Book Title: Ben Franklin's 12 Rules of Management

Author: Blaine McCormick

Publisher: Entrepreneur Press

ISBN: 1-891984-14-4

Review by Barbara De Vries

Paperback- 2000  210 pages

This is a little jewel.  A modern day summary of the classic Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin with clear lessons for not only the modern manager, but for anyone.

Most of us do not realize exactly how much this one man continues to influence our life today.

His first success was as a printer.  What we do not realize is that this made him a media mogul, comparable to Ted Turner or Rupert Murdoch.  Then he was a revolutionary and country-maker.  Then he was am ambassador to France, influencing all of Europe to promote the success of this little venture called the "United State of America."  A bit of trivia - Franklin lobbied for the turkey to be our national bird rather than the bald eagle, which he deemed to be immoral and not native and representative of America.

Some people influenced by Franklin:

Dr. Stephen Covey

Dale Carnegie

Some critics:

Charles Angoff

Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

D. H. Lawrence

The 12 Rules:

1. Finish better than your beginnings.

2. All education is self-education.

3. Seek first to manage yourself, then to manage others.

4. Influence is more important than winning.

5. Work hard and watch your costs.

6. Everybody wants to appear reasonable.

7. Create your own set of values to guide your actions.

8. Incentive is everything.

9. Create solutions for seemingly impossible problems.

10. Become a revolutionary for experimentation and change.

11. Sometimes it's better to do 1,001 small things right rather than only one large thing right.

12. Deliberately cultivate your reputation and legacy.

Franklin created a business and social construct called the Junto.  This was a diverse group of friends and business people who met weekly for 30 years with this formula:

• designated meeting time
• careful selection of a limited membership
• clear purpose and structure for meetings
• opportunities to express opinions
• clear rules and penalties

Everyone is a manager.  Everybody can ultimately become the manager of his or her own work and life.  If you never learn to manage yourself, somebody else will always be managing you.

Check out the Self Reliance Inventory from Janice Joplin (yes, really) at Southern Illinois University 618-453-3328.

Check out the Self Management Assessment Questionnaire from Marshall Sashkin at Ducochon Press, P. O. Box 620, Seabrook, MD 20706-0620  301-552-9523

In recruiting, past performance is the best predictor of future performance. Some recommended interview questions:

• What habits have you developed during your professional life to manage your time and resources?
• Tell me about your personal goal-setting process.
• Think about a time when you had to make a decision without all the relevant information or input from your superiors.  How did you go about making that decision?
• Let's assume that someone accuses you of being lazy and undirected.  What evidence would you offer to counter such an accusation?

There's an interesting case study describing an incident from Franklin's career where his boss became unreasonable and jealous of his success. (page 43)

There is an interesting discussion of a contest and winning program Tit-for-Tat with 4 rules: (page 49)

First, Be Nice.

Second, Be retaliatory when necessary.

Third, Be forgiving when asked.

Fourth, Be totally clear about your intentions.

There is a discussion of the Socratic method and Socrates' assertion "I can know nothing with absolute certainty."

• Know your reasons and your interests.
• Assume you might be wrong.
• Listen to the other person's position, and clarify your understanding with a question.
• Create a list of questions that builds a bridge between your interests and the interests of the other person.

Will you influence a small number of elite players, or will you throw a wider net and influence a greater number of average citizens?

Manage for productivity rather than satisfaction.

Create reasonable justifications for your recommended courses of action.  Your superiors need ideas, or they wouldn't be listening to presentations.

Three sources of dysfunctional decision-making: natural inclination, custom and company - in other words, passion, habit, and peers.

Quotes:

God helps them that help themselves.

In success be moderate.  In other words, don't be arrogant about your success or accomplishments, or else there will be some who will dedicate themselves to your downfall.

Reading makes a full man.  Meditation a profound man, Discourse a clear man.  In other words, read to learn, think about it, and discuss it.

Who has deceiv'd thee so oft as thyself?  One of the enduring problems in business is trying to determine who is lying to you and who is telling the truth.

Well done is better than well said.

He that cannot obey, cannot command.