Ford's Way Forward

"I fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with terrible resolve."

-Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

The quote above is a reminder that sometimes it takes crisis to awaken the powerful resolve of society or companies. I've dedicated a fair amount of time on this blog to the state of the American automobile industry. As GM goes, so goes the economy still holds true today. Regardless of whether the American auto industry has downsized or direct employment has fallen, the supply chain fingers are massive. Millions upon millions of American's economic livelihood is tied to GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler.

I've been critical of the Big Three so long I don't think I've ever said much of anything positive until recently when I posted these companies were finally going to turn after forty years of mismanagement. America's auto industry has had the most arrogant and most insular management of any companies on earth. I've worked with the Big Three as a consultant, I've worked with teams of people who have worked with the Big Three, I've got friends & family who work for the Big Three. I simply cannot overstate how awful the management teams of these companies are. They have been beyond awful for at least forty, maybe fifty years. I don't know how many times I can saw awful but I've worked with companies that have managed to file Chapter 11 that had management teams leaps ahead of the Big Three. And, anyone who thinks a CEO of a $200 billion company has to be good at something, I could cite failure after failure for forty years to prove that simply is not the case. Go back and read my prior posts. Leadership is an uncommon value and leadership in Detroit has been on hiatus.

The Big Three cultures have operated on the premise that you never share bad news with the boss. And that credo moves right up the food chain to the CEO. Bad news is not tolerated. While that may sound amazingly difficult to believe it is an extremely prevalent culture in insular societies be it a company or a country. If you are unable to admit to your shortcomings, how do you ever address them? It's the same trap we all fall into in our lives. It's Joe's fault at work. It's my spouse's fault we are having problems. It's the government's fault we spend too much. It's the other person's problem.

In the auto business it's manufacturing complaining about engineering delivering an unbuildable car. It's engineering complaining that the designers have a design which cannot be engineered. It's focus groups and marketing research which has been bastardized to the point of garbage in-garbage out. It's........the Pontiac Aztek. It's.......the Ford Crown Victoria. But mostly it's accounting trying to tell the designers the quality of material they can use, telling procurement how much money they can spend regardless of component quality and engineering how much money they can spend. To wrap it all together is a malaise and arrogance without any type of leadership.

Let me tell you something. The proverbial stuff has finally hit the fan. I know I've made this statement already within the past few months but the acceleration even today is exciting and quite unbelievable for me. Moral is in the gutter. Rats are leaving the sinking ships. Layoffs are massive. While I view layoffs as the ultimate measurable factor of management failure and it sickens me to see people's lives devastated, and they are being devastated, now is the time to work for an American automobile company. The leaders will rise through the ranks swiftly and within a reasonable number of years, global economics permitting, these companies will be shining stars unlike any time since the post World War II glory days. GM and Ford are busting out. They are becoming places designers and engineers once again want to work. The car guys and gals are taking back these companies and the admission that they have forsaken their customers is what finally inks the deal.

There is so much talent within GM and Ford it is nearly unimaginable and the cream is starting to rise. They may go bankrupt to relieve their retirement burdens at some point but these are companies on the move and bankruptcy, if it happens, is simply a chapter on the way to renewed greatness. And, they are moving at lightning speed comparative to anytime in their history. Crisis creates opportunity and there is one massive crisis in Detroit.

While GM's product pipeline is much stronger and much richer, I believe Ford has assembled some of the best young leaders in the auto business. I am a huge fan of Bill Ford and Mark Fields. I've probably worked with one hundred of the top companies in America. You get a feel for the winners and the losers. In how they treat their employees, in how they define their responsibilities, in how they attack internal malaise and in the type of organizational culture they create. There is no doubt in my mind Bill Ford has the right stuff and so does his inner circle. The crescendo of naysayers inside of Ford is deafening. While I believe in one type of management, positive leadership, there are many inside of insular organizations who will do anything to sabotage transformational efforts. There is a general resistance to change in the human psyche. These people need to either join the winning team and lead the company into a new and exciting era of innovation or they need to find another calling in life. In terms every sports fan understands, you are either Donovan McNabb or Terrell Owens. Corporate culture can become a virus working to kill a company from the inside out. Ford himself has issued this ultimatum and his recent actions have surely convinced those who thought they could outlast this effort as just the latest in many failed turnarounds.

Never in my lifetime would I ever expect any senior executive of the Big Three put such a critical self evaluation and feedback forum on the net. This is some serious introspection folks. This turnaround is the real deal. Watching these nine video clips was an emotional experience for me. This is the type of opportunity that could get me back into the corporate world. And, it just so happens Mark Fields cut his teeth with the same company in the same position as I did. Mark Fields are you out there? I want to join your team!