though he had thousands of employees and I had just shy of a dozen. Today’s management is extremely hands on and the people that make up our trimmed down teams are communicating better and operating at higher efficiency levels. At some point, things could start falling through the cracks, but right now most companies, big and small are getting the job done right with fewer hands.

I think it’s great that big business can find their inner small enterprise...even if it took a recession to do it. Wouldn’t it be super if corporations could emulate these small business attributes as they add numbers to their ranks, in a recovering economy:

  1. Keep politics and gossip out of the workplace
  2. For the most part, have the left hand know what the right hand is doing
  3. Don’t spend your day putting out fires by having the right people on board who can prevent them
  4. Know people by name and encourage a team atmosphere
  5. Don’t waste time pointing fingers or placing blame
  6. Initiate change swiftly and avoid a structure crippled by red tape and process
  7. Spend less time “covering your ass” so you can “whoop-ass” instead
  8. See lemons turn to lemonade daily... and at the end of each day stand
    proud (pun intended)

Lee’s quote for the day:

“The main reason I started my own business was at the time, I just didn’t know any better”

Comments

Hi Lee, I enjoyed reading your 8 lessons, but I think you are wrong with #5. If you don't point fingers or place blame, then you are painting every employee with the same brush. Every big carrier that I had any dealings with refused to assign fault where the problem began and soon the best employees felt like the company found the worst piece of crap working there, drug everyone down to that level, and then treated everyone the same! After time, it seems like there is no advantage to doing a great job, so there goes the morale, the additude, and eventually, the productivity!

Posted by: STEPHEN LARGE | July 13, 2010 11:48 AM



I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one Steve. From my experience, I believe correcting the problem, learning from the mistake and moving on is the best way to deal with errors. In circumstances where the manager's highest priority is making sure no fingers get pointed at him/her and that the appropriate person gets crucified in public is the kind of circumstance I was talking about it. Could happen in big or small companies I guess but I found it more prevelant in larger organizations.

Thanks for reading my blog and commenting...

Posted by: lee palmer | July 13, 2010 03:31 PM



Hey Lee, I was talking about when the problem is one or more of the people within the company. If the same person(s) are always somewhat to blame for continuous problems, then they need to be singled out and dealt with or the problem never goes away. I am thinking of say a mechanic in your shop... if you trace a bunch of wheel-off incidents, for example, to a common mechanic, and that person never gets the 'finger pointed at them', then the problem will not likely go away, and after time, the other mechanics will grow tired of being tarred and feathered for something that they had no part in! This is what happens when companies try to focus on the problem and not the person. The mechanic in question gets a free ride on the backs of the others and they get hassled/re-trained/etc. for something they had no part in. After this happens a few times, the good mechanics will work somewhere else and you will be stuck with the person whom you were afraid to point a finger at. This also happens in the office and especially on the road in your trucks. That is a huge reason that many, many good drivers and owner operators have migrated to another industry and away from the way that trucking companies treat their good people.

Posted by: Stephen Large | July 15, 2010 02:29 AM



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