Even the seemingly benign HR industry isn’t immune from these concerns with the settlement between Halogen and SuccessFactors reading like a SP(HR)y novel – creation of a bogus company, the duping of unsuspecting sales reps, the disclosure of proprietary information, and so on.

And although shadowy characters will always attempt to invade the halls or http’s of their competitive foes, there are two relatively obvious and quite simple means of gathering G2 without breaking a single law:

Intel Option #1: Job Postings

Curious about the location of your competitor’s new operational center? Wondering what the underlying code is for their yet-to-be-unveiled SaaS offering? Sleepless thinking about your relative pace of growth when compared to those in your domain? This is so obvious I’m almost remiss in mentioning it – simply check out your arch enemy’s career site and job postings.

We have reached a level of requisitioning maturity whereby extremely detailed job codes and underlying descriptions are almost a prerequisite for securing both internal approval and a highly targeted and talented candidate pool. Because of this move toward clarity of purpose, you can gleam an incredible amount of highly valuable information in no time flat. With a simple export and sort you can assess trending information, deconstruct growth plans, find out what tools and technologies your foe is codependent on and ascertain exactly where they might go next. It’s really quite simple.

Intel Option #2: Public Sector

Although this may not be true of very small or emerging organizations, most companies of any significant size or scale eventually dabble in the public sector. And with the public sector come four words that are often music to your competitive ears – Freedom of Information Act. FOIA is a post-Watergate provision effectively allowing any citizen to request that information be released to the public by government entities. Although exceptions do exist covering confidential business information, you’d be amazed what is disclosed under the act (visit GWU’s National Security Archive for more details).

If you aren’t willing to wait months (or sometimes years) for FOIA fulfillment, you can always try searching GSA’s Advantage site to find existing government contracts, pricing lists, and the like. Think of GSA as the procurement department of the Federal government, and since many states also purchase off of GSA schedules, this is a great means to find either direct relationships or indirect distributors that carry your competitor’s wares. You can also perform complex searches on State, County or Local sites to gather publicly available information on a wide variety of topics and issues. This one is also painfully easy.

Seriously, That’s It?

Yep, that’s it. I could offer more complex means to an end but this is not spy school and I’m not a lawyer. And trust me – I would guess that 99% of organizations hadn’t thought of how this information could be gathered so cheaply and easily. How do I know that? Because I’m always surprised by the raised eyebrows and “huh”s (followed by frantic note taking) when I describe these two techniques.

What Should I Do Next?

You should ignore this advice completely. Instead you should focus less on your competitors and more on your customers. Any good offering will always stand up to competitive threats and those who spend more effort on understanding others should redouble their efforts on understanding their clients (and themselves). I’m not suggesting that you should be cavalier or myopic in your competitive marketplace. Instead I’ve found that – more often than not – we look elsewhere for answers when they are standing right in front of us.

A Closing Thought

As former CIA counterintelligence officer (and now convicted spy) Aldrich Ames once said:

“Espionage, for the most part, involves finding a person who knows something or has something that you can induce them secretly to give to you. That almost always involves a betrayal of trust.“

Most organizations I know can rationalize their way in and out of any morally ambiguous ground. Maybe by writing this post I’ve contributed to the problem, but what if you think of it instead as a test — now that you know how to do this, should you?

When the dust settles and time passes, it’s up to you to decide if you’re in the business of the betrayal of trust. Like all real life situations, the answer is never as simple as it seems.

That’s right, it’s the leadership development carnival of love featuring fifty of the sweetest posts from the past few weeks. A big thank you to Dan McCarthy of Great Leadership for letting us host this special February edition. You have a week until V-Day but let’s get right to the romance and drama…

Who (And What) To Choose?

