CHAPTER 1

 Management Theme

PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT is the thematic, effective, efficient, creative, timely, and ethical USE OF physical, mental, financial, and human resources (TOOLS) toward the attainment of well-planned, short-term, worthwhile GOALS.

Using Tools to Meet Goals

Managers use tools to meet goals. The difference between professional and unprofessional managers is determined by the way they identify, create, and use tools, and the way they set, track, and meet their goals.

It was with this in mind that I established the more detailed definition of professional management offered above. That definition provides the outline for this book. One chapter will be devoted to each segment of the definition. However, this book is not intended to be an all-encompassing, how-to book on management. A sufficient number of such books and seminars already exist.

Instead, it is hoped that this book will be viewed as a compilation of commonsense approaches, which will remind you that common sense makes sense in business as well as personal management endeavors.

Although I’ve never taken a formal survey of managers, I’ve worked with enough of them to realize that few have established a management theme. In fact, if asked about a management theme, I would wager that most would not even know what the term means. Some probably would answer with a few sentences about management style or concept, and maybe 1 out of 20, about 5 percent, would respond with some sort of logical theme as an answer. The rather low number of logical responses is due to the fact that most managers are overwhelmed with their workload, leaving them insufficient time to devote to thinking about the big picture. Unfortunately, many managers are pleased if they simply survive another quarter, or month or day. Having time to contemplate the various management styles, concepts, and themes that are available for their use is a luxury they believe they cannot afford. Many managers don’t even attempt to pick up a management book to expand their viewpoint. I congratulate you on not being part of this group. By choosing to read this book, you have decided to invest some time in learning about what others have experienced. Whether you agree or disagree with their opinions, learning and thinking about the topics discussed will equip you to be a better manager.

The James Rouse Influence

Before explaining my management theme, I want to acknowledge the positive impact that Jim Rouse, founder of The Rouse Company and The Enterprise Corporation (both in Columbia, Maryland), had in helping me to realize the importance of having a theme. He didn’t do this on a personal, individual basis, but rather through a series of messages he regularly expressed during corporate meetings. I spent about 3 of the 13 years I was employed by The Rouse Company working on the development of a new town known as Columbia, Maryland.

During those years, I often heard Jim Rouse speak about the goals of the project and those of the company as a whole. One of the elements he often mentioned was the importance of the details involved in creating an environment that was uplifting and that would make people smile.

We must believe, because it is true, that people are affected by their environment . . . by space and scale, by color and texture, by nature and beauty, that they can be uplifted, made comfortable, made important.
—James W. Rouse

Items that many developers would look at as mere details, Jim saw as opportunities to create an uplifting experience—one that would result in a smile. He knew that creating a series of smiles was essential in creating an uplifting experience. Jim also promoted this concept in the design of the regional malls his company developed across America. Each of these centers always emphasized the importance of design, and most included at least three major elements that Jim knew would create smiles: namely, water features, lush green trees and plants, and an abundance of natural light.

After working on Columbia, I spent many years managing shopping malls for The Rouse Company. In most of those malls, part of my responsibility was to serve as a mentor1 to mall management trainees. It was probably in the mid-1970s, during a discussion with one of those trainees, that I first verbalized my management theme.

Every year thereafter, in every project I managed, I would review my management theme, thinking that maybe it was time to update it or improve it in some way, but every year I decided to keep it just as it was. To this day, my management theme remains the same.

Right about now, you’re probably wondering what this theme is. What does it accomplish? Does it work, and if yes, how and why? Will it work for me?

Create a Series of Smiles

My management theme is simply this: Create a Series of Smiles. Although I use the term simply, sometimes something simple can become complex. Though simple, something also can be important. Sometimes something is so simple it can be easily and often forgotten or missed.

I have given many presentations about my definition of professional management. When speaking about this theme, I use the sentence in the following short exercise to illustrate how something simple is often missed. You may have seen this sentence before, but you might not remember what you learned the first time you saw it.

            1.  Read the following sentence to yourself one time.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI-
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF MANY YEARS.

            2.  Now read this sentence again, but this time while you read it, count the number of times you see the letter F.

(Note: I didn’t develop this illustration. If I knew who did, I would acknowledge that person here. More than 20 years ago, I received a business card–sized copy of it during a Pace-Setter Seminar conducted by the J. W. Newman Corporation, and I’ve been carrying a copy of it in my wallet ever since.)

