History begets attitudes.
I’m back from my biannual depressurization trip. This time it was to Central Europe. As always, I assess new and different things through a business owner’s eye.
We visited five countries (Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), each sharing a border with at least two of the others. Each spent part of its history (willingly or not) under a common government with at least one or two of its neighbors.
Coincidentally, in three of the countries (Austria, Slovakia and Hungary) we were present around national independence holidays. I know my impression of their attitudes is from a small sampling of discussion and the overall feel of admittedly tourist-centric locations. It serves, however, for my business analogy.
In Germany, we were in two cities occupied in the American zone after WWII, but which looked across the Danube to the Russian zone. They seemed pretty happy about that, and knew they had gotten the better end of the deal. Otherwise they had similar attitudes to other 21st century economic powers. The are successful in the world as it exists today. There are major issues, especially immigration, but they will be settled in due course.
The Czechs will never forget the Munich Agreement, where their treaty allies handed over much of their country to Hitler (without the Czech government being in the room.) They’ve joined NATO, but will never again be confident of someone else defending them. Nor do they plan to defend themselves, with a small army based on 6-month mandatory conscription. They are very proud of their cultural heritage, but realistic about their dependence on others to maintain it.
Austria too, is proud of their heritage, but Vienna especially still pines for the empire of 100 years ago. They are quick to mention that WWI shrunk the Hapsburg’s rule from 54 million to 8 million people overnight. They point to their palaces and say “Yes, we are a small country now, but look at who we were.”
Slovakia is just so damn happy to be a country. Their public art and advertising is full of wacky humor. They are proud to have qualified financially for the Euro where their EU admission contemporaries (The Czech Republic and Hungary) have not yet reached the threshold. They have virtually no history as a nation-state, and I got the impression that they were enthusiastic about working with a clean slate.
Hungary is interesting. Occupied in succession over the last 1,000 years by the Mongols, Turks, Austrians, Germans and Russians, they still focus on the glory of the independent Hungarian Kingdom prior to the early 1500s. This seems to be a PR point for the right wing nationalists who are now in power; although liberals have the moral support of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, which remains huge in the national consciousness.
History in your business.
What does this have to do with business ownership? History begets attitudes. Your culture is based on the legends and beliefs you hold as an organization.
Some businesses are like the Czech Republic. They know that they are subject to the vagaries of larger customers or suppliers, but try to make themselves too desirable a partner to ignore.
Some are like Germany. They acknowledge the past, but have learned to compete in the current environment on their own terms.
Some are like Austria. They seek recognition for who they used to be. They are successful enough today, but feel that their partners in commerce should show some extra level of consideration for their past achievements.
Some are like Hungary; angry that they can’t influence their surroundings as they once did. They spend too much time complaining about what is holding them back (regulation, competition, customer demands) and not enough working to overcome those obstacles.
And some are like Slovakia, just happy to be in business and making the most of it.
What is your attitude regarding your company’s history and position in the marketplace? You can be sure that it permeates through your organization, and “tourists” (vendors, customers, prospective employees) get a sense of it.
Please share Awake at 2 o’clock with another business owner. Thank you!
In a competitive credit environment, advertising for the revolving charge cards was directed to the pleasures of paying for something after you already enjoyed the use of it. The struggle of saving for a long time before purchasing was portrayed as foolish and unnecessary. In the 1980s and ’90s Baby Boomers on the quest for material success embraced the concept wholeheartedly.
I think more of us are facing time bankruptcy as a permanent condition. The curse of communications technology is that we can start so many things, and take forever to finish them. Why settle for a couple of words that are “close” to what we want in a conversation when we can correct it one more time. Of course, the recipient has to acknowledge the final change (if he doesn’t make another himself) and you have to acknowledge the acknowledgement. Hey, it only takes a minute.
Whatever the outcome of this election, it’s plain that we will have a President whom the majority of the country doesn’t trust. If they’ve shown us anything, it is that laws alone can’t coerce honest behavior.
When we start planning for the sale of a company, many owners ask me about sharing information with employees. They are naturally concerned that an ownership transfer will cause their workers to seek more secure positions elsewhere.
Using the analogy between a handful of European countries and the population of small businesses is a great vehicle for driving home your argument for the importance of history in forming the attitude of a business, John. In so doing, you’ve offered a real thought-provoker to business owners/leaders. You’ve also given them an approach to open a conversation about company history and attitude with their employees. Thank you.
Thanks Doug.
John:
As usual – the master at work with your observations! Happy you are scheduling some depressurization time! Will use this nugget of wisdom on a client today!
Kelly H.
Nice article!