Stand on the Shoulders of Others
May 7th, 2006 by HalWe live in a time that makes it easy for those who are curious to get a leg up on their ambitions. Only a few years ago it would take days of tedious research to discover the insights and lessons of others. Today it is easy. Google, Wikipedia, and the New York Times archives are treasure troves for anyone with just a little curiosity and 10 minutes to spare to produce a starting off compendium. You'd have to be hiding under a rock for the last ten years not to know that. Yet, the plagiarists and scoundrels among us appear to be ignoring that facticity.
For the last two weeks, I've been entranced by two stories of misdeeds. The first is the episode of the Harvard undergrad with the six-figure book advance who incorporated other authors' text word-for-word in her novel. The second is the story of Raytheon's CEO William Swanson's presenting others' maxims as his own. I shared his rules with readers, Bill Swanson'sW. L. King's and Donald Rumsfeld's (and others') Unwritten Previously Published Rules of Management Success.1 I'm not the only one who gushed about Swanson's keen insight. Business 2.0, The New York Times, and USA Today all had leading stories on Swanson's pocket guide.
The waste of this shamelessness is Bill Swanson's commentary on others' rules is quite good.
I won't attempt to chronicle the events. (GoogleNews Swanson's Unwritten Rules if you're interested.) What bothers me most is the shamelessness of their actions. Haven't they learned that when they wrong another to apologize? Saying, "I regret not giving enough credit to someone else's work," is not an apology. Saying, "I'm sorry for hurting you. I will never do it again. Let me do something to compensate you for that." That is an apology. We learned that in kindergarten.2 But apparently not all of us learned the lesson.
The waste of this shamelessness is Bill Swanson's commentary on others' rules is quite instructive. It offers a view on a CEO's perspective. It's a great gift. I'm not saying that there is something really special in his commentary. I'm only saying that glimpse can shape how we engage with people who have power and authority. Swanson had the chance to be an example of someone who succeeded by standing on the shoulders of others. Instead, he chose to mis-represent himself.
I'll finish this commentary with Swanson's (or whoever's) oft-quoted Rule #32: "A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter — or to others — is not a nice person." Swanson comments,
"Watch out for people who have situational value systems — who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with…This is not the make of a leader.
Bill, I agree with you. Apparently, so does the board of directors of Raytheon. The board cut Swanson's compensation following a jump in company earnings.
Some people think the board didn't act swiftly nor deal with the seriousness of his infraction. It doesn't matter. His career is over. There will be no more national awards, no more prominent positions on boards and philanthropies, and no more invitations to speak at graduations. Bill Swanson will have to leave his position as CEO of Raytheon before the year is out.
- I'm leaving the Swanson's list up on this website for reference. [ ⇑ back ]
- Robert Fulgham, "Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody." All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten [ ⇑ back ]
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May 10th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Hal… good to see you’re still blogging… have missed your posts the past month. Great entry and very relevant to our everything-is-relative society. A simple apology and acknowledgment of wrongdoing can go a long way to building (or rebuilding) credibility. I’ve extended this topic on my own blogsite. Very important lesson to remember.