Every time I use this illustration during a presentation, I get a little nervous because I’m concerned that everyone will have seen it before and that everyone will come up with the correct answer. This has never happened. Consistently, about 80 percent of the audience will raise their hands when I ask who counted only three Fs in this sentence.

I’m always amazed by this result. It’s a simple exercise, so reasonable people would agree that everyone should arrive at the same answer. However, I have always received four different answers: three, four, five, and six. The correct answer is six, but chances are your first response was not correct.

Let me take a minute or two and explain why the correct answer is not immediately recognized by everyone. We all have a subconscious; in other words, the human brain has a mind of its own. All English-speaking adults, when they were learning how to read, had a nonverbal conversation with their subconscious. That nonverbal conversation went something like this:

New Reader: Brain, whenever my eyes tell you that we’re coming up on a two-letter word and those two letters are O and F, I want you to forget all about the F and pretend it’s really a V.

Brain: That doesn’t make any sense. If O and F are supposed to be pronounced as if they’re really an O and a V, why doesn’t the person writing the text write OV?

New Reader: I don’t know, but what I do know is that this is important. I never want to be reading out loud in front of my second-grade class and blurt out “OPH” when it should be “OV.” So just do it. Don’t question it anymore.

Brain: But . . .

New Reader: Just DO IT!

Brain: OOO-KAY.

For 20, 30, or 40 years, without argument, your brain performs as instructed. (When a two-letter word is OF, the F doesn’t exist. It’s a V.) Then, even when you want your brain to count the Fs, even when easily seen by your eyes, your brain’s mind (your subconscious) still “sees” a V and not an F, so it counts less than the actual number.

To explain how this relates to my management theme, I must start with several concepts, which I hold to be true.

Concept Number 1: Management and Sales Are Inseparable (Or Should Be Inseparable)

Whether or not sales is listed under the manager’s job description and whether or not it shows up elsewhere on the company’s organizational chart, it’s still a major part of the professional manager’s responsibility.

Concept Number 2: The Ultimate Purpose of the Manager’s Position Is to Sell More of Something

Whether the product is a tangible item, a service, or an idea, the manager should take the lead in promoting the product.

Some managers have argued this point with me. They were typically managers of departments within large organizations. They were stuck on the idea that their job was whatever their job description listed. (Such descriptions usually were written by a human resources person who missed the ultimate reason for having managers.) Those managers could not comprehend the idea that their job description could be incorrect or incomplete.

If selling is such a major part of the manager’s responsibility, then it’s probably logical to look at the basics of a salesperson’s approach to business to find a suitable theme. Any experienced salesperson who sells to clients or customers on a one-to-one basis will tell you that “Sales 101” includes the concept that you must strive to get the prospect to say the word “yes” to a series of questions. The more logical and progressively substantial the unbroken series of “yeses” is, the better the chance is that the prospect ultimately will say: “Yes, I will buy your product.”

Because many managerial positions do not include the duty of making one-on-one sales presentations to customers, many managers often miss this simple concept. Because they don’t meet individually with or speak directly to their customers, many managers don’t even give thought to having a sales pitch. They ask: How

can you possibly get a customer to say yes if you don’t even have a verbal conversation? The answer to that question is the essence of my management theme.

Concept Number 3: A Smile Equals a “YES”

Whether or not you have direct contact with prospective customers, you (as a manager) do have indirect contact and, therefore, you do have the opportunity to establish a sales pitch, which can and should include a series of “yeses.” These can be verbal yeses; however, it can be just as effective to have nonverbal yeses . . . smiles . . . a series of smiles.

Think about a time in your youth when you were deciding when to ask your parents for something. Let’s say you were going to ask your father if you could borrow the car. You knew better than to ask him that question when he was calculating his income tax (when he no doubt had a frown on his face). Instead, you’d wait until he was sitting down at the dinner table ready to eat his favorite meal (when he had a big smile on his face).

You knew that you are likely to get a negative answer when-ever a person is frowning. The converse is also true; it’s much more likely that you will get a “yes” when someone is smiling. So, make a person smile before the decision is made—before the question is even asked.

Concept Number 4: A Series of Smiles Is Just as Good as a Series of “Yeses”

Whether you manage a department in a large corporation, a corner grocery store, a strip shopping center, a large regional mall, or a city, you have the opportunity to make prospective customers smile. The key to successful management is to create that unbroken series of smiles, which is the same as developing that series of yeses.

