Great Throughts Treasury

"The more you establish parameters and encourage people to take initiatives within those boundaries, the more you multiply your own effectiveness by the effectiveness of the other people."

"At Levi, we talk about creating an ?empowered? organization. By that, we mean a company where the people who are closest to the product and the customer take the initiative without having to check with anyone. Because in an organization of 31,000 people, there?s no way that any one of us in management can be around all the time to tell people what to do. It has to be the strategy and the values that guide them."

"I can speak from experience. It has been difficult for me to accept the fact that I don?t have to be the smartest guy on the block?reading every memo and signing off on every decision. In reality, the more you establish parameters and encourage people to take initiatives within those boundaries, the more you multiply your own effectiveness by the effectiveness of other people."

"If the people on the front line really are the keys to our success, then the manager?s job is to help those people and the people that they serve. That goes against the traditional assumption that the manager is in control. In the past, a manager was expected to know everything that was going on and to be deeply involved in subordinates? activities."

"In many ways, it?s a much tougher [traditional manager?s] role because you can?t rely on your title or unquestioning loyalty and obedience to get things done. You have to be thoughtful about what you want. You have to be clear about the standards that you?re setting. You have to negotiate goals with your work group rather than just set them yourself. You have to interact personally with individuals whom you?re dealing with, understand their strengths and shortcomings, and be clear about what you want them to do. You also have to accept the fact that decisions or recommendations may be different from what you would do. They could very well be better, but they?re going to be different. You have to be willing to take your ego out of it."

"That doesn?t mean abdication. Managers still have to make decisions, serve as counselors and coaches, be there when things get sticky, and help sort out all the tangles."

"The big change at Levi is that we have worked hard to listen to our suppliers, our customers, and our own people. We have redefined our business strategy to focus on core products, and we have articulated the values that the company stands for?what we call our Aspirations. We?ve reshaped our business around this strategy and these values, and people have started marching behind this new banner. In fact, they are running to grab it and take it on ahead of senior management. Because it?s what they want to do."

"There is an enormous diffusion of power. If companies are going to react quickly to changes in the marketplace, they have to put more and more accountability, authority, and information into the hands of the people who are closest to the products and the customers. That requires new business strategies and different organizational structures. But structure and strategy aren?t enough."

"This is where values come in. In a more volatile and dynamic business environment, the controls have to be conceptual. They can?t be human anymore: Bob Haas telling people what to do. It?s the ideas of a business that are controlling, not some manager with authority. Values provide a common language for aligning a company?s leadership and its people."

"Today the top 50 accounts make up a large part of our domestic business. Style changes happen more rapidly because of innovations in fabric finishes and also because customers adopt new fashions more quickly. Technology is transforming sewing work and our relationships with our suppliers and customers. And we are operating in a global marketplace against international competition. As a result, the way we see our business has also changed."

"As a result of all the tumult of the 1980s?increased competition, corporate restructurings, the globalization of enterprises, a new generation entering the work force?those traditional boundaries and expectations are breaking down."

"People?s expectations for work were also narrowly defined. They gave their loyalty and their efforts in exchange for being taken care of. They expected information and commands to come down from on high, and they did what they were told."

"Most people want to make a contribution and be proud of what they do. But organizations typically teach us bad habits?to cut corners, protect our own turf, be political. We?ve discovered that when people talk about what they want for themselves and for their company, it?s very idealistic and deeply emotional. This company tells people that idealism is OK. And the power that releases is just unbelievable. Liberating those forces, getting the impediments out of the way, that?s what we as managers are supposed to be doing."

"Traditionally, the business world had clear boundaries. Geographical or regional borders defined the marketplace. Distinctions between suppliers and customers, workers and managers, were well defined. Once you had a strong market position, you could go on for a long time just on inertia. You could have a traditional, hierarchical, command-and-control organization, because change happened so slowly."