It's a Dog Eat Dog World...

We have all heard the expression that it is a dog eat dog world, and many of us had the chance to live it at various times in our career. Over the years I have heard so much about the importance of business culture, yet it seems like more than ever we are hearing about bad things companies do to either their own employees or Customers. Over the past week we have heard a ton about the Mylan Pharmaceuticals EpiPen disaster and I have written a few pieces on that topic. The NY Attorney General today opened an investigation into the company for the anti-competitive contracts the company had in schools. I expect things will get much worse for that company, but I also think it is a strong reminder that we need to look in the mirror at the actions of the companies we work for. As I look around, most business executives think they are doing the right thing, and I would bet the Mylan leaders felt that way too. It is time we take a deeper look into what happens in our beloved businesses.

History Always Repeats Itself

I have been looking at the world we are living in, and I have become deeply concerned with a number of things. First it feels like wages for so many have been stagnated, or worse going down (the typical 1-2% raises if you are lucky to even get one). At the same time it feels like compensation packages for the senior most leaders has been growing dramatically. This compensation disconnect between leadership and the employee base sets us up for major disruptions in business if we do not resolve them soon. Another concern is how far business leaders, or, even regular employees are pushing the boundaries just a little further in that effort to win or get ahead. This often provides short term success and even the accolades from the investment world, but not very sustainable. We are sacrificing trust and ethics. It also seems our political infrastructure, which we often rely on to keep these things in check has not been keeping up on these issues. The fact is money is often flowing from these business to politicians, causing distrust within the general public that our government servants are not serving our own interests. 

Sad thing is we can review history and find time periods just like we are seeing today. You can look at the Robber Barons of the late 1800. Wikipedia has a great definition of Robber Barons ""Robber baron" is a derogatory metaphor of social criticism originally applied to certain late 19th-century American businessmen who used unscrupulous methods to get rich." The business environment at the time led to many new regulations, including the Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as the formation of labor unions (I am not saying labor unions are perfect but they were an effective response to actions at the time). Many of the laws placed on the books at that time could have the same impact today. Even though the world has changed, the spirit of the law has always been there, even if it was not enforced effectively. One beautiful aspect to politicians, regardless of political party, they often see where the wind is blowing and are happy to jump on the bandwagon. We have seen it with the Mylan situation where individuals from both political parties have spoken out against the pricing actions of the company. If history continues to repeat itself, I suspect many within the political spectrum will jump on the bandwagon real fast!

Where Do We Go From Here

If we look back, the 1980's led us to where we are today. After corruption and scandal of the 1970's we built a confidence or swagger within business in the 80's, especially in the US. Yes we did have some people who were caught doing bad things and were punished but we allowed the boundaries or grey areas of the law get bigger and bigger. We also cut back on many of the regulatory agencies making it difficult to watch over everything that was happening. In the 1990's strong efforts were made to depersonalize business, emphasizing measurement and process. This is still how businesses are being run today. We became really strong at "what" a business does, but the "how" the business does it took over the grey area of the law and only the strong survived. It has been a dog eat dog world.

The dog eat dog world metaphor works, at least until the dog catcher arrives. Who is the dog catcher? As the Mylan situation has proven, it is all of us. We like to think it is our political structure that is responsible for oversight, but if that is not kept in check, then it will fall into our responsibility, and has. The world is changing fast and will continue to. We will be challenged with many of our own beliefs regarding business, money, employment, technology and so much more.  The polarization we see on many political issues will continue to widen. One observation from watching friends with vastly different political views, I see a lot of agreement with "what" is currently at issues, even if they don't see the connection. The differences tend to be in "how" to best fix them. I would love to think that they could have a rational conversation and by working together find stronger solutions, but the polarization makes these conversations very difficult. This is why I think the solutions will start with each of us.

This week I am leaving my employment at Zeno Group as I move back to the Philadelphia area. The birthplace of the nation, and where I plan to continue to mold what the future of business is going to look like. I enjoyed my time with the company, and will miss the great people who work there.  I am thinking very differently today than I have in the past and I wish to explore that further. We are going to see many challenges in business and the answers historically provided to help these companies may end up hurting them instead of helping. We require new and fresh thinking that is informed by history, but with a clear eye on the future. In the past I would talk about Customer or employee experience, but the fact is the issues are much bigger than either of these categories or silos. I am also starting to realize the idea of company culture is a misnomer. We have to start with the basic idea that at the core we are all out for ourselves. That may sound selfish, but often it is not. We are out to provide the best for our family. That is true of the lowest level employee all the way through the CEO. We do have common ground! I believe there will be 3 core tenets that you will see at the best performing companies:

• Trust - Companies will have to become more transparent, avoid hiding behind legal barriers (terms and conditions, or fine print) and working with regulators or others to better define the laws and regulations so there are no grey areas. 
• Ethics - This is easy, "do the right thing" or "do something that would make your parents proud." Of course ethics is never quite that easy and many love to go within the grey areas, but very few would ever intentionally want to take it beyond. The challenge is ethics are not judged by you, but really they are judged by others, often your harshest critics.
• Community - As soon as many see this word within this context, they will think "social good." Social good was encouraged over the past 10-20 years and viewed as a means to give back. Company after company have set up foundations to help the community, but is this really what people want? Community is much larger and includes your employees, Customers, investors, regulators and non-Customers. It is not about a message or press article painting a school, it is more about steps taken each and everyday to help all constituents.

The future will bring many challenges for everyone. New technologies will replace old ways of doing business, and sometimes even replace jobs. This all cannot happen with some type of spin but instead we must focus on "how" we go about these things. "How" we think and "how" we actually do. The past 30 years have been about "what" we do, now the pendulum will shift to "how" we do it. Successful businesses will now have to partner across all these constituents to build the future together. It is going to require people who have a deep understanding of each and can help bring their views into an organization. We will have to embrace our deepest enemies to learn from them. We will have to learn ethics and trust from our strongest critics. We will need partners who help align across internal silos and prevent more internal fiefdoms from building.

This is what the new world will look like. Are you ready to focus on the "How"? I am.

If you would like to learn more about my next steps, connect with me on LinkedIn or shoot me an email at [email protected]. Like anyone transitioning, I am scared about my own future and providing for my family but I know "what" is right for business and this is the right direction. I am looking forward to being back in Philadelphia with family and friends. Together we will build the future of business.