Isn’t that just common sense? It is, but I call it “Uncommon, Commonsense Management” because so few managers implement this concept or theme.

On numerous occasions, I’ve had the opportunity to take over management responsibilities for retail properties (including regional malls and specialty centers), where the previous manager did not attempt to create this series of smiles. Without investing a great deal of money, without remodeling or completely re-merchandising, I would instruct my management team (and everyone on the staff) to first look for and eliminate items that make customers frown (because a frown is the same as a “no,” and its existence breaks the series of smiles, making it necessary to rebuild the positive series from scratch).

Once the frowns were eliminated, we would set out to add the smiles. In a short time, sales would always increase.

Some remarkable things happen when this concept is implemented professionally. To fully appreciate the ramifications, it helps to think about the conditions that surround many (if not most) of your prospective customers’ lives. It’s sad to say, but people in our society don’t smile often enough. Many are barraged with terrible news stories, congested traffic, stressful jobs, stressful home lives, bills to pay, bosses who dictate, spouses who nag, ungrateful children, incompatible in-laws, electronic voices on telephones, and so on. It is not uncommon for an individual to experience 10 occurrences that make him or her frown for every 1 occurrence that brings a smile. Unfortunately, occurrences that make people smile seem to be happening less frequently.

When individuals do experience something that makes them smile, it comes as a welcome relief. When they experience several smiles in a row, it’s invigorating. When they experience an entire “Series of Smiles,” the feeling is downright memorable and people respond (nonverbally) with thoughts such as:

“Yes, I’ll buy that.”

“Yes, I’ll buy that as a souvenir to help me remember this feeling.”

“Yes, I’ll buy that to take to a friend.”

“Yes, I’ll come back to experience this again.”

“Yes, I’ll come back to experience this with a friend.”

“Yes, I’ll tell others about this experience.”

This seems so simple, so why do so many managers miss the mark? Every business manager should implement this theme, but so few do. Even mayors and managers of cities should look at their downtown areas with this theme in mind.

Eliminating the Frowns

We’re not talking rocket science stuff here. We’re talking basics. Simply think about what makes you smile. What makes you frown? Then, eliminate the frowns from your business, project, or city and incorporate more of those things that make you smile.

Some city mayors are striving to improve the Central Business Districts (CBDs) of their cities by striving for Free Enterprise Zones, fancy tax shelter programs, federal aid programs, and other such ideas before they even consider eliminating the unbroken series of frowns in the heart of their cities. They would like to believe that the series of frowns they currently have in their downtowns will disappear miraculously once they spend millions of dollars on some new government program. But the mall on the outskirts of the downtown area probably offers more smiles (and fewer frowns) to the customers.

Although I’m not opposed to large, aggressive revitalization programs designed to assist in saving our downtowns, I do believe it’s often possible to make major improvements with minor dollars. In the 1980s, James Whelan, the mayor of Atlantic City, had the right idea when he promoted the concept of establishing a Special Improvement District (SID), which gathered the CEOs of all the casinos and other property owners together to find ways to improve the appearance and safety of the areas surrounding the already well-maintained and secure casinos. The group agreed to pay higher taxes in exchange for having a voice in how the additional monies would be spent. The two top priorities were security and cleanup.

The mayors of all cities probably see the series of frowns they have in their CBD, but for some reason, they get their priorities mixed up. Instead of dreaming about hitting a grand-slam home run, they should be content to win the ball game with a series of base hits. In fact, it’s impossible to hit a grand slam until you have runners on base. This series of base hits should always begin by eliminating the biggest frown, which is the fear (or safety) factor. Whatever its elimination cost, it’s worth it, because every other investment is a pure waste until this hurdle is crossed.

Sane people do not smile a natural smile when they are the least bit concerned about their own (or their family’s) safety. If a downtown retail district cannot overcome the image of being unsafe, it cannot hope to be successful. Every dollar spent on promotions, advertising, pretty flowers, colorful banners, brick sidewalks, and such will be wasted money until adequate security is provided. Don’t spend your time in an attempt to create a series of smiles in an area where the frown of inadequate security is present. First, solve the security problem.

