Terrible Scrambled Eggs: Are Managers Running a Business or Just Reading Reports?

#ListenToCustomers #ThinkOfYourCustomers Years ago, one morning, management thinker Henry Mintzberg flew Eastern Airlines from Montreal to New York. It was then the world’s largest airline, but eventually closed. Breakfast included something called “scrambled eggs.” Mintzberg told a flight attendant, “I have eaten plenty of terrible things on airplanes, but these scrambled eggs are absolutely the worst.” “I know,” she replied. “We frontline flight attendants have tried to tell management many times, but they never listen.” How could that be? If they ran a cemetery, difficulty communicating with customers would be understandable. But what is the difficulty for an airline? Whenever he encounters poor service or a badly designed product, Mintzberg wonders: is management running the business or just reading financial statements? Financial analysts naturally read statements and may explain an airline’s problems through load factors or other factors. But do not believe any of those numbers: Eastern went out of business because of those terrible scrambled eggs. Years later, Mintzberg told this story to a group of managers. Afterward, someone from IBM shared another: Eastern’s CEO rushed aboard a flight at the last minute. First class was full. I suppose he had a customary seat, so the crew asked the paying passenger already in it to move to economy and give it to him. Apparently ashamed, the CEO went back to apologize and introduced himself as the airline’s CEO. The passenger replied, “Oh, I’m the CEO of IBM.” The issue is not whose seat was taken. It is status: they considered a higher cabin class more important than reason or decency. Management has nothing to do with your customary seat, but a great deal to do with the scrambled eggs you eat. #Mintzberg寫給管理者的睡前故事 (Mintzberg’s bedtime stories for managers)