Lessons for Rejuvenation with Least Hassles After the Lockdown

Covid-19 has created a catastrophic business blizzard. There has never been a total global lockdown, not even during the two world wars. The bottom has dropped out of the economy and all-round there is a feeling as if the sky is falling.

But, the show must go on. The shutters of shops and factories are, perhaps, already rolled up or will be soon. They face insurmountable obstacles to resurrect and zoom to a new zenith. 

Where do you begin? Drop right away the idea of "first consolidation management and then change management".  Avoid the temptation to first turn to advisors, consultants, mentors or astrologers, if you admire any. They are often the victims of the system and sequential thinking. This is an unprecedented calamity, which has stunned and stupefied most. Now is the time for awakening and fresh thinking.

Only the Wizards Can Lead in

Business Blizzards

The following story, a true one at that, provides clear-cut guidance and direction that can penetrate the darkness and light the way ahead. It is about a wizardly businessman, whose thinking was 'out of the world' and not out only of the proverbial 'box', which has been shattered anyway.

Alfried Krupp, the wizardly Chief of the more than hundred-year-old German behemoth, Friedrich Krupp AG, was imprisoned after the Nuremberg trials for supplying weapons to the German military during the Second  World War. After his release from prison, he visited the war-scarred ruins of his factory and held a meeting with the surviving executives and Board members. William Manchester's magnum opus, "Arms of Krupp" (a penetratingly insightful history of Krupp) gives a detailed account of this meeting.

The meeting coordinator cited that there were 16,000 workers on the roll and 16,000 pensioners, hinting at a reduction in the number of workers and pension amounts. Alfried said, "Human beings came first with us for hundred years," and pre-empted any discussion. The book says that "the directors exchanged exasperated glances".

Veteran Worker's Conviction

Prevails Over Experts' View

When one the executives suggested a moratorium on pension payments, Alfried snapped “nein!" The pensions were the firm's best investment. A spontaneous reflection of basic faith, firm conviction and living philosophy. An example of authentic leadership.

 To prove it he led them outside and sent for Hermann Waldeck, a hard-bitten veteran with fifty years on the factory floor. Pointing out across the black and rust-red ruins, Krupp asked the old man whether he thought they could rebuild again. Waldeck grunted, "Gewiss, wir sind ja alle immer Kruppianer.”(sure we can, after all, we're still Kruppianer). Alfried's conviction firmed up and his confidence in his own judgement got a boost. He gave the signal to start Operation Resurrection. 

That old type thinking has been blown away with the storms of technology, you think? Think again, in light of what Philip Tetlock avers in his 2015 best seller book Superforecasting,"We now know a few hundred ordinary people and some simple math can not only compete with professionals supported by a multibillion-dollar apparatus but can also beat them.”

Not a Start Over but

A Start-Up

The moral of the story is to have a heart to heart talk (not an oracular speech with your workers and other stakeholders. Be totally and visibly confident and inspired and that will permeate to them. Avoid analysis, brainstorming, discussions and consultations with uninvolved experts. Remember that "advice is usually taken to confirm the position taken and not to take a position". The announcement should not prosaically say "we are reopening” but roar  "here is our 'start-up’. We are starting a new era."

Easier said than done? Not really. Alfried Krupp did it and did it triumphantly.

Krupp Soars with Alfried’s

Magic Spells

After giving a 'go ahead to operations with all on board' he left it to the staff to "to run the company". Manchester notes, "they seldom saw him. Unlike most top honchos, he was apparently convinced that 'companies run on momentum' and top management should focus on new things to boost momentum.”

Alfried became the foremost salesman for Krupp and flying his own plane he became a globe-trotter raising funds and securing orders. "Krupp built rolling mills in Mexico, paper mills in Egypt, foundries in Iran, refineries in Greece, a vegetable oil processing plant in Sudan and its own steel plant in Brazil. In India, Krupp rebuilt Rourkela in Odisha as company town similar to his own Essen. In West Germany, Krupp made jet fighters in Bremen in a joint venture with United Aircraft and built an atomic reactor in Jülich, partly funded by the government. The company expanded to 125,000 employees worldwide and in 1959 Krupp was the fourth largest in Europe (after Royal Dutch, Unilever, and Mannesmann), and the 12th largest in the world.

Alfried Krupp exuded self-confidence and took quick bold decisions. For the Rourkela steel plant, Krupp had quoted USD 15 million for the plant and machinery and USD 4.4 million for consultancy. Negotiators reached an agreement on the first part but were stalled on the second part. The case moved to Prime Minister Nehru's office. During an Alfried-Nehru meeting, the Prime Minister said, "that's a lot of advice", referring to the consultancy fees. Alfried responded, "it was worth every anna----but if the job wasn't finished in the Prime Minister's 4 year deadline the firm will forfeit the fees."Manchester notes "Nehru signed". And the project was indeed completed in time. The Germans slept under the  date wise work(schedule in Orissa of the 1950s struggling to keep snakes and wild beasts away.

Alfried's success story in essence shows that vision, self-confidence, conviction, philosophy and empathy are the real drivers of enterprise. If you win over people at all levels, resources and business follow.