“Bingsop’s Fables: Little Morals for Big Business” by Stanley Bing (Harper Collins, $19.99).
Bing channels his inner Aesop as he explores a business world “where foxes, wolves, lions, snakes and weasels still run free.” Here are a few of the stories about the rascals and lessons learned:
“And Now an Important Word About Priorities” — The trolls toiled to complete “The Gigantic Project,” the chairman’s presentation to a group of money-hungry bankers. Under the all-seeing eye of the CEO, they worked 24/7 for weeks. As the tired trolls assembled for the final run through, the chairman’s assistant appeared and said: “His plans have changed. You have to get him out of this.” Moral: “Things are often less crucial than they appear at times.”
“Politics Makes Smart Bedfellows” — The head of HR, a favorite of the CEO, often clashed with the COO about staffing issues. Ultimately, the clashes ended when the HR guy realized that he was the tail, not the dog. Moral: “They don’t teach you everything in business school.”
“The Survival of the Quislings” — The smart executive didn’t see the axe coming. As he walked from his office for the last time, he encountered a group of lightweight quislings returning from lunch. He said: “How do you lightweights survive when so many better than you are asked to leave?” One faceless quisling responded timidly (as quislings do), “You don’t know how to bend. That’s all we know how to do. We survive because we’re lightweights.” Moral: “You’ve got to play the game that got you here.”
“The End of the Enlightened Manager” — An excellent manager had a problem. His subordinates, although hard-working, didn’t get along. As a result, productivity began to lag. He spoke to his staff about the benefits of collaboration to no avail. Fed up with the “deaf ears,” he called his staff in one at a time and delivered this message: “Find a way to work together, or I’ll make your life a living hell.” “And from that time forth, all the children got along.” Moral: “Employees can be really tiresome, if you don’t tell them what you want very, very, clearly.”
You’ll surely recognize and relate to the workplace situations Bing describes.
“Profiles in Marketing Excellence” by Pamela Lockard (DMN3 Institute, $19.95).
Lockard profiles 25 “been there, still there” marketing professionals from large and small organizations. They share four common, interrelated threads of understanding:
1. Attention to ROI — Doing the numbers homework before choosing a path increases success.
2. Audience profiling — Use “dirt under the fingernails” details to validate demographics.
3. Channel and message integration — Relevance works. Be understood. Different channels need your message delivered in different ways.
4. Relationship management — Quality customer service with new and old media creates interaction among customers, prospects and the organization.
The key takeaways come from the answers to Lockard’s question: “What was your biggest setback?” Here are a few of the responses:
Ruth Moss of Added Value — “My biggest setback was getting stuck. I think the worst thing you can do is to stay complacent — to languish and never think about your next step.”
Robert Kwong of Shell Global Solutions — “My first overseas assignment. It brought culture shock which resulted in my inability to adapt. People will only give you a little bit of time to get up to speed. My inability to adapt cost me in missed opportunities.”
Victor Howard of Gexa Energy — “When something doesn’t work the way I want it to, I don’t consider it a setback. Rather, a recalibration of the job.”
The advice of these 25 marketing gurus should be heeded by those on all rungs of the marketing ladder — as well as students considering a career in marketing.
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
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