實話實說:車界老兵點評六大CEO
1993年,考德威爾在密歇根州迪爾伯恩市的福特公司。
菲利浦?考德威爾 1980年至1985年間任福特CEO 盧茨說:“他很難讓人喜歡,幾乎沒有任何幽默感,但他因為對質(zhì)量和對產(chǎn)品精益求精的專注而獲得了人們的尊敬?!?/em> 盧茨的打分:241 ????雖然我與菲爾?考德威爾共處過很長時間,其中既包括與很多人在一起,也有很多我與他獨處的時間,但是只要有他出現(xiàn),那種不舒服的感覺就從來沒離開過。菲爾是個滴酒不沾的人。無論是紅酒、白酒、啤酒、咖啡,還是茶,他都不喝。后來我也習慣了他的這個癖好。每次服務(wù)員問他要什么餐前酒,他總是拒絕。而且他總是對我說:“如果你想喝,你就點吧?!苯Y(jié)果是我也不想喝了,因為我不想讓他覺得我是個酒鬼。 ????菲爾從來不會在討論中認輸。有一次我為一個新皮卡項目準備了兩個小時的產(chǎn)品演示。但是菲爾對細節(jié)永遠不會滿足,而且他顯然需要讓大家把他看作是商用汽車領(lǐng)域的一個大行家。我根本沒辦法完完整整地做完演示,總是不停地被他打斷。菲爾一層一層地挖掘我當時還算相當豐富的知識儲備,問我們到底要怎么做,為什么這樣做,針對的目標是誰,不停地拋出越來越刁鉆的問題。最后有人提醒我們預訂的吃飯時間到了。菲爾才意猶未盡地宣告休戰(zhàn),還說還要另找時間繼續(xù)這場重要的談話(不過并沒有發(fā)生)。 ????有些人可能覺得,像小說《凱恩號嘩變》那樣把菲爾“逼宮”下臺也許是個不錯的選擇,因為菲爾的性格很像《凱恩號嘩變》里的奎格船長:性子小氣,特別在乎個人威望,不在乎下屬,在商業(yè)判斷上愛出昏招。但是這可能是個錯誤的結(jié)論。盡管他缺乏實際操作經(jīng)驗,也缺乏當“造車人”的興趣和技術(shù),而且總是喜歡用更多的數(shù)據(jù)來佐證很明顯的邏輯決策,但是菲爾有很強的目的感,就是要讓福特變成全世界的質(zhì)量領(lǐng)導者。這個優(yōu)點掩蓋了他的很多怪癖和弱點。可以說他游走在強迫癥的邊緣。但是在質(zhì)量問題上,只有一個強迫型的人格才能催生一個“沒有人是完美的”的企業(yè)文化。 |
Phillip Caldwell Ford CEO 1980-85 ????Lutz says: "Hard to like and deprived of nearly any sense of humor, he gained respect for his focus on quality and product excellence." Lutz grade: 241 ????Despite spending much time with Phil Caldwell, in groups as well as one-on-one, the feeling of unease in his presence never left me. Phil was a teetotaler. No wine, spirits, beer, coffee, or tea. I got used to his disdain for alcohol. Whenever the server asked about a predinner cocktail, Phil always demurred. His answer, unfailingly, was "Go right ahead if you feel you need it." The effect was that I no longer wanted to drink, since I didn't want to appear an addict. ????Phil was not one to throw in the towel in discussions. Once I delivered a two-hour presentation on a new truck program. We had not counted on Phil's near insatiable appetite for detail, as well as his manifest need to be perceived as a major expert in the commercial vehicle field. I couldn't get through the presentation, being constantly stopped. Phil drilled through stratum upon stratum of my then-considerable knowledge of what we were doing, why, and against whom, relentlessly bombarding me with ever more arcane questions. Finally, there was a reminder we had a dinner reservation. Phil Caldwell reluctantly declared a truce and said we would continue this vital dialogue some other time (which never came). ????It would be tempting to dismiss Caldwell as a sort of corporate Captain Queeg: petty, focused on personal prestige, uncaring about his subordinates, and given to poor business judgment. [But] that would be the wrong conclusion. While lacking any real operational or "car guy" interests or skills, and being overly passionate about getting more data to support eminently logical decisions, Caldwell had one powerful sense of purpose that overrode his many quirks and foibles: He was totally focused onmaking Ford (F, Fortune 500) the quality leader of the world. He teetered on obsession. But when it came to quality, it took an obsessive personality to energize a culture raised on "nobody's perfect." |