If I ran a company...

(Source: Heather & Ivan Morison)

I went to a Women's Media Network event yesterday entitled "If I had a daughter," which featured a speaking panel.  The line-up was impressive, sprinkled with VPs and Directors

I admired their accomplishments, grit and savviness.

But, I did find one things missing though...

Several of the women had made it to the top of traditional, male-dominated companies.

They put in their dues.  
They learned to navigate company politics.  
They mentored other women.
They managed stuff, like a boss (okay, not quite like that)

But, they weren't actually changing the workforce.  They were fitting into it.

They created work-arounds for the issues facing women in the workplace.  

If they had children, they outsourced their childcare.
If they needed to leave the office early, they'd pick back up again at 10 PM
If a meeting got agressive, they could easily put up a fight
If they needed to get promoted, they'd have their mentors or sponsors speak up

Personally, I don't really want to fit into the workplace.  I want it changed.  

The fight and balancing act that Sheryl Sandberg preaches in "Lean In" seems tough.  The corporate workplace was designed for an all-male workforce that has come and gone.

Shouldn't the structure go away too? (PS - Keep reading below Godzilla, there's more!)

If I ran a company, I'd...

1. Change working hours.  
I'm convinced that most people could work 30% less and still get the same stuff done.  It just takes effort, efficiency & culture change (goodbye facetime).  

I'd change the work week to Monday, Wednesday, Friday -- 10 hours per day.  I'd expect people to get shit done in order to have the luxury of prancercizing in the park on Tuesday and Thursday.

2. Daily standing meetings.  
People get tired easily (I'm laying down on my couch while writing this).  Standing meetings eliminate long-winded tales, and people zoning out on their computer or smartphone.  

If you start and end everyday with a quick standing meeting with your team, everyone will stay in sync without sending a ton of emails

3. Cut the powerpoints. (for the most part)
Powerpoint decks should be the exception, not the norm.  Most of the time, it'd be a lot easier to just write notes in a document or simply have a conversation.  I mean, I don't bring a powerpoint to dinner, and I still have great, memorable conversations.

To be fair, sometimes you do need a powerpoint.  If the slides are dense, keep it to under 5.  If the slides are highly graphic, use as many as you want --- but, you better have some videos, photos and a killer meme.

4. Destroy the kingdoms

"Although impersonal forces may compel us into work, once we enter the workplace we inevitably find ourselves enmeshed in the direct and personal relations of rulers and ruled. Indeed, the work site is where we often experience the most immediate, unambiguous, and tangible relations of power that most of us will encounter on a daily basis. As a fully political rather than a simply economic phenomenon, work would thus seem to be an especially rich object of inquiry." - Kathi Weeks 

There is a reason why it's called "company politics" -- just like Genghis Khan, business "leaders" are usually trying to expand their territory.  They build up siloed, mini-kingdoms to rule until someone catches on and does a little "re-organization magic."  At that point, the leader tries to build a new kingdom at the same company or a new one.  I've seen this happen time and time again (I was a management consultant in a past life).

5. Run like Mail Chimp.  

In Ben Chestnut's Creative Mornings talk (see below), he describes his role as a manager to "create little, controlled chaos."

He lets his team work on cool projects they are interested in (about 2 weeks each) and tries to avoid meetings so people can actually work on stuff.  He then acts like a bumblebee, going from desk to desk to see what folks are working on.

Not to praise them.  Not to ridicule them.  But, to connect them.  

"Got a cool logo -- why don't you team up with Susan that's making a cool app."  
"Did some interesting analysis -- why don't you share with Jason that's trying to sign a new partnership."


I understand that this is not always feasible, but I think teams of 3-4 people working on a problem with a functional / product-area "bumblebee" connecting relevant projects makes sense.  And, even at a big company, you should be easily able to match up ideal teams based on strengths, personality types and interest areas using technology.  

"I think innovation and creativity comes from assembling pieces from other stuff in weird ways.  I tell people to not worry about big ideas, just keep making stuff." - Ben Chestnut

Okay, now I just need someone to put me in charge of Google (pretty please, Larry Page?)