Teamwork in the 10th Millennia B.C.

Synergy is a fancy word for teamwork. According to Jane Jacobs all human economic development stems from the development of villages, towns and cities. It is by proximate co-habitation that we learn about each others strengths and weaknesses and learn to share and divide tasks according to individual skill sets.

The folks fighting last year on Canada's east coast at Burnt Church over lobster quotas clearly believe this old economy saw and, maybe they are right.

Economic growth derives from a multiplying of options, from specialization, from comparative advantage, from the development of standards and, in the new economy, from network effects, disintermediation and scalability.

In the land before time, the family of Ugh lived by themselves in the savannas. Ugh was an expert antelope hunter providing his family with four antelopes a month. His carving skills, however, were poor, producing only one set of flint knives per month. A mile away, the family of Nnn is hungrier- Nnn is a good flint knife producer, producing three sets of flint knives per month but only bagging one antelope.

The families of Ugh and Nnn decide to co-locate to form a village, at first, for the protection of both. By co-locating and forming the first primitive village, they also open up the possibility of observing each other and co-operating and trading between the families.

The result is that after a few months, they decide that Nnn will concentrate on producing flint knives and Ugh will focus on hunting. The GDP of the two families before the co-location is five antelopes and four sets of flint knives. After co-location and specialization, the GDP has increased to seven antelopes and six sets of flint knives each month. This represents a phenomenal increase in the well being of the two families. So much so that this first village is producing goods surplus to their needs. This sets up the possibility of trading with a third family, the family of Zll, who are expert in producing textiles (animal skins) resulting in a further substantial increase in value for the emerging regional economy.

This simple example demonstrates why the 'more pie for me' doesn't necessarily mean less for you. You will note too that this primitive economy works because information about Ugh's hunting prowess is flowing from Ugh to Nnn and information about Nnn's skill with flint knives is flowing from Nnn to Ugh. What this means is that it is the beginning of an information economy and it shows how improved communications even in the 10^th Millennium B.C. causes economic growth through the multiplication of options and opportunities. Afterall, it was after 1994's introduction of the Mosaic Browser turned the PC into a mass communications tool that productivity took off and the long promised payoff from huge investments in computers finally arrived.

Ideas are not limited. They are for all intents and purposes infinite. There are no limits to human ingenuity. But you need a great team to make these ideas actually work for you.

(* Get The Business Model Right so that the harder you work, the more money you make.)

In every business, there are 'secrets' to success. Things that the experts do that may never be verbalized or written down but are essential for success in that industry. The Business Model should help you find out what those 'secrets' are.

In Dell's business model, their secrets are deceptively simple- Dell's Business Model is: a) make-to-order, b) cash arrives (i.e., they are paid) before the product is build or delivered.

This is the 'pixie dust' that makes their business model work so that a college drop-out (Michael Dell) can build the biggest PC manufacturer on the planet. The differentiator is the pixie dust. We need an algorithm that will show where the pixie dust is!

Amazon's pixie dust is their use of their relational data base: "Do you want to see what others who bought this book are also buying?" Obviously that is an up sell pitch for Amazon but also an incredibly useful research tool for harried university professors who can put the millions of Amazon customers to work for them doing research.

Dell's is as described above- making money before ordering any inventory or production.

For most people, their 'pixie dust' is simply having a J.O.B. that pays them every two weeks.

Walmart's pixie dust is simply automated and integrated inventory management (integrated with POS (Point of Sale) systems)- having suppliers send (directly) basketballs to Nashville and hockey skates to Kanata in the right quantities and at the right times.

The NHL's pixie dust or the NFL's is the right to grant local hockey or football monopolies.

The Corel Centre's (and the Sens) is outsource everything except for key customer (i.e., season ticket holders) and sponsor relationships and hockey management (i.e., how to put a winning product on the ice).

There is something 'magical' in most businesses that allows them to really make money.

If you get the Business Model right, the harder you work, the more money you make. If you get it wrong, no matter how hard you work, you just end up losing more and more money. And the 'pixie dust' is what differentiates your business and gives you leverage in the marketplace.

