A STORY OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A GREAT IDEA MEETS BAD MANAGEMENT.

Several years ago when I was living in Florida my landlady stopped by one day to tell me about this local man she knew who had come up with an innovative house building system. This man was looking for investors to help fund the launch of his idea and my landlady, who had already made an investment, was attempting to interest me in doing the same. Whether she was surprised or not at my immediate interest and willingness to learn more I’ll never know but the next evening she drove me over to this guy’s house to meet him and talk about his invention. Upon meeting him I immediately liked the guy. He was quite personable, really laid back and I instantly recognized he had a gift for gab. It wasn’t long before he handed me a beer, indicated for me to have a seat and then went off to get something.

In my opinion, you just can’t beat an ice-cold beer for genuine liquid refreshment in such a hot and humid environment as what the state of Florida relentlessly provides for seven to eight months out of a year. And speaking of beer, mine was almost empty when my host suddenly returned carrying what appeared to be a concrete block. He handed it to me – it was surprisingly light - and though it was very similar to any run-of-the-mill CMU (concrete masonry unit – a technical term for what most of us call concrete or cinder block) it wasn’t exactly a CMU. It was about the same size but had a design detail that would obviously permit it to interlock with another such block. This interlocking detail, in itself, was not all that impressive as there are other such building blocks out there on the market. What was impressive, however, was when I learned that this block was a composite and that 80% of its composition was from material that people normally paid to dump at their landfill. Now that tidbit of info got my attention. He then demonstrated for me that a typical drywall screw could easily be screwed into it which meant that a person could by-pass attaching nail/screw strips to it so as to cover it with drywall, wood siding, or some other wall covering (Okay, okay, go on I’m listening). Well, he then shared some stats from tests that had been done on his block. The tests results indicated that his block design was as strong or stronger than a CMU and had considerably more R-value (insulation value). So this building block was sounding better by the minute. It was also obvious that with its interlocking design (kind of like Legos) it would be possible for someone having very little building knowledge to construct a small house in a day or two and without having to use any mortar! Basically you would just pretty much snap the house together.

Knowing he definitely had my attention, he proceeded, for the next hour or so, to share his vision with me and in a Reader’s Digest nutshell that vision was: It was actually two-fold. First he wanted to put together a complete mobile building system that could be utilized in times of disaster. Basically a block making factory would be installed on several of the typical forty foot tractor trailer rigs that we’re all familiar with and these would be driven in to the disaster area and set up. Now the bulk of the raw material to make the blocks would come from the existing debris caused by the disaster. Therefore the landfills could be spared receiving this tremendous deluge of debris created by the disaster and much of that debris would be converted from being an expensive liability to being an expense saving asset. I could go on with this scenario but I’m sure that you can imagine the multitude of positive ramifications possible with this kind of system. Think of how beneficial this system would have been after the Tsunami disaster in Indonesia or in the aftermath of Katrina. Imagine how tons of debris (whether from disaster or not) could be turned into a useful building material.

The second part of the vision, and this seemed to be what he was most passionate about, was to import this innovative house construction system to areas of the world where lack of adequate, affordable and quality housing was a real problem. By using this system housing problems could be rapidly remedied. Since the system didn’t require a lot of construction know-how, training people to use it wouldn’t need a long runway and, in fact, training would be an integral part of the imported system.

Of course, he was very optimistic and passionate about his project and he came across as being quite believable. And if his passion filled presentation wasn’t enough he had handed me his construction block to examine for myself. What can I say . . . I really liked his vision. He certainly had gotten my agreement and emotional support for what he wanted to make happen. Now, he only needed money to throw his plan into gear. And he knew he was going to need a huge bale of money to make this happen but rather than try to sell his vision to a few “Mr. Gotbucks” to get behind him, he wanted to take his vision to the people. He truly believed that his building system could make a lot of people rich and he wanted to include as many people in playing this game as he could. So his standard pitch for money was, “Invest only that amount that you can afford to lose.” Before my landlady and I left that night I handed him a hundred dollars as my contribution to the coffer. Hell, the way I figured it, that night alone was worth the hundred bucks.

As much as I supported his vision and what he intended to create, I had other interests at the time that I was more concerned with. I had put my hundred bucks in and went back to doing what I was doing. Of course, though, I did delegate a few attention units to follow along and keep track of any new developments and progress.

