The Velvet Hammer w. Jim Weber

Host Justin McMenamy and guest Jim Weber discuss techniques by which innovative teams can survive inside large bureaucracies.  They discuss the need for the innovative leader to set a different “cultural thermostat,” from the broader organization; allowing for some of the organization to be in a flexible gaseous state while the rest of the company remains a solid structure focused on optimizing the present.   McMenamy credits the book Loonshots by Safi Bahcall and Kelly Johnson’s Skunk Works rules of management, emphasizing the need for executive protection, boundary-layer leaders who can translate between rigid and creative worlds, and small policy differences in HR, IT, legal, and compensation required to enable a phase shift.   Weber describes “talent tapping” by finding underused internal talent and relying on a protective boss who deflected steering committees, while both note the “career poker” strategy of staying at the table versus climbing.   They also cover empathy, leaders acting as organizational psychiatrists, and when it can be compassionate to help misfit employees transition out, including the one positive lesson McMenamy cites from Jack Welch: people want to be good at their jobs.