When setting priorities, mayors should place the removal of graffiti in the same category as security. Unfortunately, most misplace this in the category of special cleanup maintenance. The presence of graffiti is not only a frown because of its unsightly appearance but because prospective customers associate it with gang activity in the area. Unlike the sight of an overflowing trash can, which might stay in the customer’s mind for a block or two, the sight of graffiti will stay with that person throughout the entire visit, because it is a symbol of something else—an unsafe area.

Even in more traditional settings, it might take some experience to recognize some of the subconscious smiles and frowns, but it is just uncommon, common sense. For instance, customers might not consciously be aware that three of your overhead lightbulbs are burned out, but they are subconsciously experiencing a frown. This creates a break in the series of smiles for which you are striving. It means you have to restart building the series of smiles from scratch. All good managers will tell their maintenance departments to be sure that bulbs are replaced and that the trashcans should not overflow from lack of attention, but the real key to themed professional management is the implementation of the theme in the mind of every person associated with the project. Maintenance supervisors, office receptionists, janitors, security officers—everyone must be sold on the program. Everyone on the team, whether or not it’s his or her primary job function, must be taught (1) the importance of eliminating the frowns and creating smiles, and (2) the ability to recognize the obvious and subconscious smiles and frowns.

Getting Started

In addition, everyone on the team should be included in designing the implementation program for the theme. Schedule a series of informal gatherings to discuss the theme and to encourage input from all. List items that make people frown and ones that make people smile. Avoid extremes. Remember, you’re not looking for things that make people cry or laugh, but rather simple frowns and smiles. The lists should be extensive. Don’t require the items to be business related; list all suggestions. If the team has difficulty getting started, you can begin the list with a few examples, such as the following starter list.

STARTER LIST

This is just a short list that can serve as a starting point. Your list will be much longer. Once your team gets started, it will be hard to stop them. Ideas are endless. Notice the faces of the participants as they add items to either list. Inevitably, they will smile as they suggest an addition to the smile list, and they will physically frown as they suggest items for the frown list. This can be considered additional evidence that you’re on the right track.

After you and your team have completed a substantial list, schedule another gathering, but before adjourning, ask them to give thought to how your business can eliminate all frowns that relate to anything on the first list and implement more of the smiles from the second list. Ask each person to bring several ideas to the next gathering.

Again, it seldom matters what business you’re in. Whether you manage a doctor’s or dentist’s office, a jewelry store, grocery store, or a regional mall, implement as many smiles as possible.

Follow up. Don’t let the enthusiasm wane. Tour every portion of your business location. Take pictures of frown and smile producers. Set a plan of action. Emphasize that time is of the essence.

Think about Disney World. They have done a tremendous job of eliminating frowns and creating one of the longest series of smiles in America. It works! I know it works because I’ve seen it work, time and time again. Your team will respond. Keep them enthusiastic by letting them know that you appreciate their input, efforts, and results. It’s uncommon, common sense.

Let me know how it goes. I’m interested. I already have the outline of my next book. I’d like to include dozens of examples of how readers have implemented this theme successfully in a variety of businesses. Hopefully, your team’s success story will be one of them. I already have the book title: Makes Me Smile!

Don’t avoid sending me an example of a smile producer because you think it isn’t a big enough smile. Small smiles are vital to this theme. Let me give you two examples, one “big” smile producer and one “small” smile producer.

Small Smile Example

Don’t underrate the value of even a small smile compared with a big smile. In the late 1970s, I was vice president/general manager of a Rouse Company project, Augusta Mall in Augusta, Georgia. About a month before the mall’s grand opening, I challenged my team to come up with ways to eliminate the negatives we might have in our planned project. One of the things they noticed was that a customer visiting a typical mall would see about 10 signs with messages that stressed the negative word no. Upon entering the parking lot, they would see a series of signs with negative messages such as: “No Left Turn,” “No Right Turn,” “No Solicitation,” and “No Parking.” As they approached the mall entrance doors, they would see signs stating “No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service” and “No Pets.” As they neared several storefronts, they would read signs stating “No Smoking.” At the checkout counters, signs were posted reading “No Refunds,” “No Receipt/No Exchange,” and “No I.D./No Personal Checks.”

After that barrage of “No” messages (a series of frowns),

the shopkeepers are expected to get the customer to say “Yes, I’ll buy that.” We weren’t able to eliminate all of the negative signs, but we were successful in getting major reductions and several substitutions. Where possible, we just deleted the “No Parking” signs because they weren’t necessary. The law didn’t require these signs in front of fire hydrants if the curbs were painted yellow, so a little bit of paint replaced a no. In front of loading areas, a “Loading Area” sign replaced other “No Parking” signs. Several signs, such as “No Solicitation,” “No Pets,” “No Shoes,” and so on, were not necessary, so they were not placed in the mall at all.

