Management by Flying Around - Rosabeth Moss Kanter - HarvardBusiness.org

Management by Flying Around - Rosabeth Moss Kanter - HarvardBusiness.org

Harvard Business Publishing >
Rosabeth Moss Kanter The Change Master RSS >

Management by Flying Around. >

10:30 AM Monday September 21, 2009 >

As I start boarding too many airplanes for a long book tour for my newest baby (book), I ask myself that mother of all questions, "Why?" >

This is the digital age. Anyone can blog (here you go), social network, tweet, chat in real time, appear on national TV by satellite, tape radio at a telephone, webinar up the wazoo, post and exchange videos. Cisco's TelePresence makes virtual meetings seem real. Ray Kurzweil swears that he lectures by hologram. (Note that he told me this face-to-face when we were both speaking live in Barcelona.) My Kindle readers don't care about autographs. So why undergo the torture of domestic flights where legs must fit under the seat in front or you or in the overhead bin? Why go at all? >

Because showing up in person still matters. >

Good leaders have always practiced "MBWA" -- management by walking around. This catchphrase was borrowed from Hewlett-Packard and enshrined by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman in the first business bestseller, In Search of Excellence. But when a company has multiple locations and dispersed customers, what is an enlightened leader to do? Walking around is a good form of exercise, but hopping a plane is a leadership necessity. "MBFA" - management by flying around - should be the new slogan. (You heard it here first.) >

"Face time" remains a status symbol - who gets to see and be seen in person signifies importance. It is also pragmatic. Viewing the full context aids customization; that's why Procter & Gamble innovators live in consumers' homes. In person, people use their built-in multi-sensory zooming functions. Perhaps eyes are indeed windows into the soul. Eye contact enhances credibility and precedes intimacy. Eyeballs roaming rooms for reactions get an instant "feel" for others' values and choices. Even the best video cameras are restrictive and selective. >

MBFA is another facet of mobility, and mobility is the new fact of business life. Mobile technology is replacing fixed bases. For example, about 40% of IBM employees do not work in an IBM office on any given day. Convening them becomes more important. Marcelo Spaziani, a Brazilian IBMer, persuaded people from sales, hardware, software, services, and consulting to move out of their function to be on his integrated financial services industry team floor, increasing the odds of contact when they did work in the office. When his responsibilities grew to cross countries, he made a point of flying people to each other's main bases to get those same benefits. He attributes business growth of about 120% over four years to MBFA. >

Distributing leadership responsibilities to many people and dispersing activities to many centers of excellence makes travel a continuing necessity for managers and professionals. But instead of summoning everyone to headquarters in the old imperial way, CEOs now go out to the people. Maurice Levy of Publicis Groupe, whose home is in Paris, makes regular tours to major cities worldwide to connect people from agency networks within each country and call on clients. >

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, MBFA declined, as many people feared flying. David Kenny, CEO of Digitas (now head of the digital wing of Publicis Groupe), had to restore confidence in employees working on global accounts. As a pioneering digital marketing company, Digitas offices were linked through state-of-the-art electronic communication. But he took to the air, not cyberspace. He instituted a weekly radio broadcast with the sounds of wherever he was. His most powerful program was recorded on a flight to London before takeoff from Boston, with the flight announcements as background. Many staff replayed David's on-board-cast to their families to reassure them that if David could fly safely, they could too. (He described this during research for the book taking me on tour, to remind me to show up in person.) >

Connecting by air can mean connecting in the air. With only his ThinkPad for an entourage, IBM CEO Palmisano circumnavigates the globe six or seven times a year, inviting key regional executives for particular legs to meet in the air. Project teams whose members work virtually from dispersed locations - for instance, a technical expert in Chicago working on an Atlanta-based project for a client in Egypt - travel to exchange periodic visits. Learning on the ground is considered essential. A regional IBM executive commented, "To achieve delivery excellence, we must have a team, not a group of people, and draw on best strengths working virtually. But client knowledge and cultural fit comes from the geographies, so we must make sure to be there." That's flying to get grounded. >

MBFA would not be noteworthy except for the fact that the vanguard companies I've studied are big users of technology. But they still fly around. Cement company Cemex grew its own software company before spinning it out, and uses abundant online tools and templates to support communication and ensure consistency, but the company sends many hundreds of people to newly acquired sites to apply the tools, face-to-face. IBM can support remote problem-solving through technology (for example, a test engineering system that can diagnose and solve problems from any location). Yet in a crisis or natural disaster, many people grab their passports out and head for airports. Trouble-shooting requires MBFA. An executive said, "If there's a critical situation, we fill the skies." >

Showing up is still the number one key to success. In a world where anyone can have superficial contact with anyone anytime, face-time is the new status symbol. You can watch it on YouTube, but being there gets the juices flowing. You can follow my book talks on Facebook and my tweets on Twitter, but I'd rather shake your hand, look you in the eye, and create a face-to-face happening where we share reactions in rooms that reflect the uniqueness of each city. That's why I'm taking to the skies. That's why the best leaders still do, too. >

See Original Post: http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/kanter/2009/09/mbfa-management-by-flying-arou.html

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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.