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While camping on the North Shore of Lake Superior this week, we went for a hike down Beaver River. Walking down the river to the shore of Lake Superior, we came upon a sign that reminded me of a verse of Guthrie's song span style="font-style: italic;"This Land is Your Land/span:br /blockquoteThis land was made for you and me.br /br /As I was walking, now they tried to stop me.br /They put up a sign that said private property.br /On the back side, it didn't say nothing.br /So it must be that sign was made for you and me. /blockquotediv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8160075-381770818495936986?l=randomstufffromsheldon.blogspot.com' alt='' //div

A couple of weeks ago I got an advanced copy of a new management book to review. This is kind of surprising because I haven’t read any management books for years. Years ago I got really tired of the management theories du jour phenomenon --that over-all guiding principal that some "great" corporate CEO used to run some huge company. (In a lot of cases, a couple years after the "guru" left, the company was in shambles.) There seemed to be a new great idea that would solve all management problems at least every eleven months.br /br /This book is a little different. span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"Zilch/span does have a central theme--doing more with less. I wouldn't call it a management theory. It is more a state of mind.br /br /What is more unique about span style="font-style: italic;"Zilch/span is that, after years of hearing that non-for-profit organizations need to be run more like a business, its author--Nancy Lublin--has the gall to propose that for-profit businesses can learn a lot from not-for-profit businesses. She then proves it in about 240 fun pages (if you don’t like slightly snarky humor about management you probably won’t find it fun).br /br /Lublin provides practical advice on how to get the most out of your employees, your customers, your board, your brand and your stories. All at extremely low cost. These are proven techniques from the not-for-profit world--where doing things at low cost is the norm every day—not just in a recession.br /br /Some of the advice is pretty common sense (but I’ve seen a lot of managers with NO common sense). For example:br /ullispan style="font-weight: bold;"Money isn’t the only way to motivate your employees./span Lublin uses managing volunteers as an example (from my experience, not an easy task)./lilispan style="font-weight: bold;"Be shockingly transparent about why someone is promoted./span You loose the impact of the promotion on other employees if they have to guess the reason for the promotion./lilispan style="font-weight: bold;"Hire passion, not experience./span You can’t create passion but the passionate will “make it their business” to learn what they need to know. /lilispan style="font-weight: bold;"All your board members should be passionate about your products./span Here’s an interesting question: Do the board members of most major corporations even use the products of the corporation?/lilispan style="font-weight: bold;"Treat your customers as allies, not as the enemy./span This line needs to be followed by that famous quote “Duh.”/lilispan style="font-weight: bold;"Be honest with your customers, employees, shareholders/span (stakeholders)--They can immediately recognize PR hype./li/ulRegarding financial reporting, Lublin's advice is a little vicious: “Live as if you lived in a glass house.” She notes that many corporations complain about all the reporting now required by the Sarbanes-Oxley regulation. Her response to the complaints:br /blockquote style="font-style: italic;"Well, boohoo….Transparency has always been a way of life for not-for profits. We’re required, through iRS Form 990 to provide the public with a comprehensive view of our financial information. …. All our expenses are public—all of them! You can find out what we spend on postage and shipping, on travel to conferences….the works. /blockquoteLublin gets radical with her suggestions for boards of directors—based on how the best not-for-profit boards operate (She does note that there are many not-for-profit boards that don’t live up to her expectations.). She first notes that from a legal perspective, the duties of the board of a for-profit business are not all that different than the duties of the board of a not-for-profit business. They both have a “duty of care” and a “duty of loyalty.” (see page 118 of Zilch for more details). So, examples of what for-profit boards can learn from not-for-profit boards:br /ullispan style="font-style: italic;"Don’t compensate board members./span On not-for-profit boards, board members are usually not compensated, but they are expected to give cash to the organization./lili“span style="font-style: italic;"Create explicate guidelines for board members./span Clear conflict of interest guidelines are an obvious need. Many nonprofits also have a formal position description that defines the tasks of board members—just like you would have a position description for any employee./lilispan style="font-style: italic;"Don’t put the CEO on the board./span You can really blow the checks and balances a board provides if the CEO is on the board. /lilispan style="font-style: italic;"Meet in the Field./span Get your board members out of the board room to see your operations and meet your employees./lilispan style="font-style: italic;"Encourage the board to communicate directly with staff./span This is even radical for many not-for-profit organizations but, done right, it can help the board get great insights./lilispan style="font-style: italic;"Require board members to love your purpose./span Every organization has a purpose—and this isn't just the bottom line. Think about Google—one of their major purposes is “to index the world.” Board members need to buy-in to that purpose./li/ulSo, buy the book.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8160075-5500266055742114514?l=randomstufffromsheldon.blogspot.com' alt='' //div