The Impact of the New Metaphor
You shake my nerves and you rattle my brains
—Jerry Lee Lewis, “Great Balls of Fire”
At this point the team had to roll the metaphor down into their goals and further into their objectives. The department heads were very involved in this process because these were strategic and tactical choices that needed to be made. What and how these were written, who was given responsibility, what resources were made available, and what timeframes and deadlines were established affected everyone. By this time, Jason thought most people were getting the hang of this. They were beginning to appreciate the metaphor and what it could do for their company.
The metaphor affected those outside the company as well as internally. Jason talked to management about some of the challenges they faced. The company did most of the music production and packaging activities in-house. In the early days, they subcontracted a lot of this, but because they wanted greater control they brought this in house, which came with a price tag. They had rising labor costs due to benefits increases and some unionization. The people were certainly worth the money, but their budget had ballooned and they were pricing themselves out of the market. As a result of discussions, the company went back to subcontracting some services. This allowed smaller vendors to get in the game and also supported a competitive pricing model that was healthy for their industry in general. At first quality was a concern, but the subcontractors really stepped up and provided some excellent work.
One thing that Jason had been dreading was the idea of having to look at their artist roster and consider letting some go. The career of an artist has its ups and downs, and musicians are in one of the most challenging and potentially heart-breaking professions. There are no less than a dozen or more people involved in keeping an artist’s career alive and on the front burner with audiences. Management knew they had to cut their roster.
Changes Create Opportunities
Jason had several old friends on that roster. They had grown up in the business together. He personally went to each of them and broke the news. It was not easy. However, while he was driving to the mansion home of his first musician friend, he came upon an idea. The music industry is full of young, aspiring musicians new to Los Angeles and new to the industry. Jason decided to spin off another company that would train, mentor, and coach young artists. What he really needed was seasoned musicians who would be willing to give back some of their experience to help these young, inexperienced artists.
When Jason pitched this idea to his first old friend, she was indignant. She was a pop idol. She was a star for goodness sake, albeit an aging one. How could she ever have the time to baby-sit young musicians? However, after she considered more deeply what Jason was proposing, she began to warm up to the idea. He had his first mentor/coach, and they launched the musician’s mentoring program. He was able to sign on seven of 10 seasoned musicians that the company was letting go. They didn’t do it for the money though. Jason reminded each of them what it was like when they first started out. They talked about old times, sitting around eating at places like the Rainbow Bar and Grill and Dukes Coffee Shop, while talking about who got this gig, who was putting out some gnarly tunes, what new albums or singles were charting. They spent many hours commiserating together. They bonded. But now it was a different season for the musicians as it was for Jason’s label. They could really leave a great legacy if they were willing to help these young musicians. It hit a chord with them, and they got very enthusiastic. Several of them were also willing to help bankroll the idea.
Along with letting some of their older musicians go, the company had to get aggressive in finding new talent. This required them to go on the hunt. When they found musicians with potential, they spent a lot of time grooming them, preparing them for stardom. They hit it sometimes but more often they missed, as is the nature of the music business.
Along with finding new talent, the company had to get more aggressive finding good songs. These go hand in hand. For a long time, they had developed their in-house writing staff. However, their success had waned over the past few years. They decided to let many of these writers go and instead work the streets for new compositions. They needed to add to their catalog. There were a lot of young songwriters who were hungry to get their work recorded and published, and once the news got out that Jason and his team were looking, they were flooded with some incredible songs. Some were very innovative, the type that the company would have shied away from in the past. But they knew for them to get competitive again, they would have to take chances and risk having a flop now and then.
Major Cuts in Every Corner
The company’s television and film business had required a huge initial investment in time and money. They had broken even over the years, but things had started to slow as the major competitors got bigger and bigger. The conglomerates had taken over the television and film business, and Jason’s organization was simply too small to make any impact. Their costs were rising, and they were finding it increasingly difficult to find good scripts and adequate distribution. Jason met with the VPs of these departments to talk about options. These VPs were able to secure some funding and purchased the hard assets from Jason. They took about a 150 of their full-time staff with them. That was almost half of their operation but accounted for about three quarters of the production costs. It was a good parting. Jason was happy for them and wished them well. Jason’s team produced a lot of film and television scores for them after that and worked to help them get their new film and television company launched.
Jason also had to trim his top executive staff. It was a sad day when he had to break the news to those who were his close friends. They had spent many hours together at his Malibu beach home, sitting and watching the vast ocean spread out before them, sipping on a glass of “cab” realizing how fortunate they were to be doing something they loved and getting paid to do it. A couple of the guys had Porsches too, and several times a year, they would take their wives on road trips up the winding Pacific Coast Highway to Carmel and other destinations. He wondered if their friendships would remain intact.
As they pared down their staff and Executive Team, they had to find ways to become more productive. There were so many things that they had to double up on, and their time had become their greatest commodity. In an effort to become more productive, they engaged a productivity consultant who was an amazing expert. Each day he sat with one of the members of the Executive Team and just watched how they handled their time. He would take notes, and at the end of the day he would tell each of them how to get more out of the hours they were spending at work. He also presented a workshop where he talked to staff about other ways they could become more productive and balanced in life. They found ways to give back more time to their families, come to work rested, and prepare for meetings and activities well in advance. Jason found himself functioning better than he had in years and not feeling like he was doing any more work than usual. However, Jason realized he was being more productive when he looked at the log he kept, which reflected how he was using his time. He was doing the work of two men, half his age. On top of that, he was getting in shape, sleeping better, and his mind was as sharp as a razor.
Through the years the company had hired a number of MBAs from top business schools. For the most part, they were good analysts but most lacked entrepreneurial fire. They could manage teams to accomplish objectives, but they didn’t have the instincts to see new possibilities in a given situation. They were so focused on structured tasks that it was difficult for some of them to bounce off a wall they encountered and find a new trajectory. This was not a problem under their old metaphor; but as part of the new direction, there was little room for employees who were not entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs. They needed people who could think outside the box, who could serve up new approaches, and power slam innovative concepts past the competition. Jason let the department heads and Human Resources handle the layoffs but once again made every attempt to help them find new employment. Many were successful, and future encounters with them were pleasant.
As the organization downsized, they found themselves wandering around empty warehouses and offices. Some areas started to resemble a ghost town. Jason had mixed emotions. He knew they had to stay true to the new metaphor, but he was hurting inside like a person might if he didn’t have enough food to feed the family. The company had to get leaner, faster, and more agile and resilient. They had gone on a diet and were now having to get in shape for the marathon. The empty spaces made them realize that the associated utility costs would kill them if they didn’t make some adjustments. They developed a plan to sell off or rent out some of the space to their subcontractors. This put them in closer proximity and gave the subs much needed space to expand at a price that was slightly lower than the market. Everyone was happy.
The company had a large garage full of production trucks, company cars, and other vehicles. One by one, they sold off the rolling stock until they had only what they needed. Some of it was old but it was all in good shape, something that Jason had demanded. Because they had taken good care of everything, they were able to sell the trucks and cars at premium prices in an economy that was not very sympathetic to their restructuring efforts.
Questions to Consider
1.What opportunities could your new metaphor create for your organization?
2.What threats could your new metaphor create for your organization?
3.In what ways might the employees of your organization respond to the application of your new metaphor?
4.How might your new metaphor impact your future business?