We’ve all found ourselves in a questionable relationship and wondered if it was worth staying together. At a pre-Valentine’s crossroads, our wise and helpful friends would recommend sitting down with a blank sheet of paper and itemizing what redeeming qualities may exist. Let’s see what these leadership list makers conjured up:

• Molly Cunningham suggests 5 Ways for Leaders to Improve Productivity.
• Oliver Wang of BSchool.com offers 15 Inspiring Biographies for Aspiring Leaders.
• Kelly Davis shares 21 Excellent YouTube Videos to Learn About Organizational Development.
• MacKenna Stevens of Masters in Social Work catalogs his list of the Top 97 Unemployment and Joblessness Blogs.
• Natalie James of Dr. HR, PhD itemizes the Top 50 Up and Coming HR Blogs.
• Trainer, coach and consultant Mike Rogers provides 8 Important Tips to Help You Waste Time in Meetings.
• Bernice Frankel shares 21 Surprising Facts About Leadership Research.
• QAspire’s Tanmay Vora helps those Creating a Learning Organization: 10 Actions for a Leader.

So Many Questions.

So you’ve decided to press forward and pursue your leadership development sweetheart with complete abandon. Yet still, there are so many questions left unanswered. Here are some shower-worthy items to ponder as you prepare for your big business date:

• Working Girl’s Laura Schroeder wonders, Why Would ANYone Work for House?
• Wally Bock of Three Star Leadership asks, How Do I Praise Thee?
• Mary Jo Asmus of Aspire-CS wants to know, What Assumptions Are You Making?
• Adi Gaskell of Chartered Management Institute ponders, Is Business Planning A Waste of Time?
• Women of HR’s Lisa Rosendahl asks, What Kind of Role Model Are You?
• Lynn Dessert of Elephants at Work wonders, Can You Measure The Payback or ROI In Coaching?
• Tanveer Naseer wonders, Are You Leading From Inside a Fishbowl?

Polite Dinner Conversation

You want to make a good impression and seem like a decent conversationalist. Attentive, but not too needy or self-involved. Here are some items sure that allow for a measure of whimsy while maintaining the panache and flair of a modern leadership guru:

• Jane Perdue of Get Your Leadership BIG On shares Leadership and the Power of Storytelling.
• Sylvia Lafair opines on Business Leadership Strategies: Teaching Multi-culturalism.
• Dean L. Forbes of Powerful Principles of Personal Growth reminds us of The Whole Person Concept.
• Management is a Journey’s Robert Tanner helps us Create the Guiding Coalition.
• Stephen Warrilow suggests Facilitative Leadership as The Key To Dealing With Resistance to Change.
• Next Level Blog’s Scott Eblin shares some new math with Sorry, You’ve Used Up All of Your Meeting Budget.
• What Do You Want From Them’s Anna Smith demonstrates The Rise of Female Leadership.
• All About Living With Life author Charles Chua C K offers his thoughts on Effective Ways to Lead.
• Positive Organizational Behavior’s Bret L. Simmons shares his thoughts, With Honor.
• Great Leadership’s Dan McCarthy teaches you How to Pass the Leadership Baton.

It’s Not You, It’s Me

Of course, even the seemingly best planned leadership romance can end in an ill-conceived malay replete with hurt feelings and charged emotions. So if a bended knee to pick up a dropped napkin doesn’t turn into the organizational proposal you were hoping for, excuse yourself from the table and grab your cell. Aren’t you fortunate to have friends like these to talk you through it?

• Leadership and Learning’s Kevin Eikenberry asks for Five Minutes – A Key to Successful Time Management.
• Judith Lindenberger of The Lindenberger Group suggests we Take Charge of Conflict.
• Miki Saxon of MAPping Company Success questions whether you Manage Like Microsoft.
• Art Petty of Management Excellence offers How to Handle a Feedback Attack from Your Boss.
• Libery Buzz SC’s Vidal tackles Aggression: Life Lessons Learned from Girls Basketball.
• What Is Personal Growth’s Sean Burrows takes the edge off with How to Stay Calm and Relaxed When Feeling Angry.
• The Fortune Group’s Andy Klein feels that Effective Leadership is Founded on Accepting Personal Accountability.
• Janna Rust of Purposeful Leadership helps you Survive the Role Transition: Be Strategic.
• Ajax Social Media’s Jason Seiden reminds us of Why You Should Hire Moms.
• Lead Change Group’s Heather Coleman-Voss gives the wink and nod with Just Trust Me.

