Ardi - The fall of the alphas: the new beta way to connect, collaborate, influence--and lead

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This book is dedicated to my parents,

FAY and JACK SILVERSTEIN

and to my beloved Grandmother

IDA GORDON SCHACHT

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

A TALE OF TWO CULTURES

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way

C HARLES D ICKENS, A Tale of Two Cities

Todays American corporate world is a tale of two cultures. One, more traditional and common, is centralized and hierarchical. I call it Alpha . The other, smaller and rarer, is decentralized, horizontal, and inclusive. I call this one Beta . Probably the best way to understand their differences would be to observe the two, side by side. Doing so in the real world is physically impossible, and doing so in this book would only result in a tedious series of case studies. Instead, let me take you with me on hypothetical visits to a pair of representative companies, and describe what I see and hear (or dont see and dont hear) that helps me characterize them as either Alpha or Beta.

We begin our tour with an imaginary media company, headquartered in a major metropolitan area. Its located in a new building in a posh, up-and-coming neighborhood filled with other gleaming corporate towers.

Since the neighborhood is relatively new and composed primarily of high-rise buildings, its noticeably lacking in small businesses such as restaurants, bars, diners, grocery stores, or dry cleaners. Instead of sidewalk food carts, a small number of licensed kiosks provide food, drinks, and snacks. Enormous plazas designed for public use surround the office buildings. Cars, trucks, and all incoming deliveries are funneled discreetly into underground garages. Theres a nearby bus stop and train station.

The ground floor of the media company consists of a towering atrium lobby with a trickling waterfall on one side. Elevators lead to a mezzanine level dotted with smaller suites, most of which belong to doctors, lawyers, and accountants. To board the elevators that take you to the highest floors of the office tower, you need to navigate not one but two security checkpoints. To my right is a bank of local elevators that make stops at most floors. To my left are the express elevators that whisk visitors to a handful of high floors, all of which house the most senior leadership of the tenant firms.

Even though its the morning rush, and the right-side elevator bank is teeming with sharply dressed, coffee-toting men and women, the express elevator that takes me up to the CEOs office is empty. When the doors slide open onto the twenty-sixth floor, I cross over into a seating area of matching chesterfield couches, across from which is an imposing wooden dais with the companys name emblazoned on the front. Behind the dais sit two stylish, well-coiffed women and two no-nonsense-looking men, the latter pair sporting short-cropped-bordering-on-Navy-SEAL haircuts. On the walls behind them is artwork depicting the companys numerous media properties, from cable TV to Web sites to radio stations to newspapers and magazines to broadband service.

After greeting me, one of the women asks me to take a seat as I wait for someone to guide me to the CEOs office. Its clear this is the default protocol for everyone, including employees, who also require a guide to escort them back into the inner sanctum. Directly inside the imposing wooden doors is a second sitting area whose furniture and dcor precisely match the setup of the outer lobby, including an identical set of chesterfield couches. Surrounding each area are four scaled-down versions of the outer lobby dais. A woman stands behind each dais, her job being to usher visitors from the outer lobby to this inner lobby. Just as before, Im invited to take a seat, and five minutes later, a young man who introduces himself as the CEOs executive assistant leads me back to the appropriate office.

Inside the CEOs suite, Im walked through a cluster of linked cubicles that adjoin four rooms: a restroom, a coffee room complete with a fridge and microwave, a technology center with printers and copiers, and a conference lounge with a round table and four chairs. The CEOs office dominates one entire corner of the floor. My guide opens the door and announces my name.

The CEO rises from behind the glass Bauhaus-style desk and we shake hands. She appears to be in her mid-fifties, and her perfectly fitted, basic black suit is understated and elegant. She motions me over to one of the three Le Corbusier chairs arrayed in front of her desk before retaking her own seat.

Lets call the CEO Sherri Rosen. In anticipation of our meeting, naturally Id done my due diligence. A graduate of one of the Seven Sisters, with a degree in communications, Sherri went on to get her MBA at an Ivy League university. She started off her career as a successful marketing executive for a book publisher, and then became CEO of a start-up specialty cable channel. Her success there led to her being recruited to take the CEO spot at this enormous multichannel media organization.

Sherri explains that shes seeking advice in recruiting staff and management for the companys recently created digital media division. In describing what exactly she is looking for, Sherri focuses on the efforts and personalities of the new executive vice-president who heads the digital division and of the veteran head of the companys human resources department. As I keep probing for information, I discover that the digital VP works in one of the adjoining office suites, alongside the VPs in charge of the companys broadcast and print divisions and the other C-level executives. The HR executive works on a different floor altogether.

After getting an informal sense of the structure of the organization and a taste of its culture, I ask to meet the new digital VP. It turns out hes not in the office that day, so his assistant sets up a meeting between the two of us later that week. Next I ask for a tour of the offices of the new digital division. At first Sherri suggests that her executive assistant serve as my guide, but very gently I request that she show me around the offices herself. It will make a difference, I say.

As we make our way to the internal stairway that connects the executive floor to the other floors, Sherri points out the dining room and conference room that are reserved exclusively for the officers who toil on the executive floor. Up the staircase and emerging onto another level, all of a sudden Im confronted by a radically different floor plan, this one made up of a giant, endless labyrinth of workstations. Interspersed among the cubicles are various coffee/lunch areas, while restrooms and technical rooms surround the stairs and the elevators. Small, enclosed offices curl around the outside walls, and every single corner is dominated by a glass-walled conference room.

Sherris executive assistant accompanies us every step of the way, discreetly keeping everybody on course. Based on the reactions of the employees in the cubicles, its obvious that a CEO walkabout isnt an everyday occurrence. The word ripples through the floor: The boss is here . At one point, Sherri pauses in front of a cubicle in the digital division area. Glancing at the plaque on the wall, Sheri introduces me to the employee sitting there, then asks the clearly rattled young woman to tell me exactly what she does. Haltingly, the young woman proceeds to offer up a novice-level description of her responsibilities as a Web site designer, using terms like graphic interface and hypertext . When I ask her to tell me more about the company, I cant help but notice she uses the word great! a lot.