SN-Logo NewSN-Logo NewSN-Logo NewSN-Logo New
  • Agile Training
    • Scrum Master
    • Scrum Product Owner
    • Leadership Development
    • Private Workshops
    • Calendar
  • Enterprise Solutions
    • Agile Transformation
    • Unstoppable Program
    • Agile Keynotes
    • Private Workshops
  • Products
    • Personal Agility Book
    • Ten Agile Contracts Book
    • Extreme Manufacturing Explained
  • Blog
  • About
    • Peter B. Stevens
    • Scrum
    • Personal Agility
    • Saat Network
  • Contact
0

CHF0.00

✕
Managing by the Numbers in the 21st Century
09-08-2011
Summer Pricing on CSM & CSPO Courses
15-08-2011

Layoffs, Banks and the Blond: A radical approach to reacting to bad results

Published by Peter Stevens on 11-08-2011
Categories
  • layoffs
  • radical management
Tags
The scene: A college bar. A group of young men are sitting around a table when a group of young women, led by an especially attractive (blond) young lady enters the room. The men, all budding economists, start planning their strategies to win the attention of the blond – ‘remember Adam Smith! Every man for himself and every actor acting in his own best interests (and the losers drink with their friends)!’

One of the young men, John Forbes Nash, realized that every-man-for-himself is suboptimal. The best strategy, the strategy in which each of the young men has the best outcome, is achieved when the group members work both in their own and in their collective best interests. His strategy: “Ignore the Blond!”

Governing Dynamics – “Ignore the Blonde”

Long bicycle races, like the Tour de France, may look like an individual sport, but actually cycling is a team sport. Even though there is a single winner, an individual without a team has no chance. A corporate career is treated like a individual sport, but actually it’s a team sport as well.

Last month, both UBS (NYSE: UBS) and Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS) announced layoffs. Together, they only made 1.6 Billion CHF last quarter, so they need to lay off up to 7’000 employees — between 4 and 7% of the total staff worldwide.

What’s happening now as a result of the layoffs?

Everybody is scrambling to maintain their position. People are worried about their own careers, not about the issues of the bank, are certainly not the wishes of the customers. Some people will get laid off, taking their know-how with them. Management is moving people around, teams are getting split up, and Know-how is getting lost.

Even those who stay are afraid of making mistakes, so raising issues is dangerous, decisions get postponed, and innovation has no chance. (Bonus question: How is this different from the situation before the latest round of layoffs?) Result: stagnation at best.

What does stagnation mean? You can see it in the stock price. Except for the bad profits generated by investment banking leading up to the financial meltdown and which were destroyed in 2008-2009 meltdown, these stocks have gone nowhere for the last 10 years (even ignoring the tremors of the last few days).

UBS and CS New York relative Share Prices, 2001-2010
Source: Yahoo.com

This latest move is nothing they haven’t already done before. It will provide short term benefit (maybe), but does not really solve their problems.

What should UBS and CS be doing? Radically managed companies have an open flow of information with quick feedback loops. They have a climate of trust, not fear, so that problems can be identified and rapidly addressed. And mostly, they are focused on the their customers, not on themselves. (People experienced with Agile, Scrum or genuine Lean will recognize these characteristics!)

What do UBS and CS need to do to get back on track? A partial answer is people in these banks need to think like a team, not just a collection of individuals. They need to transform their organization into a team sport so people can work to a common goal with pleasure,  enthusiasm and confidence in the future. They need to eliminate the climate of fear.

How can they do this? Here are a couple of places to start:

  1. Commit to keeping their staff on board and create an atmosphere of confidence.
  2. Change their bonus to systems to reward not personal success (and infighting) but rather team success (and customer delight), especially at the top. More than anyone else, top management needs to work as a team.
  3. Update their concept of management by the numbers to focus not on financial success but rather on customer delight.

P.S. Does this situation resemble your company? What to make it better?  Join us for the Zurich Gathering For C-Suite Leaders with Steve Denning and myself: Zurich, Sep 12, 2011

    Share
    Peter Stevens
    Peter Stevens

    Related posts

    05-01-2015

    An invitation to join a learning consortium


    Read more
    04-06-2014

    Scrum in a Creative Context


    Read more
    10-03-2014

    Solving the Social Media Challenge


    Read more

    1 Comment

    1. Paulo says:
      04-12-2011 at 14:40

      Sweet! The best systemic analysis I read in a long time. Congrats!!!

    Learn more about Agile

    • Scrum for CEOs October 12&13, 2023
      in Amsterdam
      October 12, 2023 -
      October 13, 2023
      Register Now
    •  

    • Certified Scrum Product Owner | Face-2-Face | English | Oct 26-27, 2023
      in Zürich
      October 26, 2023 -
      October 27, 2023
      Register Now
    •  

    • Certified Scrum Master | Face-2-Face | English | Nov 16-17, 2023
      in Zürich
      November 16, 2023 -
      November 17, 2023
      Register Now
    •  

    • Certified Scrum Product Owner | Face-2-Face | English | Dec 05-06, 2023
      in Zürich
      December 05, 2023 -
      December 06, 2023
      Register Now
    •  

    Saat Network GmbH is a small, independent company dedicated to helping you discover and apply the values, principles and practices that will enable you to thrive in the 21st century.

    Quick Links

    • What Really Matters – Peter Stevens’ Blog

    High Performing Teams

    • Get Stuff Done
    • Get Right Stuff Done
    • Create Alignment
    • Leadership

    Free Resources

    • Personal Agility Institute
    • Impressum
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    © 2023 Saat Network GmbH. All Rights Reserved.
    0

    CHF0.00

    ✕

    Login

    Lost your password?

    We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
    Read more about our Privacy Policy
    Cookie SettingsAccept All
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
    CookieDurationDescription
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
    cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
    viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
    Functional
    Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
    CookieDurationDescription
    mailchimp_landing_site1 monthThe cookie is set by MailChimp to record which page the user first visited.
    Performance
    Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
    Analytics
    Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
    CookieDurationDescription
    CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
    _ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
    _gat_gtag_UA_42152348_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
    _gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
    _gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
    Advertisement
    Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
    CookieDurationDescription
    NID6 monthsNID cookie, set by Google, is used for advertising purposes; to limit the number of times the user sees an ad, to mute unwanted ads, and to measure the effectiveness of ads.
    test_cookie15 minutesThe test_cookie is set by doubleclick.net and is used to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
    VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
    YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
    yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
    yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
    Others
    Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
    CookieDurationDescription
    COMPASS1 hourNo description
    cookies.jssessionNo description available.
    S1 hourNo description available.
    SAVE & ACCEPT
    Powered by CookieYes Logo