Check Please!

Now calmly return to the table and flag down the waiter – it’s time to wrap up this romantic rodeo. And don’t let your leadership date get all pushy or touchy. No amount of office flowers or sugary treats can replace the respect you’ll have from walking away. There are plenty of other leaders in the “C” and you’re a strong swimmer. Just remember…

• Chris Edmonds of Driving Results Through Culture calculates The HUGE Toll of Workplace Bullying.
• Create Learning’s Michael Cardus recalls that Before the Promotion He Was Nice and Had Potential.
• The Human Race Horses’ Mike VanDervort suggests that Resistance Is Futile – You Will Be Assimilated.
• Michelle Cramer of LinkToPro teaches an important skill in Learning How to Say “No”.
• Linda Fisher Thornton of Leading In Context connects Leadership And… Ethical Thinking.
• ReThink HR’s Benjamin McCall sees A Bad Opportunity For Someone Else, A Better Opportunity For You.
• John Gibbons of i4cp wonders if you’re Playing Not To Lose.
• Cultivating Creativity’s Bob Lieberman suggests Letting Go Of The Task.

Live to Love Again

Return home, pour a glass of wine, kick up your feet and breathe. You’re going to be just fine and it’s time to go back to basics and begin to look toward the future. You’re good enough, you’re strong enough and doggone it people like you!

• The People Equation’s Jennifer V. Miller suggests Making the Most of Leadership Assessments.
• Wilson Insight’s Amy Wilson offers Simple, Practical Advice on Motivating Staff.
• Kevin W. Grossman of Marcom HRsay offers Baby Zen and the Importance of Mindful Presence in the Workplace.
• Epic Living’s Eric Pennington provides The Path To An Epic Life.
• The LeaderLab’s David Burkus shares Happiness and Hierarchies.
• Alice Snell of Taleo Research offers In Succession.
• Be Good Ventures’ Nick McCormick suggests you Go Out and Co-Create!

I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day! And don’t worry, the Leadership Carnival returns to its rightful home next month.

I don’t know which phrase to attribute to this monstrosity of a service charge; perhaps “highway robbery”, “pillaging” or “extortion” come to mind. But regardless of what we call it, we can agree that the giant sucking sound is coming from more than an industrial strength Dyson.

Welcome to the conference economy.

Passports Please

Venue owners and third-party organizers generally shrug when discussing the horrific fees charged by their firms, hotels or convention centers. One woman I spoke with described the situation as follows:

“Listen honey [yes, she called me 'honey'], you have to realize that this is just the way it is. People want a service and we are the only game in town. Our exclusive agreements ensure no one else can offer you what you need, and this lets us charge whatever the market can handle. And guess what – if people don’t like it they don’t have to do a thing. Of course [and she chuckled here], that means they’re not going to succeed at the show.” - Source: Overly Confident Event Planner

Although I appreciated her unapologetic candor, my suspicion is that she believes this can and will continue unchecked. And like most out of control exchange rates, we have devalued the dollar by allowing those who control the supply of goods to artificially inflate the relative value of their currency (in this case, the conference dollar). So, once I cross the border and enter Conference Country, I have to readjust my expectations for the prior value of goods. The problem is the net effect of a monopoly on goods and services, the resulting impact of which will not be surprising to anyone who has tried to produce a booth at an industry trade show or event.

Inefficiencies And Disincentives

Economists have long studied the positive and negative impacts of monopolies. On the positive side, some argue that the sheer economy of scale associated with monopolistic providers should help drive down the cost for any single good or service. In theory, this means that someone organizing a conference should be able to represent the interests of the hundreds of exhibitors in the expo hall and drive down the cost for common needs such as high-speed internet access, cleaning services or electricity. However, the monopoly holder (in this case the conference venue or third-party service provider) may not recognize the power of such group purchasing and instead treat each exhibitor as a sole transaction.

