STRASBOURG, France -- There are four new "rules for mastering
change," but sometimes the rules can be bent, according to a
presentation at a general session at the ASTA World Travel Congress
here.
For example, take one of the "rules": "Loyalty is dead."
Sometimes, in fact, loyalty survives in extreme forms -as it
does for one "corporation that lost its chief executive officer
several years ago" but retains a base of hard-core fans, said Nancy
Austin, author of the book "A Passion for Excellence: The
Leadership Difference."
That corporation is the rock group the Grateful Dead, whose
leader, Jerry Garcia, is dead but whose fans, called Deadheads, are
so loyal that a theme park is being planned to serve them.
A subdivision of this rule, according to Austin, is "the threat
of extinction can be good for loyalty."
For example, the idea that there will be no more Beanie Babies
made after Dec. 31 has caused a run on these toys.
"Speed wins," another rule, doesn't always mean each employee in
a company needs to work faster, said Michael Hopkins, executive
editor of Inc. magazine, another speaker.
He said the way to make a company work faster as a whole is to
redesign and streamline its systems.
For example, to simplify decision making, the U.S. Marines
devised the "rule of three," which means that any Marine, from the
lowest to highest in rank, can be concerned only with a "manageable
number" (three) tasks at a time.
Another rule, "Only the crazy survive," doesn't have to mean
coming up with an "out-in-left-field, genius idea," said Hopkins.
Instead, it can mean using common sense, as a hospital in
Connecticut did.
Hospital staff redesigned the maternity ward to make it more
patient-friendly, including the addition of double beds in rooms so
husbands could stay overnight with their wives.
As a result, Hopkins said, the maternity ward attracted many
patients and helped double admissions to the hospital.