Smart Companies
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What makes a person smart? I think it's kind of like being a leader, you can't necessarily give a good description, but you know it when you see it. And just as with leaders, there are different types of "smart".
I caught this article on Baseline about the 100 Smartest Companies of 2007. They had a spreadsheet with a formula to define a smart company and they're really looking quite a bit at the financial performance of the company. There's an argument that smart people do well financially, but look at all of the athletes, actors, and tradesman making lots of money that didn't do well in school.
Or maybe we're measuring a different kind of "smart" here. In any case, while I may or may not agree that the measure of a company's "smart" ness is in their financial performance, or even financial performance v employee count, I thought I'd ask...
Do you work for a smart company?
I'll let you define it and explain it however you wish to interpret it. Just think about what you'd say if a friend from high school asked you if your company was smart.
For me I'll say yes, whether you count Red Gate or End To End Training. Both are what I'd consider smart companies. Both make sound financial decisions, take care of employees, and are in business for the long term, not the next quarter.
Of my past companies, I'd say that JD Edwards was smart, Peoplesoft wasn't. My thoughts on IQDestination are that it was a great team in IT, but not a smart company. The financial services firm I worked for a long time ago in Denver was downright stupid (and maybe I was, sticking around for 18 months). The Penrod Company, whom I worked for in Virginia was pretty smart. I'm not sure about Dominion Resources. I saw pockets of smartness and places I thought they were making mistakes, but overall I think it was smart.
So what do you think, on this Friday in April after your taxes are paid. Is your company smart?
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I work for the NHS in England. There are a few smart people at my hospital - obviously I am one of them! - but the 'company' is not smart at all. In fact, I think the smart people lose some of their smarts every day they work here.
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Michael,
The fact that you can say that without fear or intimidation suggests that NHS England is smart because views are freely expressed and problems must surely then be open for all to see and fixed more quickly.
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Well, I'm self-employed so I'm biased no matter what I say!
I subcontract almost exclusively for Solid Quality Learning and they're a smart company.
:{> Andy
Andy Leonard, Chief Data Engineer, Enterprise Data & Analytics
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I work for a smart comapny. Another measurement would be "Vision" or "Gaols"....does the company plan for the future and set realistic, attainable goals. The same can also be said for an individual. Those sports stars may not have done well in school but I am sure they set goals to improve their performance and worked hard to achieve them. I am glad that I work for a smart company.
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I learned long ago that what's smart to one is pure stupidity to others. As a DBA, I'm not privy to everything going on in my company (though some would argue a DBA should be). My company doesn't always make decisions I agree with or necessarily consider smart. But they are on solid financial ground and growing, so I have to figure they know more about what they're doing than I.
Take care,
Bert
"Speculations? I know nothing about speculations. I'm resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I shall live also." - Michael Faraday
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I work for a company that is in a shift to being smarter. I have only been here 6 months but we have really started the process of thinking long term and we are building the resources to be smarter and make more informed decisions.
I used to work for a Large Auto Retailer and have to say they were actually going in the opposite direction from an IT perspective. They were smarter and they have put themselves on a slope of getting dumber from my vantage point. The decisions are very short sighted and they are losing their best resource (people) because they don't value you them as they should. I believe some of it has to do with getting complacent which is never good.
My sister once told me about the theory that the true enemy of "Great" isn't "Bad"; it is "Good Enough" because people accept "Good Enough" versus fighting for change when things are "Bad". I think this can be applied in many areas but I feel like my old employer accepts Good Enough where my new employer was in the Bad Category and we are trying to move the needle in a different direction.
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Since I own a large hunk of the company, I would be inclined to claim brilliance, but realistically I think my company is wavering between smart and idiotic. Then again, it may be because part of what we do is provide some close client support, and, frankly, a lot of the companies we work with are not on verge of winning any rewards. So, internally smart; but our world interface is suffering some.
I do believe recognising the weaknesses is a step toward being smarter.
In a less humourous vein, given the constant financial restatements of some of the companies I used to consider smart, perhaps finances is a weak way of measuring strength.
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I work for a hospital - definitly not smart - but caring. Actually I think all the crap we have to do to process a bill to someones insurance is pretty amazing (amazingly stupid).
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It's interesting to note something of a division between private industry and government within these posts. It's not so much a direct comparison of smarts vs stupidity, but of cupidity vs stupidity. Whilst both sectors can and do exhibit "stupid" behaviour, only private industry has the motivation -- cupidity -- to act "smart"; the marketplace eventually rewards smarts and punishes stupidity. Government, on the other hand, exercises a monopoly, or near-monopoly, over the services it renders to its "customers", and extacts its dues, regardless of its performance.
Perhaps it's odd for me to admit all this, as I am both a government employee, and politically rather liberal. But after years in both the private and public sectors, the differences can only be described as undeniable and profound.
Cheers.
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Judging the smartness of the company by its financial performance is a weak indicator in my opinion. It might be smart to invest money in a company which is doing well financially but it might not be smart to work for one.
I would define smartness by the way the company treats it’s employees and customers and on the level of greed of the Chief Officers. Look at Enron – at one point they could have been judged smart based on their financial performance…
I think (based on the news only - because I did not work for them) Google might be one of the smartest companies out there.
From what I have seen the more money the company has the more stupid it is. Also the stupidity comes with the territory (type of business - I think banks and insurance companies are among the most stupid) and very often size (the bigger you get the more politics go on and how brilliant the politicians are … we all know…)
I worked for a company at one point in my life where most of the time was spent on kissing up and dividing influences instead of getting the job done that I think if that company fired 50% of it’s IT staff the rest of the company would not notice the difference in IT performance.
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[font="Verdana"]Nothing is impossible.
It is just a matter of time and money.[/font] -
I've worked for a not for profit for 9 years and don't think financial performance is our key measure of performance. Ours is a balance of mission and business. Our mission is number one, but we can't fulfill our mission without business (money). We've been in business since 1970 so I guess we're doing okay.
Before that I spent 20 years in the U.S. military; 200+ years of tradition unencumbered by progress or change. Many smart people dragged down by government red tape.
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If you want to judge smartness by line of business, then the floor covering industry is BY FAR the dumbest on the planet. I worked for two of the largest manufacturers and let me tell you; the cumulative intelligence of the industry wouldn't add up to that of a bag of door knobs!
Take care,
Bert
"Speculations? I know nothing about speculations. I'm resting on certainties. I know that my Redeemer lives, and because He lives, I shall live also." - Michael Faraday
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One of the more interesting rationalizations I hear in the government office in which I work is that just because what works in the private sector (planning, project management, communication and a few other nifty concepts) doesn't mean it will work in government agencies. No review of best practices, no initiative to change the way government business is done.
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