Now fast forward to five or six months later and he has personnel, a large shop and office and a pretty decent website. The R & D is moving right along and somewhere in this time period a short promotional video is produced. It’s a bit rough but effective. The building system is explained but the real hook is watching some kids quickly put together a little 5 x 10 play house using this system. This video was really encouraging for those who had thus far signed up to play the game and paid their entry fees. Copies of the video were made available at cost so I bought one. I promptly mailed it to a friend of mine who lived out in the Pacific Northwest. I included a brief note saying check this out, it has potential, told him I kicked in a 100 bucks and if he was interested throw in what he wouldn’t mind losing. Well, that video I sent to my friend went far and wide making the rounds and ended up generating many new players and several thousands of dollars in investments. In acknowledgement for my efforts the company credited another hundred dollars to my investment account.

So what happened next? What’s the rest of the story? Okay, the rest of the story goes sort of like a roller coaster ride in that there were many ups, many downs and numerous unexpected turns. The months turned into years and all the while the persistent plea for more money rang like a bell. Eventually there were hundreds if not thousands of people playing this game. And although I have no statistics about exactly how much money was invested, empirical observation suggested that it must have been in the hundreds of thousands of dollars (maybe even a few million) that were invested not just from people all over the country but the world.

To make a long story short, there never was a final exchangeable product created. Although there were many sub-products created along the way that teased us all with thoughts of financial success, there never was something built to a completion that could be offered to the public at large in exchange for money. All the money that was invested didn’t make anyone wealthy. It appeared that the bulk of the funds were put into R&D projects that just gobbled it up. So the runway leading to a day of payback for the investor became the never-ending runway and eventually the whole project gradually and, with heels dug in, ground down to a halt. I do want to make clear, though, that this project was not any kind of scam or con game originated to benefit the few. The intention and belief was always that it would work and be of a great benefit to many.

So what went wrong?

I came to this game when it was just hatching out of its egg, I paid my entry fee and then, unlike me, I made my way up to the back row of the grandstand and took my seat to watch how the game played out. That being the case, I do not have any front row information from which to make an evaluation as to the exact WHY for this game’s failure. Like all of the other players in this game I received my routine briefings in the form of letters from the Founder or Dreamer of the Dream or CEO (depending on what hat he was wearing at the time of writing the letter) and those personal communications were the sole source of my game info. However, there is an advantage at times to sitting way up in the bleachers and having a remote view of the game as it allows for a broader perspective. Therefore, I do have thoughts on a few factors that I believe were gross errors that contributed in no small way to the eventual failure of a significantly worthwhile venture. This could have been a great game!

First: I tend to think that it is a rarity when the far seeing visionary and capable administrator exist within the same individual. And even when this rare condition does exist, I do not believe that the same individual should be wearing both hats for any extended period of time. It is just not effective. The dreamer of the dream has the job of continuing to dream the dream and to keep that dream out in plain sight for all to see. Knowing what the dream is and constantly being able to view the dream is what aligns the myriad functions of the group toward the eventual accomplishment of the dream. It fuels the fire. The administrator, on the other hand, is down in the engine room skillfully managing the “nut and bolt” details in the step-by-step execution of plans, programs, projects and orders that will transform the dream into a reality. Also, when the situation calls for it, the administrator has to be the one to crack the whip and push for increased production and the dreamer should never be in the position where he/she is cracking the whip. This is out of character for the dreamer of the dream.

In my anecdote above, the visionary and the administrator were one in the same and the administrator side was not anywhere near as capable in wearing his hat as the visionary was in wearing his. In my opinion, the fact that this condition remained throughout the course of the game was an administrative error of magnitude. In fact, the very point that this condition was permitted to go on past the initial stages of organizational establishment was an obvious indication that the visionary was lacking in administrative know-how.

Second: If you view this game as if you were looking at a long wide opened staircase you would see, sitting at the top of the stairs, in high-definition view, the identified goal/dream. And right up there with it would be standing the dreamer of the dream waving for you to come on up and you want to. You then turn your head downward to see, that there at the bottom of the stairs, is a fledgling organization under the direction of an administrator. It is just getting its feet underneath it while making that first step. Now if the administrator is a skillful administrator he/she is going to always know exactly what step to take next and how and when to take it. Knowing what step to take and how and when will ensure that the organization is steadily progressing closer to the goal. Achieving the goal is a skillfully managed gradient process.

