firstnamedotlastname

Don't call it a comeback

How ironic is it that we (you and me - via the government) give money to bailout the big 3 car makers and exactly 24 hours after the announcement the radio and TV are full of 0% financing Ads?  Some of these ads even say that the incentives are back because of the bailout funds.

Lets get this straight.  Consumers (you and me) didn't buy their crappy cars.  They're mis-managed companies under mountains of systemic costs and debt burdens - but - where do our bailout funds go?  Subsidizing the prices of cars so you and I can buy them...

What exactly changed with the companies? nothing.  Who is paying for the incentives? you and me.  How ironic.

A couple of thoughts about interviews

I interview and talk with a lot of people.  Its part of my job and I take it seriously.  I always think I can learn something, convince a skeptic, find a great employee, or make another introduction.  Over the last year we've more than doubled the size of the company, had a handful of dismissals, and churned through a few independent contractors.  I insist on meeting and talking with each and every one of them regardless of their role.  We have a great culture, a great team and great market potential, it has everything to do with the people.

I ask lots of questions.  In addition to all the ones trying to understand your background, skills, experience, education, etc., here are a couple that I ask every time.

1. Do you have a blog and if so, have you installed Lijit?

It's almost criminal when someone comes in for an interview with the COO and doesn't take 10 minutes (literally) to understand what we do.  Creating a blog is free, installing Lijit is free.  Both tasks take less than 10 minutes to complete.  What does it say about someone unwilling to take 10 minutes to properly prep for an interview?

2. What do you want to do?

I know why you're here and we're talking..  What I want to know what you're passionate about doing. Amazingly, this question catches lots of people off-guard.  Even very early in my career I could articulate what I eventually wanted to do and what I thought were the skills, knowledge, experience, whatever, required to get there.  The trick was being self-aware enough to know what I didn't know.  Mentors are critical in getting this one right, so is being realistic with yourself.  Not every job needs to be the end-all be-all, but it absolutely can and should be a building block towards something.

3. What are people's misconceptions of you?

This is almost a trick question.  It's not intended as a trick, but nearly everyone gets stumped by it.  I think its a critical competency for any successful executive to have a good degree of self-awareness in how others perceive them and what their own tendencies are.  The only way to authentically answer this one is to actually know the answer.

One last point: this one is mainly a pet peeve of mine..  Send a thank you note.  It doesn't have to be long-winded and email is just fine.  Just do it.  It takes 5 minutes (or less) and shows you have polish.

OK. that’s just not right..

Several things seem to be out of place these days.  Not only did PETA start selling coffins:

But the realism in the auto industry (and what people seem to focus on) seems to have completely gone off the rails.

 

John Dingle said recently that 1 in 7 jobs in the US is in the auto industry.  That’s probably not correct, but then again, anyone that has been in a job for 53 years can’t realistically be expected to have perspective.  Nothing against Dingle, its just a fact.

In any event, consider this: foreign car companies sell over 50% of the cars in the US today, but employ far less than 50% of the workforce of the big 3.  According to the Wall St. Journal, the average hourly wage at a foreign manufacturer with operations in the US is $21/hour.  The big 3 hourly average wage is $24.  Not too big a difference, but here’s where it gets whacky.  The total loaded cost of an hourly worker for the foreign companies is approx. $44/hour, now compare that to the loaded hourly cost for a big 3 at $74/hour and its easy to see where things go sideways.

Back to Congress: why the hell would anyone throw money at a company that has crappy products, has made those crappy products for a long time, and has shown the complete inability to control costs and run an effective business?  The problems are way deeper than the CEO’s or executive management.  The companies have a corrosive culture that has lost its ability to win.  A bailout of these companies does nothing more than stave off the inevitable. There is nothing that is written anywhere that the US must have 3 big (and bloated) car companies.  If you build a product that no one wants, why should you deserve to exist?  Why not let the next generation of innovative US car companies rise up and fill a market need?  You know they eventually will.

The financing proposed gets even weirder. If I lend money to a company and its their last resort for financing, I should be able to get my money back first.  I’m, by definition, lending at the highest risk and this is a common stipulation of that risk.  Moreover, if a company says that the need a specific amount of capital and then you under-fund it like the recent “band-aid” $14B, then you effectively do nothing more than put all your money at extreme risk and give the company just enough time screw things up worse.  If the “band-aid” goes through, we are effectively pregnant with having to completely bail out these guys regardless of the $ they ask for next time around.  Now, more than before, they have us all over a barrel.

The logic suggested the banks that they should be entitled to compensation for the government nationalizing something in this instance is novel, but insane.  This further goes to show that entering into a business arrangement with the government is stupid.

It stinks that the downfall of the big 3 will put people out of work.  But, its not like this is a big surprise.  Their policies, management, quality, and innovation went the way of the buffalo a long time ago.