Thursday, April 25, 2013
Phillies' Philanthropic Phling:
Turning a Zero into a Potential Win
For my clients who have at least a little financial wiggle room, I counsel something viewed as pretty contrarian in the mutant form of late parasitic capitalism that's generally practiced in North America.
I urge them to go out of their way to do favors for customers, employees or suppliers that cost them "nothing". In my own practice, I sometimes even do it for competitors.
On a baseball field, it's a standard practice. A player will mentor someone coming up through the ranks even though it's not in the job description. Batters will share with rivals on other clubs insights about pitchers on a third club. The cost is pretty low, though in Non-Baseball business where the current theology is zero-sum, the thought that you might do something that might lead to a competitor getting better is seen as scary.
Baseball knows how to do this. It's not universal, but the finest front offices know how to execute the favor that costs almost nothing. Master Sensei John Hart (whose protégés include Jon Daniels, Mark Shapiro, Doug Melvin, Paul DePodesta and others) spread many insights but the cheaper-favor-for-nothing-in-return is one of his lesser-known gems.
According to BusinessWeek, Phillies' General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. recently executed a deal that worked one of those in the form of a transaction. The Phillies sent minor league pitcher Mike Cisco to the Los Angeles Angels for...nothing at all.
When an aspiring Major Leaguer is released by an
organization, he is essentially fired and must begin contract negotiations at
square one. But if he’s traded—even for nothing in return—he retains
his existing contract.
“When you draft a player or acquire a player, you’ve
got a good feel for that player,” says Hart, who currently works as an
analyst for MLB TV. “You’ve had a chance to look at the guy at spring
training and he isn’t a good fit. You look up and go, ‘Well, what are my
options?’ I always try to get compensation if I can. If I can’t, I can
release him, which is generally what happens. But if the player is my player,
and I drafted him and I liked the guy and I can help him have the chance to
get a job somewhere else, then I’d go ahead and make that deal.”
So you do a favor for the player, an employee going out the door, and for another major league organization (because they had to give up nothing to get some -- probably small -- something, and without the overhead of filling in and proofreading and getting legal's approval for a contract). The ex-employee might be in position some day to do you a favor (seeing a young ballplayer and recommending that player), for example. The rival organization knows it "owes you one"
“I would venture to say this,” says Hart. “You try to get compensation but if you can’t, there generally becomes goodwill between the clubs. So if you’re caught somewhere during the middle of the season—you’ve had some injuries and need some middle infielders—you might get some help” from the club that benefited from the donated player. “Everybody,” Hart says, “gets caught like that.”
{snip} “You try to get compensation but if you can’t, there generally becomes goodwill between the clubs. So if you’re caught somewhere during the middle of the season—you’ve had some injuries and need some middle infielders—you might get some help” from the club
that benefited from the donated player.
The difference in paperwork and process between firing Cisco and trading him was very, very small. So this is a classic case of doing a favor for "nothing."
BEYOND BASEBALL
There are a million forms of favor that cost almost nothing, but I'll give you a few examples I'm always ready to do.
The first is a close analogue to the Phillies' case. A client has an employee who has no growth opportunities for her but is ready to move on. I'm always willing to be an honest reference, even with competitors. Of course, I have to warn the employee I'm going to be honest and explicit about their capabilities and character.
A second is when a work possibility comes my way that I'm either not qualified for or simply too overloaded to take on. I always ask clients about other consultants they use, what work they do best and less well, how service-oriented and thorough and skilled they are. So when I get a call for work I won't take on, I've almost always got a bit of time to help find a home for it; I'm even willing to pass it on to a competitor who has won work I wanted for us, if I think they can do a good job with it. The competitor may or may not choose to "owe me one", but the people I deal with there will know who I am, and generally, somebody ends up giving me information or leads or an honest reference later.
There's an entire college of generosity techniques available. Some corporations build entire sales strategies around it, building on the theories and disciplined practices of a client of my own, Ferrazzi Greenlight.
.
Think of little ways you can help customers, employees and suppliers in ways that cost you almost nothing. You might end up getting back a key piece of usefulness when you need it, or not; either nothing good will happen or something good will happen, but you're not out anything.
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