My late brother-in-law, Philip Epstein was the son and nephew of famous screenwriters called “the Epstein Brothers.” These brothers, Julius and Phillip, wrote Casablanca(garnering an Oscar) and many other great movies. Phillip told me sometime later, Jack Warner tried to harness the Epstein Brother’s creative ability by forcing them to work 9-6 every day. The brothers did. The next movie released turned out to be a theatrical bomb. Jack Warner asked them why did that happen? They replied, “We don’t know why? We were here from 9-6 every day!”That was one extreme of a boss trying to manage employees. Another is a book I read, Copy This!: Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America’s Best Companies by Kinkos founder, Paul Orfalea. The book discussed many aspects of the rise of Kinkos, but one was the fact that the partners referred to their employees as partners. They never said a person worked for them, but with them. As a CPA and strategist, this concept interested me because even though this culture seemed revolutionary in the 1970s and 1980s, it actually existed in a much bigger company, Nucor Steel in the 1960s. (See Judo 101: How to Defeat a 500 Pound Gorrila.)
This whole employer/employee relationship concept is discussed in What it will take to lead 20 years from now by John Baldoni. Mr Baldoni refers to the Hay Group’s Leadership 2030 report. The article and the report described the new leader as a mediator and coach, allowing more employee autonomy. The report stated that leaders have to work harder to generate employee loyalty.
But this article (and maybe the report) only looked at this from a leadership point of view. That point of view was fine, but incomplete.
As a CPA, I look for direction and people, just not people. If you are going to promote autonomous employees, you must first learn how to align individual roles to an organization’s strategy. You must know how an employee’s work fits into the organization’s strategy.
After you aligned the employee with a goal you must measure it. Do not make the mistake of giving an employee free reign without deliverables, metrics, and time frames.
So how does this tie into our famous Epstein Brothers? Was Jack Warner wrong to force the metrics of a common work day on them? The answer is probably yes. Mr. Warner had the right idea, but the wrong metrics. The metrics in that case may have been timeliness and theatrical results. Film, like every industry must find the right combination of expectations and metrics.
The next generation of small business owners and CPAs will be different than the prevailing culture. But that culture exists today, probably in some of the more successful businesses. So, instead of planning for the future company culture, embrace it now and be an industry leader.