This often boils down to incentives, and at the end of the day those managing the conference economy have little motivation to change. This results in severely negative impacts on:

• Pricing and Productivity – Substantially higher prices and lower levels of output than would exist if the product were produced by competitive companies.
• Quality - A lower level of quality than would otherwise exist. This includes not only the quality of the goods themselves, but also the quality of the services associated with such goods.
• Research and Development – A slower advance in the development and application of new technology. Advances in technology can improve the quality of goods and reduce their costs of production. Innovation is not as necessary for a monopolist as it is for a highly competitive firm, and, in fact, it can be a bad business strategy. Research and development by monopolists is often largely focused on ways of suppressing new, potentially competitive technologies rather than true innovation.

Everyone Pays

In a time where price sensitivity is extremely high, planners should spend time investigating this impact on the entire conference ecosystem. Higher event costs translate into increased ticket prices and significantly higher variable costs by sponsors and exhibitors. This, in turn, can result in reduced attendance and a correlating decrease in exhibitor participation. Or, if exhibitors do bite the bullet and absorb these higher costs, their products and services may price adjust higher to control for this significant increase in sales and marketing spend. And at the end of the day this means that clients pay higher prices.

In other words, everyone loses (well, almost everyone).

So What Can Be Done?

If we continue to support these behaviors unchecked or simply accept this as a reluctant reality, not much can be done. Perhaps the only saving grace will be the growing popularity of online conferences and virtual events, a forcing mechanism that brings a new, cost effective alternative to live events. Regardless of the lever you pull, I would suggest that you band together and begin to protest these insanely overvalued products and services in the public square. There is so much room for improvement in this overinflated conference economy that even a marginal reduction in costs would be material.

Like most things in business, change comes when you begin to vote with your wallet, so think about how your precious dollars are being allocated the next time you pony up for a $150 director’s chair, a $50 trash can or a $350 badge scanner. Or maybe you should buy a vacuum and an expo badge and offer to suck up conference dust for $250 per hour. And if you do, I know plenty of people who just might hire you.

[Inhale]“There is no seat.”

[Exhale] “There is no table.”

Excellent. We are now free of traditional prejudice.

I actually want to talk about one of my favorite topics – language. More specifically, the language that is meaningful to s/he who controls the pursestrings of your organization, your Chief Financial Officer. As you’ve likely experienced, the relationship between HR and the CFO can be a tenuous one. Some of you report directly to the Master of Numbers. Others may have relinquished control of payroll to the Dictator of Direct Expense. Regardless of the org structure, you must be prepared to engage with both strong footing and a laser sharp understanding of the CFO’s somewhat foreign tongue.

And like all journeys into quasi-hostile territory, I want you to be conversant so that you can position yourself without the need for a translator. If you haven’t journeyed to Financeland lately, it’s an increasingly mysterious and compliance-laden place. You’ll find spreadsheets, cash flow, NPV, and an obsession with socks (or is it SOX? see what I mean…). Here’s a picture from my last trip:

All CFO joking aside, I think it’s important to remember that the finance organization is far from flawless. And like all functional heads, the CFO makes gut calls and applies judgment to the best of their ability. But in knowing that s/he is data driven, HR does own analytics that can and should be relevant to the operations of the business. This, among many other reasons, is why collaborative interplay between the two organizations is so critical.

In the preface to their excellent 2008 book, Financial Intelligence for HR Professionals, authors Karen Berman, Joe Knight and John Case describe a number of reasons why financial literacy is of the utmost importance to any function, not the least of which is that:

“Finance is the language of business.  Whether it is comfortable for you or not, the one thing every organization has in common is numbers and how those numbers are tabulated, analyzed and reported.” (pg. xiv)

Despite this undeniable fact, CFO Magazine columnist Kate O’Sullivan places much of what’s lost in translation back on the finance function itself:

“Highly skilled groups like finance… struggle with what amounts to a language barrier — their technical vocabulary can hinder communication with their colleagues throughout the rest of the company. But attempts to bridge that gap and share ideas prove worthwhile, helping finance staffers raise their profiles and find new ways to contribute throughout the business.” - “Good Sports” – May 1, 2009

Despite the fact that both sides could improve their communications, it behooves HR to continue to increase it’s financial literacy. And who knows, if all goes well, the CFO may finally invite you to lunch to discuss HR’s needs (provided, of course, that you don’t expense it).  