(Help us find out more about 'Pixie Dust'-- give us examples from your business or ones you know a lot about. Go to: www.dramatispersonae.org/PixieDust.htm and complete our survey.)

You know you never want to get too high or too low. Life is full of up and down cycles.

I still remember an Ottawa Citizen headline a few days before we got the Ottawa Senators franchise: "And the winners are … Seattle, Milwaukee." That hurts.

Actually, it was Ottawa and Tampa.

The night before we won the franchise, one of the voters (i.e., a member of the Board of Governors) told me (at a NHL dinner thrown for the nine bidders) with his face just centimeters from mine: "You'll never, ever get a franchise for Ottawa."

I can remember Norm Green, then Owner of the Minnesota North Stars, coming over to my table and asking: "What's wrong." "Nothing," I said. "Well, get that smucky look off your face, kid, and get out there and hustle."

Good advice. Lydia Leeder, in Ottawa, on hearing that comment from Cyril later that night said: "You can't stop now! It's just like the Canada/Russia series of 1972. Canadians never quit. Everyone is running to their radios every half hour for an update … We're counting on you." Now that's pressure!

We did just that and in fact the last thing the Board of Governors saw before they shut the door to consider the matter the next day at 8:00 am was my nose and the faces of my whole team.

We never stopped.

At about noon that day, the pressure was enormous and frankly getting to me; so I went for a run along the beach (this was Palm Beach in December- actually December 6, 1990). I returned at about ten to one and saw some of my team members waving frantically to me. "What's up," I asked. "The NHL has asked all bidders to be in their suites at one for an announcement," said Connie Cochran. "What announcement?" "They didn't say."

Without a shower, I changed into a suit. At one, NHL security took us down to the basement of the Breakers Hotel, a huge antique of a hotel. Next to rotting garbage and standing under dripping pipes, I turned to my colleagues to say: "Fellows. This doesn't look too good. You have done everything that you could do. I am proud of you. If we have lost, we are going to thank the NHL for allowing us to join this process, we are going to congratulate the winners and then we're going to have a press conference to announce- 'We'll be back'."

Then NHL security took us up to the meeting room. Marcel Aubut (of the Quebec Nordiques) gave Randy Sexton, a big hug: "Felicitation, mon ami," he said. We thought he was congratulating us on a good try!

When I went up to the front of the room and sat next to John Ziegler, I saw the words: 'The NHL is proud to welcome, as conditional Members under the Plan of Sixth expansion, the cities of Ottawa … and Tampa." It was a magic moment.

Winners never quit and quitters never win.

(Footnote: about six weeks later, I did call the Governor who had told us that we would never get a franchise. He told me that his comment was part of a plan by a few Governors. They told each bidder the same thing; it was a character test designed to see how each bidder would react. Two of the bidders stormed out; they weren't successful.)

The Ottawa Senators formally returned to the National Hockey League on October 8, 1992 after a 58 year absence; it was another great day for Ottawa. I was at ice level at the old Ottawa Civic Centre when the team was introduced. The people in that arena applauded those players—they gave them a standing ovation—for six minutes. I realized that they weren’t really applauding the players, they were applauding themselves. This City came of age that day—there was a feeling that ‘we did it, we did it together’. It was that special feeling that only comes from being part of something greater than ourselves. Professional sports can do that. But surely, we can add more days like that. It is a challenge for you to take up. Carpe diem.

Thank you. Dr. Bruce M. Firestone, B.Eng.(Civil), M.Eng.-Sci., PhD., Adjunct Research Professor, School of Architecture, Sessional Lecturer, Eric Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Chair, Hickling Capital Corporation, Founder, Ottawa Senators, Ottawa, Canada, December 2001. www.dramatispersonae.org Copyright, Bruce M. Firestone, December 2001. www.saragassocity.com

Teamwork in the 10th Millennium B.C.

Teamwork in the 10^th Millennium B.C.