Back in those years, smoking was not as politically incorrect as it is today, so we had professional signs printed to replace the bold, red and black “No Smoking” signs that shopkeepers put in their storefront entrances. The replacement signs read: “Please enjoy your tobacco products before entering.” In today’s world, I probably would change the wording to: “For everyone’s enjoyment, this mall is smoke free.”

Individual meetings with shopkeepers led to a reduction in the number of negative signs that were posted inside the stores.

I don’t know how many, if any, customers consciously noticed the difference, but I know that they didn’t see as many negative messages and that just about every time I saw one of those “Please enjoy . . .” signs, it made me smile.

Big Smile Example

While I was vice president/general manager of Tampa Bay Center in Tampa, Florida, I challenged the staff to find ways to increase the number of smiles associated with a planned Santa Claus arrival. The team came up with a smile-producing illusion I will never forget. We decided that instead of just bringing Santa into the center court and seating him in the animated Santa’s Workshop display, we would have him parade around the exterior of the mall and then bring him in through the mall entrance farthest from the center court. Throughout the entire exterior and interior procession, as Santa approached each specially wired entrance display, tree, or animation scene, he would wave his arm, and as if by using “Santa’s magic,” he would light the lights and all of the action and motion of each display would come to life.

The logistics were complex. Our engineering department handled the setup of the remote control and communication devices that were needed to assure the appropriate timing for all the activity. We had several rehearsals, but the rehearsals did not go as smoothly as we had hoped. Malfunctions always occurred in the series of 50 or 60 coordinated switches.

When Santa’s procession was to begin, the gentleman portraying Santa was a little tentative because he knew that crowds of customers would make it extremely difficult for the engineers to always position themselves so they would have an unobstructed view of his arm movements. As a result, he started out combining his waves to the crowds with the planned “magic” waves, which turned on the lights. He was concerned that he would be embarrassed if he made a big gesture toward a tree or display and nothing happened. But as the parade progressed, he became more and more confident, and by the time he was approaching the center court he was in full swing, doing little magic dance steps with imaginary drumrolls with his hands and then doing a zapping motion toward a tree with his fingertips. “Magically,” whatever he zapped would come to life. (The timing worked perfectly.) He would even pass a dark tree as if he forgot it and then when he was 20 feet past, he would turn around on his tiptoes and zap it on. Upon his arrival at his center court throne, thousands of smiling children were cheering each of his magical feats.

With a panoramic wave of his arm, the entire workshop lit up and came to life. I watched from the upper level and realized how the delight of the small children made every parent . . . smile. It’s the parents who spend the money, so it was our goal to make them smile, too. We accomplished this by putting an expression of awe on the faces of the children. For years thereafter, those children probably had a special feeling for Tampa Bay Center, and so did their parents because that evening was special for their children.

The residuals were all positive. The effort and the result brought the group of diverse team members together, giving them a shared, positive experience (a valuable asset for future endeavors).

The principles involved in the Series of Smiles theme will work not only for a wide variety of business applications but equally well in personal lives. I strive to adopt this approach to my everyday life. For example, from where I’m seated now, I can look up from my computer screen and see an array of items, each of which makes me smile. These items include puzzles, thousands of books with antique cameras used as bookends, an antique phonograph, a gumball machine, a chess set tacked to the wall (with chess pieces glued in the “fool’s mate” positioning), classic retail signs, and pictures of friends and family. Many people might use the oxymoron organized clutter to describe it. That’s okay, because I know I can’t get up from my desk and walk halfway across the office without one or more of these items making me smile. That’s their job. That’s why I put them there.

I encourage you to surround yourself with items that make you smile. Strategically place them in areas where you are likely to see them first thing in the morning, last thing as you leave the house, and first thing as you come home. Adding this series of smiles to your own life will help you sell yourself and others on the following:

Life is much more pleasant when viewed from and toward a smile.

This Series of Smiles theme works not only as part of a presentation to customers but equally well with team members. Your team’s work area also should contain a series of smiles. If the work area is uplifting, the quality of the work will improve.

Never underestimate the power of a Series of Smiles.