Please share your comments, study up and let’s keep the conversation going.

Then you join another social network which has little association with the first. It contains different members, has a unique perspective and perhaps fulfills a different need in the market. You come to depend on this network as well and see value in both, eventually wanting to build a bridge between the two.

Hmm…. this seems like a good idea, but is it? 

According to Dr. Yuval Kalish, research consultant and lecturer for Tel Aviv University who focuses on applied social network analysis:

“If you’re at the intersection of two previously unconnected niches of a network, you’re occupying what I call a ‘structural hole,’” says Dr. Kalish. “While it’s been reported that people who occupy these ‘structural holes’ become more successful, some structural holes may be ‘social potholes’ that can harm you and your business.” (Quotes from Scientific Blogging)

His recent study in the Asian Journal of Social Psychology suggests that there are two very different personality types who work the structural landfill:

1. “Power hungry” entrepreneurs: This person attempts to intersect information flow, control benefits and accrue personal power. And in order to maintain such power, they ”will attempt to keep their network partners from directly interacting with each other”. Research suggests these “are independent individuals who believe in their ability to control the social world, and may also be more prone to stress and anxiety”.
2. “Peace builders”: As the name suggests, this individual is focused on closing the structural hole “by [using] his or her skills to introduce unconnected individuals to each other, or to resolve conflict between rivals.” This focus on collective gain even has a cool term - tertius iungens (‘the third who connects’).

According to Dr. Kalish, serving as the proxy – regardless of your motivation – may not be such a good idea:

“Ongoing research shows that occupying a structural hole, even by the well-intentioned, is associated with short-term gains and long-term costs.”

So don’t do anything?

“One needs to stop and think first,” Dr. Kalish warns. “Why is that network linkage not formed yet? Is there intergroup animosity or conflict involved? If not, and the hole is there simply because of an oversight, go and plug it.”

Dr. Kalish suggests that if you do decide to occupy a structural hole, you need to get in quickly and get out “as soon as others start joining” in order to stay above ground and out of the fray. The good doctor’s bottom line – wield your networking shovels lightly or be prepared to possibly suffer unintended consequences.

So are you power hungry or a peace builder? Share all the “dirt” you can and let’s keep the conversation going.

But since that time, other alert systems have become more commonplace.  For example, we have a general sense of the difference between a Category 4 and a Category 5 hurricane as a result of Katrina. In the most serious child abduction cases, we know that an Amber Alert may be issued and what steps we should take. And who can forget the high-pitched squelch that accompanies the newly named “Emergency Alert System” (formerly the Emergency Broadcast System) on radio and television stations.

In the past few weeks alone, many have become intimately aware of the World Health Organization (WHO) and their six phased model for influenza pandemics.  As I’m writing this post, many anticipate that swine flu will be elevated to Level 6 (“Global pandemic”) later today.  

So I pose this simple question – do we need a corporate alert system? Should both public and private companies have a fiduciary and/or moral obligation to their employees, shareholders, investors, partners and suppliers to make them aware of an “alert” status that may impact sustainability? If you’re a public company, many believe that this alert system is already in place, but could one argue that most disclosures occur post-tragedy/failure? 

In a recent Harvard Business blog post, Nick Morgan assesses whether corporate transparency is always a good thing. His conclusion?

“The lessons seem to be clear: transparency is a good thing. Those who follow the rule get a chance to survive, even possibly thrive. Those who do not, suffer, and perhaps die.”

We due respect to Jack Nicholson, perhaps many corporations fear that “you can’t handle the truth.” To whit, WHO Chief Margaret Chan stated in her recent interview with Spanish paper El Pais: 

“Level 6 does not mean, in any way, that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because (otherwise) when we announce level 6 it will cause an unnecessary panic.”

Tell me what you think. Do alert systems work? Would you like to see one for corporations? Share your thoughts – don’t panic! – and let’s keep the conversation going.

