 In Biz
The "Dreyfus Test" (and other thoughts)
by Bill Haight
I'm often surprised how many people are content to relinquish control over their lives. Those of us who run businesses likely have chosen that line of work because we want to control our
destinies. But I see so many complacent workers who seem to not even be curious about the essentials of the company they work for.
I once got a lesson about "intellectual curiosity" from the late Lee Sherman Dreyfus. When I was at the UW in the 60's, Dreyfus was our fraternity faculty advisor. A few years later, when my fraternity brother, Nick Topitzes, and I went into business producing national conferences, we hired Dreyfus, a marvelous communicator, as our keynote speaker on several occasions.
Dreyfus was curious — and therefore, knowledgeable — about everything. One time I picked him up at the Boston airport and drove him to Copley Square, where the conference was being held. On the drive over, he asked me where the name Copley came from. I had no idea.
When we got to the hotel, he asked people there the same question: "Who or what is this Copley that this place is named for?" Even among the people that came to work on Copley Square every day, practically no one knew who Copley was. (A local artist from the revolutionary war years, it turns out.) Dreyfus was amazed by this lack of curiosity.
When interviewing potential employees, I suggest giving them the "Dreyfus Test" by asking a similar question — maybe something from their resume, like who is your high school named after, or what is the revenue of the company you last worked for? The Dreyfus Test will help you separate those who are curious about their surroundings from those who just donÕt care and will be content letting others make things happen.
Onto other curious topics...
The April crackdown by the FAA which grounded planes and inconvenienced thousands of passengers was, in my opinion, an example of heavy-handed regulation. There was no safety issue that required such a drastic sanction. Such regulatory arrogance damages confidence in government in general.
An example of enforcement that could have gone either way — that is, generating animosity or engendering respect — happened to me this winter in Minneapolis. While my vehicle was parked properly in front of my daughter's house, I got a $105 ticket for failing to have a front license plate. I was irate.
The plate had come off in a snow bank, so I attached it correctly, took a photo, and mailed it with a letter explaining that I had remedied the license plate violation. I also stated that I thought the $105 fine was excessive. By return mail I received notification that my violation had been
cancelled with no fine due.
You might think the Minneapolis Police Department wouldn't care what some Wisconsin resident thinks of them. But their reasonable resolution made me a booster, and like all of us (even big city police departments!) it's better to have boosters than detractors.
Comments
(e-mail address used for verification purposes only and will not be published)
|
