Over the last few years, I’ve written in Tim Pennington’s excellent industry publication about many topics that impact leaders and managers.
Jim CastigliaAnd one of the most critical is “problem-solving.” So this month, we’ll revisit this important subject that I last wrote about two years ago.
Harold “Hal” Geneen, the legendary Chairman and CEO of International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT), authored in 1984 (with Alvin Moscow) one of the most powerful business books I’ve ever read, titled Managing.
Geneen transformed ITT into a diversified conglomeration with 250 profit centers on four continents. He took ITT from $766M in sales ($2.4B in 2026) to $22B in sales revenue ($69.3B in 2026). He achieved 58 consecutive quarters of annual growth exceeding 10 percent. Wow!
Management Must Manage
Chapter 5 of the book is titled “Management Must Manage.”
He writes:
- Management Must Manage.
- Management MUST Manage.
- MANAGEMENT MUST MANAGE.
How many times do I have to tell you?
He claims that this credo (management must manage) is “probably the closest thing to the secret of business success, in professional life, in almost everything you undertake.”
“Must” means must. This is the active word in the credo.
If you don’t achieve the results targeted by your business plan and budget for the year, you’re not a manager.
He gives an example of three college students, of equal intelligence and ability, who want to go to graduate school of business administration and become successful, well-paid business executives.
Examples of Management
The first boy, Cal, figures he’ll get a B average because he’s always done that well before. He attends all his classes, hands in most of his homework assignments, and does what’s expected of him. When he got the flu before final exams one year, his average slipped to just above a C. But that wasn’t his fault, he says. He figures he’ll average them out with A’s the following year. But something else happens. He misunderstood one question on his exam and brought home a C. One thing or another seems to happen to thwart his most sincere intentions. He graduates with a B-minus average, and with a little luck, he may make it into a B-minus business school.
The second would-be executive, Al, decides he wants to attend one of the 12 top business schools, and to do so, he needs an A average. When he pulls down his first B, he begins putting in 3-4 hours a night studying, rather than 1 or 2. In his second and again in his third year, he slips to one B among all the other A’s. He feels annoyed, but he doesn’t know what more he can do about it. So, he decides three or four A’s and one B each year isn’t so bad, after all. In his senior year, he received two A’s, one B, and one unexpected C. Then he made his 12 applications and crossed his fingers. He hopes for the best. Whether he will get into one of the top schools now depends as much on his competition as on his own grades.
The third boy decides he wants to go to Stanford or Harvard Business School and no other, and for that, he’ll need straight A’s. His name is Hal!
He knows in his gut that he must get straight A’s. He studies three, four, or five hours every night so that when he takes an exam, he’ll be confident he knows his subject. In his senior year, with a straight-A average, he gets into trouble with one subject, advanced accounting. At the end of the first quarter, he’s struggling for a B. He studies harder. Mid-year, he still has a B-minus average in that subject. What can he do? He does some outside reading beyond his assignments. He still cannot master that subject. He appeals to his professor for help. The professor, however sympathetic, has no time for him. What can he do? His friends, Cal and Al, scoff at his concern. One B in four years isn’t so bad! But Hal has set his heart on his goal. He must get that A in advanced accounting. He swallows his pride and finds a grad student to tutor him; he burns the midnight oil; he thinks things through; he works hard. And, of course, he gets his A; he gets into the school of his choice.
The Essentials of Good Business Management
Geneen says the first two boys were not managers. The third boy, Hal, was a manager before he even reached business school. He grasped the essentials of good business management, not because he worked hard at his studies, but because when one action failed, he tried another, and then another… until he achieved his goal. That’s managing!
In business, there will always be problems, and your job as a manager is to solve them. Your attitude should be… “I’m going to stay here all night if I have to, but I’m going to solve that problem.”
That’s what Geneen meant by “Managers MUST Manage!”
You must get those results!
Logical explanations do not count. Rationalizations do not count. Excuses don’t count. 80% of the targeted goal does not count.
Only achieving the pre-determined results counts. That’s it.
You may want to refer back to my article on problem-solving in the 2024 issue. That will help you determine your organization’s attitude towards problem-solving.
5-Step Problem-Solving Process
Today, I want to review a simple 5-step problem-solving process you can easily master. The keyword here is “process.” We don’t want randomness here. Solving company problems is too important.
- Define and state the problem clearly in a sentence or two.For example, “sales are down 12%.”
- Consider root causes. Ask “why” several times to “peel the onion.” Why are sales down 12%? It’s because our advertising budget and reach have been reduced. Why has our budget been reduced? Etc. Keep asking “why” until you get to the bottom of it.
- Now is the time to consider alternative courses of action to solve the problem. Think about the ideal solution; then two alternatives; then the ramifications and potential consequences of keeping things status quo. (Leaving things as is may be the best direction.)
- Choose the course of action.
- Implement the course of action and monitor outcomes.
Install this simple (I’m not saying easy) problem-solving process in your business or department, teach it to others, and watch the difference it makes.
Contact me by email or text if you have any questions or need help.
Jim Castiglia is the founder of Business Street Fighter Consulting, supporting entrepreneurial business owners in their desire to grow and maximize the value of their businesses. You can reach him by email at jvcastiglia@icloud.com or text him at 949.338.7141.