The Dreamer wearing the hat of the company administrator responsible for bringing the new innovative building technology into a working actuality was unfortunately not adept in managing the gradient process. Therefore, as the organization continued to expand and struggle toward its goal, there were many steps skipped, there were steps taken out of sequence, there were unnecessary steps and there were missing steps and the company eventually just balled up on the staircase and came to a stop.

Third: This new company that formed up around the vision consisted of a few technical personnel, a few administrative personnel and a substantial number of investors. The investors were a very diversified bunch of individuals that were located all around the globe. Now as far as I know, all of the company’s personnel, whether they were technical or administrative, were also investors in the company.

Earlier I mentioned that I routinely received, as did all of the investors, communications from the Founder or the Dreamer or the Administrator of the company (all the same person but wearing different hats). These communications were quite personable. Reading one was like reading a letter that had been written just to you by a long time friend and they were quite engaging communications. I do believe that if it were not for these frequent letters going out to all of the investors that this company would have never expanded the way it did or survive in its struggles anywhere near as long. And I think that’s because it was mostly the Dreamer who was originating the communication in these letters and thereby keeping the dream alive. The administrator would only come online long enough to ring the bell for more money or brief everyone on a technical advance or some organizational rudiment that was being changed. So this brings up another gross error on the part of the administrator.

Besides the fact that the administrator should have replaced himself very early on in the game, didn’t know exactly what steps to take or how or when to take them, there was another gross error he made. He didn’t utilize his investors! The administrator, in the manner he communicated to the investors through the letters, demonstrated that he only viewed the investors as sources of money. To me, this is like saying that the ocean is only composed of water. The administrator had accessible to him this broad and diverse base of individuals who were not only suppliers of money but were also a potential wealth of information, ideas, skill, talent, expertise, etc. that should have been utilized to the max. Instead, this vast amount of potential wealth went unacknowledged and was wasted. Now why would someone do that?

Summary:

I knew when I signed up for this particular game in one of Life’s seemingly infinite number of game-rooms, that I was getting one hell of a deal for a hundred bucks. And reading all those hundreds of pages of letters and other material over the years was very much worthwhile too.

Now usually, I prefer to get closer to the actual playing field but this time I somehow instinctively knew my lessons would be that much better if I stayed back near the outside perimeter and carefully observed the game going on before me. In fact, the lessons learned in playing this game were ones that really helped me to understand earlier lessons derived from playing games where I had chosen to participate down on the actual field of play. Many of the lessons from those earlier games were not completely clear until I viewed them through the lessons learned from playing this game.

You know, we all have our dreams and some of those dreams we manage to bring into existence, some we don’t and, in some cases, we never intend for the dream to become an actuality anyway. Sometimes it’s just fun to have the dream, make the plans and imagine the results and be totally okay with never letting it out beyond our own private universe of thought. But when we do have a dream that we really want to make happen and we attempt to bring it into existence and it just doesn’t happen, that is not an invalidation of the dream. Because it wasn’t the dream that failed nor was it the plans, personnel or even the finances. What failed the dream was the lack of administrative know-how.

Another point that I want to mention in regards to administrative know-how or lack of it is this: It appears to me that the degree of struggle one encounters in bringing a dream into actuality is proportional to the degree of administrative know-how present. In other words, the more one has to struggle the less administrative know-how is present and the less struggle there is the better the administrative know-how.

We don’t have many real administrators or leaders in this country. We long ago stopped educating individuals to become capable leaders or administrators and boy does it show up in the condition we’re all sitting in today (and I’m not just thinking about the government). It is an importance of considerable magnitude that every person be a capable skillful administrator and leader on a personal basis, in the family, in the various and numerous groups they’re part of, in humanity in general, in regards to all other lower life forms, as stewards of the environment and lets not leave out spiritual evolvement either. Yes, spiritual evolvement requires adroit administration and leadership too.

A skillful administrator or leader has to be able to think on their feet, challenge the status quo, ask questions and make evaluations and most importantly be able to differentiate between similarities, differences and identities. Also, a skillful leader and administrator does not consider in terms of absolutes but, instead, considers in terms of degrees-of. And most definitely these are not attributes that are in any way nourished and allowed to grow in the individual students attending the institutions of public “education” in this country. In fact, these are the very attributes that are purposefully and carefully suppressed. Now why would anyone do that?