|
Another
problem Bubuwit encounters is the “corporate ego” of
his/her immediate superiors. They have a problem with
outsiders doing their job. “After all,” they’ll say to
themselves, “I’m in charge. If I accept someone else’s
thinking, my superiors will think less of me.”
This can
be a very difficult decision. Bubuwit discovered that,
rather than dismiss an “outside” recommendation
out-of-hand, this type of person invariably adds his or
her own thinking to the situation. Makes his or her
contribution, so to speak. What results is a modified
strategy that isn’t really the same. It’s like changing a
cake’s recipe. It may look the same, but it sure doesn’t
taste the same.
Ghost of old bad decisions
New
strategies often clash with prior decisions. In Bubuwit’s
15 years or so of strategic work, no one has ever told
him/her, “We’re glad you’ve arrived. We’ve been doing
nothing while we’ve been waiting for you to get here.”
Obviously,
they’ve been doing a lot, some of which weren’t working
very well. People don’t call you when things are good.
Unfortunately, no one in Bubuwit’s company wants to admit
to making a bad decision. Especially a bad big decision.
This is particularly true in an organization that isn’t
very good at tolerating failure. As a result, it goes
against almost all middle-level managers’ instincts to
embrace any new idea that could cause them embarrassment
about their old decisions.
Tidbits
• BBDO
Guerrero took the name Ortega off its doors! Cofounder Jos
Ortega sold his shares back to BBDO to pursue other
opportunities.
• David
Nugent, new business head of Ace Saatchi & Saatchi,
resigned, presumably bowing to pressure after a
high-ranking official targeted Nugent’s credentials.
According to grapevine sources, there was a news blackout
after the blog came out. Nugent suddenly stopped going to
work.
• Leo
Burnett Manila chairman Richard Irvine and his wife Marife
are proud parents of their newborn Isabella Marie.
Congratulations! | 
