Horace

There is a saying that there is nothing new under the sun. Well, truer words were never spoken. It is a cliché that “those who do not learn from the past will be destined to re-live it.” The truth of this last is so obvious as to need no explanation or defense. We are living through a rough period economically. Businesses are struggling to survive. What’s the answer?

Management is one of those kinds of things that include many elements that, taken together, make up a whole. Years ago, in college (USC) while studying business, I learned that there were two basic management styles: theory X and theory Y.

A theory X manager’s mantra was, and I suppose still is, that if an employee does a good job, he or she gets to keep it. The theory Y manager was, and is, the opposite. He operates in the belief that it is his job to motivate the employee to perform at a high level and dedicates himself to learning how to do it.

I suppose that both styles can be effective so long as certain basic realities are met. And, I suppose it doesn’t matter what the industry is either. Whether one is a teacher, a steel worker, a bartender, it doesn’t matter. The key for both management and employee is the same: it is “commitment to excellence” that matters and only that. While the notion that such a commitment isn’t new, indeed it is in every sense a perennial truth; it was first voiced in that particular way by a fellow who lived and wrote a very long time ago: Quintus Horatius Flaccus, a.k.a. the Roman poet Horace (d. 8 BC). He is credited with other such maxims as well. “Carpe diem” comes to mind (‘Seize the day’). But, maxims without specificity are just, well, poetry.

A teacher committed to excellence will assess his students, plan lessons, present the lessons, reassess to ensure understanding and finally build upon what they have learned; this last is an example of scaffolding. Similarly a steel worker will know and understand not only his job, but the jobs of others around him so as to maximize both safety and productiveness; this last an example of vertical alignment of responsibility. A bartender is not merely a drink server, oh no. A bartender is a psychologist, a philosopher, a conversationalist; well, you get the idea.

Businesses and industries that succeed understand that committed performance both on the part of management and on the part of the corps of employees is everything. Employees must be learned in the requirements of the job; a teacher who knows nothing about managing a classroom won’t last. Workers must be capable of doing the job to begin with; it is highly unlikely that a woman will ever be offered a job as defensive end for the Green Bay Packers. And finally, and frankly, employees and management alike must be “into the job”; If one does not like what one is doing, do something else.

We are in a recession—no one as yet has had the courage to voice the term “depression,” but someone whose job it is will no doubt be doing so at some point. The good news is, as with all similar things, it will end; it’s the nature of the beast. When will it end? It will end when all of the parties involved become committed to excellence in everything that they do.

If Horace were here today, and oh how I wish it were so, he would likely be hired by GM or BofA or some other major player on the world economic stage. And I think his advice to them would be to trust in each other and commit to excellence.