|
|
|
|
Achieve*NET Home |
Program Home |
Program Resources
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
|
|
Michael D. Eisner
Entertainment Executive
|
Michael Eisner: Hard work, I think, is important. Being born to parents who care. I don't think necessarily being born to parents of means. Whether it's somebody who walked across Europe out of Poland, or who grew up in the inner city of the United States, or actually was a middle class, or upper class environment. The genetic accident that you want is that you're born from parents who care and support you, and they're there for you, kind of give you the confidence to fail. Succeeding is not really a life experience that does that much good. Failing is a much more sobering and enlightening experience. And how people around you react when you fail is very important. So, to me, the genetic accident of my birth, I think, is the single most important thing. In my own genes, I have a very strong sense of work; I enjoy working. Maybe that, again, is delivered to me environmentally. I was extremely lucky in that I met somebody right after I got out of college who I married. That became very important. I had somebody who was interested in what I was doing, but didn't believe any of my baloney. Constantly said to me, "Don't believe what people write about you." Kept me level-headed. Delivered for me three sons who became the center of my life. Whenever the heady experience of achievement and reward is presented to you, you have three children and a wife who say, you know, "Dad, can we go to the movies?" or "Dad, we're going to do this." They could care less.
|
|
|
I think maybe the best education, or the best foundation for business is probably reading Shakespeare, rather than reading some MBA program out of some great business school. I think I'd rather have an English major than an economics major.
|
[ Interview ] Michael Eisner |
|
|
Michael Eisner: When you're trying to create things that are new, you have to be prepared to be on the edge of risk. First of all, research will tell you, which I do not believe in at all, that people want what they saw yesterday, and that's fallacious. They don't know what they want. They want something new, and different, and unusual.
|
[ Interview ] Michael Eisner |
|
Sanford I. Weil
Financier and Philanthropist
|
Sanford Weill: What turned me on then, and turns me on even today -- and when the time comes from me to retire from management I think I'd still be interested in it -- is that everything that happens in the world affects the price of securities. So it's the kind of business where you can't wait to get up in the morning and read the papers, or listen to what's on the news, and you know, how the world's going to change. And if you don't like stability, and you do enjoy change, and you look at change as something that creates an opportunity, then I think it's a very, very exciting business.
|
[ Interview ] Sanford Weill |
|
|
If a person is not willing to make a mistake, you're never going to do anything right. Because most of us are not perfect, and therefore, I think it's very important to learn how to be a risk taker. Learn how to be a loser, because it's important to be a loser to be a winner. And learn that when you do make a mistake, you'll surface that mistake so you can get it corrected, rather than trying to hide it and bury it, and it becomes a much bigger mistake, and maybe a fatal mistake.
|
[ Interview ] Sanford Weill |
|
|
Ownership gets people to think like owners, to think that the company is really theirs. Really good ideas and innovative ideas come from the bottoms of organizations -- not really the tops of organizations -- where people are dealing directly with the customers and really understand what the market wants, rather than dictating what the market wants, where people can see the silly things that the chairman may be doing, or whatever, that's wasting a lot of money and there might be a better way to do it.
|
[ Interview ] Sanford Weill |
|
History of a Creative Business
Many of today's corporations have fascinating stories about how they started. In many cases, the founders of these businesses "thought outside of the box" in order to come up with a successful business plan. Entertainment executive Michael Eisner, for example, states that he never believed the market analysts who told him that, "people want what they saw yesterday. They want something new," he says, "and different, and unusual." Use the Research Links to investigate the histories of different businesses such as Earthlink, Pizza Hut and Hard Candy Cosmetics, which were all started by creative thinkers in their early twenties. Select one business and create a multimedia presentation about its history, including an illustrated time line of its development.
Learning from Failure
In the video segments, entertainment executive Michael Eisner says, "Succeeding is not really a life experience that does much good. Failing is a much more sobering and enlightening experience." In his segment, financier and philanthropist Sandford Weill adds to that sentiment by advising students to be "willing to make a mistake" and to "learn how to be a risk taker." Read Eisner and Weill's interviews in the Gallery of Business. How did their experiences of failure help to make them the success stories they are today? Think about your own past experiences. Was there ever a time when you learned something the hard way? Have you ever felt like you failed at something? Did you ever take a risk? Chose one of these personal experiences and write a personal essay about the lessons you took away from these experiences.
Non-Profit Corporations
Non-profits, or 501c3s, are businesses like any other. They have to register their company, file with the IRS, support payrolls and raise money. The main difference is that non-profits don't have to pay taxes because they are in the business of providing a service to fulfill a public or social need. Another difference is that instead of going to shareholders, profits are recycled back into the organization. Often, wealthy people like Sanford Weill will donate a lot of money to a non-profit. Read Weill's interview in the Gallery of Business. What are his thoughts in the role of philanthropy in our society? Using the Resource Links, find out more about how non-profits work. Many good examples of "thinking outside of the box" can be found in non-profit organizations. Research different non-profits in your area and chose one you'd like to find more about. Interview the director of the organization, or other people who are involved. Create a computer file for your non-profit that includes quotes from your interviews; the organization's mission statement; number of employees, volunteers and/or interns; list of sponsors; annual budget and long term goals. Use this information to write a grant proposal for this organization.
How Current Events Affect Business
Financier and Philanthropist Sanford Weil says that his favorite thing about high-finance is that "everything that happens in the world affects the price of securities." He goes on to talk about how change creates business opportunities. How do world events affect the stock market? Use the Resource Links to investigate businesses that have benefited or suffered because of things that are going on in the world, like new legislation, the discovery of gold, war, natural disasters or new advances in science. Choose three businesses that experienced the direct impact of such events. Imagine that you are a PR person and write a short press release for each one, explaining how the event has given rise to a new company or affected an already existing business.
| |
|