This is the longest time between posts in the history of our little blog. If you’re thinking, “This is an outrage!”, I agree completely. So who is to blame for this travesty, this lapse in judgment, this abandonment of an HR community whose path is asunder without the wisdom and guidance of our Zen-like posts? I want names!!

Victims of the empty RSS feed, I present you with the cause of our radio silence – JobAngels.

What is this JobAngels thing and how did it begin?

Rumor has it that my crackling cornflakes whispered an idea to me on the morning of January 29th. It was apparently hard to decipher over their milk-drowned voices, but eventually I could make out their message – “help people find jobs”. Their whole-grained wisdom spread to the world and all were saved. (End scene) Wow. So inspirational!

The real story is this. I was eating breakfast and thinking about the economy. We were in the throws of a debilitating week of job loss announcements and things looked to be worsening in all sectors. I had been spending a bit of time on Twitter and had accumulated about 700 followers, a large percentage of whom are experts and professionals in the HR sector. So I wondered, what if each of those followers helped just one person find a job? Could we actually make a difference? Here’s the original Tweet:

“Was thinking that if each of us helped just 1 person find a job, we could start making a dent in unemployment. You game?”

Where did the name come from?

The response was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. Within several minutes, the discussion evolved to the use of a hashtag to help those in need locate those willing to help on Twitter. But what to call it? A few ideas floated around and then I sent this message on a whim:

“Wish we could come up with a site/plan to link all this positive energy to. How’s #jobangels sound? ”

And thus JobAngels was born. It was literally that simple. This was not rocket science and there was no divine intervention. It was one simple idea that somehow tapped into people’s desire to stop being victims to a seemingly endless stream of angst, depression and relentless negativity. When faced with hundreds of thousands of job losses, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless. But if the idea is for you to simply aid one person – a friend, a family member, a colleague or a complete stranger – that somehow not only seems possible, it seems probable.

How have people responded?

It has been four months since that original message, and in that time, a movement has begun. In this short period, over 18,000 JobAngels have already assembled across Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Over 500,000 JobAngel messages have been sent across a myriad of online platforms. Angels have donated their time, their networks, their expertise and their hearts to this grassroots initiative (and we are just getting started).

Let me be clear about one thing. JobAngels is not my movement, but it has changed my life. I am blown away by everyday people deciding to step up and aid those in need of employment. This is a chance to truly impact someone’s life and it is amazing to watch the goodwill grow at a time when it’s tempting to thrust your head in the sand.

Please join us if you haven’t already. I’m humbled to be part of this initiative and look forward to hearing your stories of success in the weeks and months to come. Thanks to those of you who have joined thus far and remember, just one Angel can make a world of difference.

NOTE: Five “Guardian Angels” have gone well beyond the call of duty in helping JobAngels become a reality. A warm and heartfelt thanks to Mark Cummuta, Chris Connolly, Deirdre Honner, Charee Klimek and Chris Bailey. Our current and future success would not be possible without their generosity and commitment to this cause. I’d also like to thank Greg Grigoriou of VanPaul Design for creating the JobAngels logo on such short notice.  Coming soon - JobAngels.org.

Let’s face it folks – times are tough, no one is immune and fear is spreading.  Even the hope for change cannot seem to stop this runaway train.  So what the hell are people supposed to do?  

Here are a few quotes that caught my attention for those caught in the fray.  I’ll let you decide for yourself between arrogance and empathy.  Enjoy and let’s keep the conversation going.

