Ginni Rometty: Stick to Your Deal
The incoming CEO of IBM does not plan any immediate changes in strategy, yet she intends for one of the world's biggest corporations to continually reinvent itself, as recommended by outgoing CEO Sam Palmisano. This paradox can be completely meaningless or extremely profound.
What does continually reinvent mean? I'm not even sure it's possible, or if it is, that it's good!
Can reinvention be put on a schedule, say, every two years? Or is that a paradox, too? Makes my head hurt.
In improv, we struggle with this same condundrum; maximum creativity vs. thematic integrity. Given that scenes can take place in the past, present or future, and that humans can play people, animals, inantimate objects, or even forces of nature, the possibilities are endless. I have, for example, been in scenes where someone played:
- a comet streaming across the sky;
- God, calling to a confused supplicant; and
- a table, an easel, and a cage.
This wealth of reinvention possibilities can be paralyzing indeed, especially because you have to telegraph to your scene partners what you're doing. The best path to avoiding a cluster $%#& is to stick to your deal.
This means entering the scene with a strong character, as indicated by a voice, an emotion, or a physicality, and holding fast to it no matter what happens. Trying to accommodate your scene partner hurts you and them. It creates too many moving pieces and nobody gets what they want, including the audience. Just like the flight attendants say, 'Put on your own mask before helping someone else.'
Sticking to one's deal, however, doesn't mean being rigid. Your character can grow, but he/she/it needs to be recognizable all the way along. This thematic consistency is very attractive, because you stand for something. Others are inspired to find their own places, in relationship to you if need be. I'm a big fan of Dr. Michael Porter's 'On Strategy' where he discusses 'optimization of effort'.
This phrase (awkward, I admit) means indelibly connecting all activities to the same set of values/'deals'. The system becomes as strong as it's strongest link and all progress is sustainable. One of my personal 'deals' is deep but light. I try (desperately, on bad days) to make everything I do reflect this theme. Substantive but not pedantic, important but not boring, gravitas-y but not dull. This includes the way I answer the phone, work on my blog posts, talk to the other dog owners as I pass, eat my breakfast and yes, organize my sock drawer.
In investing, we also like companies who 'stick to their deal' -- that's why Apple was so compelling in the early days. Or Dell. or Microsoft. When AT&T cut it's divided 83% in late 2000 it went from the 'widow and orphan stock' to just another name on the page. When Netflix tried to separate streaming films from mailing them the outcry was ginormous. Or think of the furor surrounding ' new' Coke!
IBM has certainly made big changes. It sold the PC Division and struck the word 'hardware' from it's Income Statement. Most of the revenue now comes from services, and it's Roadmap to 2015 (which Warren Buffet cited as a reason to invest) loves highly profitable software. There are still many people in every room I've been in (and I have been in IBM rooms in 20+ countries) with more than 20 years of service. That's an example of the resiliency of the culture which I hope Ms. Rometty declines to reinvent.
Given that this is the time for New Year's Resolutions, let me say: figure out what your deal is and stick to it. You're the only one who can.