“Remember, this is not my company, and this is not our investors’ company. This company is all of ours, and it’s up to all of us where we go from here. The power lies in each and every one of us to move forward and come out as a team stronger than we’ve ever been in the history of the company.”  - Email from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh following an 8% layoff

“Tell them to take the afternoon off and give them a gift card for free pizza. For someone working for $14 or $15 an hour, getting a $50 restaurant card is a big chunk of change.” – SHRM member and Intelligent Compensation President Bob Cartwright on incenting employees

“Any serious businessperson knows that a contract is a contract.” - Danny Donohue, President of the Civil Service Employees Assocation, in response to New York Gov. David Paterson’s call for $5.2B in budget cuts, including union renegotiations

“The low hanging fruit, i.e. idiots whose parents paid for prep school, Yale, and then the Harvard MBA, was there for the taking. These people who were (often) truly not worthy of the education they received (or supposedly received) rose to the top of companies such as AIG, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers and all levels of our government. All of this behavior supporting the Aristocracy only ended up making it easier for me to find people stupid enough to take the other side of my trades. God bless America.” – Andrew Lahde, former hedge fund manager who quit after making a 800+% gain last year

To put that number in perspective, this represents ~40% of CVG’s consolidated revenues for the quarter and is nearly 5x the quarterly revenue of the HR Management business unit.  And as you can imagine, investors were thrilled (insert sarcasm here).  On a day when the market rose nearly 11%, CVG lost ~28% of it’s value and closed at an all-time low.  That’s right…the lowest price in it’s history at $7.16/share.

So what did CEO Dave Dougherty have to say?

“….In HR Management, we continue to make progress with our two large HR outsourcing implementations; however, our financial results are not satisfactory. As a result, we are taking a series of actions to reduce the implementation risk and improve the future earnings and cash flow in this business.”

The two deals are Johnson & Johnson (signed in May of ’07 as a 10-year, ~$1B HRO contract) and DuPont (announced in November of ’05 as a 13-year, $1.1B global HRO account).  Due to the complexity of the change management initiatives, scope and scale of implementation, and revenue recognition ties to go-live, BPO providers must float their cost basis on a forward-funded model.  This creates undue pressure on the P&L and results in the outcome we see today.

So the age-old question once again raises it’s head – is large market HRO sustainable?  Can it be deployed profitably?  Will clients embrace standardization and will providers effectively innovate and deliver?  Unfortunately, today’s results continue to reinforce an increasingly negative perception of holistic HRO’s value proposition.  Let’s keep the conversation going.

According to the United Nation’s World Urbanization Report (2007), 249 million Americans – 81% – live in urban areas.  Of those, the majority live in very large cities or their surround suburbs.  So if we don’t live on Main Street, why is the metaphor appear to be so powerful?

For an answer we turn to literature, and more specifically, Sinclair Lewis’ satirical novel Main Street.  Published on October 23, 1920, Main Street was an enormous success, estimated to have sold nearly two million copies within two years of publication.  The novel centers around Carol Milford, a feminist (before the term existed) reared in big-city Minneapolis who marries and is convinced to move to small town Gopher Prairie with her husband Will.  Suffice it to say that she doesn’t fit in, leaves her husband and moves to Washington, DC for a time before returning (but not relenting). 

I’m not a literary critic, but the popularity of the book shocked many at the time.  Main Street was banned in many cities and terribly offended many across the nation.  The novel was initially awarded the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, but the Board of Trustees overturned the decision and gave the Pulitzer to another author.  

The metaphor, however, has lived on.  For an explanation of the power of the Main Street metaphor, I turn to the good people from NovelGuide:

“Sinclair Lewis goes to great rhetorical lengths to impart to the reader his intention that the Main Street of Gopher Prairie in his novel should be taken to symbolically represent the Main Street of all small towns and their common characteristics. “Its Main Street is the continuation of Main Streets everywhere,” writes Lewis in the prefatory note to the novel.

As such, Lewis uses the phrase “Main Street” not simply to refer to the specific road but to a cultural nexus of the time that placed the values of small town society at a premium and eschewed any outside views. In Lewis’ fiction, the values of small town America are encapsulated within the world of “Main Street” and those who seek to challenge those values are doomed to face extreme censure.

With a characteristic note of cynicism Lewis concludes his preface: “Would he not betray himself an alien cynic who should otherwise portray Main Street, or distress the citizens by speculating whether there may not be other faiths?”"

So wherever you live, at least you can now appreciate why the comparison consumes the modern airwaves. I, for one, am ready for a break in the rhetoric.  Let’s keep the conversation going.