ALAN MULALLY'S "WAY FORWARD" AT FORD MOTOR COMPANY (R)
Anyone familiar with the Ford Motor Company and the Fords recognizes this pattern.

William Clay Ford, Sr., according to a number of Ford family biographies, retreated to the bottle and then to the Detroit Lions football club when he got shoved out of the Continental Division by his Eat-it-Hump-it-or-Poop-on-it older brother, Henry Ford II.

Henry II himself tapped the "Whiz Kids," GM-ex Bunkie Knudsen, and the self-promoting father of the Chrysler K-Car and the Opera Window (and Ford Mustang), Lee Iacocca, to handle the dirty work while he kicked back as Chairman.

And press reports just this year had William Clay Ford, Jr. retreating to the sanctity of the Detroit Lions training facility in lieu of engaging debates in the Glass House.

The weak always retreat when the going gets rough.

But Billy’s old news now. His time at the top will be judged by the long look of history.

But thankfully Bill (or perhaps the Board) recognized that a new CEO was in the best interests of Ford’s stakeholders. Or maybe it was just time for a new guy to absorb all the "slings and arrows" of the pundits and second-guessers while "Waiting for Ghosn."

So what advice for the new guy?

Sure he’s an airplane whiz, but what does he know about building and selling relatively cheap (as compared to a jumbo jet) consumer products? What does he know about competing in a cutthroat industry where there are EIGHT huge players, instead of just two or three? What does he know about the ethos, pathos and logos of American motoring?

ALAN MULALLY’S "WAY FORWARD"

1. Forget Boeing: Sure, you had nearly four decades of success at America’s most successful aircraft builder. Sure, you figured out how to maneuver the Byzantine halls of power in a huge American manufacturing concern. Sure, you probably even know the prosaic beginnings of Boeing in the Old Red Barn and can draw some folksy parallels between Boeing and FoMoCo. But FoMoCo isn’t Boeing. And FoMoCo’s problems are more serious than some temporary downturn caused by the 9/11 attacks. Your slate is blank now and "the whole world is watching." (not to mention all of us armchair yahoos in the blogosphere)

2. Don’t Get "Bunkied:" FoMoCo history is littered with brilliant auto-men who didn’t last at FoMoCo. And you’re not even a bona fide automotive executive, yet. Most of those who rose to the top worked their way up through FoMoCo.

One notable one who didn’t is Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen. Knudsen was brilliant at GM. But when the father of the Small Block Chevrolet engine–Ed Cole–bypassed Knudsen on the GM depth chart, Bunkie became restless. Henry II then tapped Bunkie to run FoMoCo, to the chagrin of Iacocca’s people. Iacocca and his crew never let Bunkie settle in. And in less than two years, Bunkie was out.

The Glass House is undoubtedly filled with all sorts of long time FoMoCo "lifers" who figured that if Bill Ford bailed out, that they would the "natural" replacement. And, just like Iacocca, each of those "movers and shakers" undoubtedly has an informal network of supporters. While younger guys like Mark Fields may see this as a wash or even a positive development for their chances to move up someday, not everyone may be so patient. So figure out who really runs that place and get them on your team, pronto! Don’t be another Bunkie.

3. Walkabout: Forget about kicking back in your new corner office with a Starbucks. Pack your suitcases. Dress well, but leave the custom tailored CEO suits at home. You need to go on a long-term "walkabout" of the Ford world. You can’t learn sitting in meetings all day with people who may or may not understand reality. You need hard data acquired first hand, and without all the interest group filters and political garbage. You need to find the hidden talent at FoMoCo to lean on and also the bureaucrats and self-promoters to avoid. More importantly, you need to get inside the head of FoMoCo’s customers and dealers.

4. Really Visit the Dealerships: Spend at least two days every week in dealerships. Don’t go for the official dog-and-pony shows though. Don't just talk with the head man or the F&I guys. Talk with customers waiting in the service area. Talk with line techs. Listen to service managers. Ride with salesmen. Visit both struggling dealerships and market leaders. Get in touch with the people on the front lines of sales (it will be worth more than 500 pages of executive summaries).

5. Really Visit the Shop Floors: Spend at least one day a week on plant floors. Walk around without the usual circus of hangers on. Don't make it some scheduled "state visit." JUST SHOW UP UNANNOUNCED. Tell the UAW reps and the managers to screw themselves if they want to filter what you learn by observing and interacting with the front lines of manufacturing.

6. Spend Quality Time in Engineering: Spend at least one day a week with a small cadre of aggressive engineers. Of course you still need to periodically walk through engineering labs, styling and other departments to show the flag, learn first hand and to build morale, but quality time with a hands-on "focus group" of creative engineers will do much to increase your depth of analysis and appreciation for the technological challenges facing FoMoCo.

7. Learn to Drive: Take a performance driving course. Bonderant did wonders for Don Petersen's understanding of the real world.

8. Get into the Product: Test everything you can get your hands on. Forget being driven anywhere (unless it's riding with a customer to gain more first hand impressions). Car guys must drive. And you need to drive all of the competitors' cars, as well as everything you sell. Add in some older used cars and trucks into the mix, too, because the first impressions many get of a brand often come from something you've already done and forgotten about.

9. Really Meet the Customers: Go where the Ford enthusiasts are.

Nearly every weekend of the year, there's a race, car show or other automobile event where privateers are pumping up Ford brands "for free" because of their passion for them. Seek out these people and learn from them. See and be seen.

Don't just go to the big NASCAR shows. Don't just hob-knob in the luxury boxes. Hit some dirt tracks. Experience the Chili Bowl. See Mustangs on the strip at an FFW show. Let Rick Kopec or even Carroll Shelby show you around some Shelby meet. Walk the 18th fairway at Pebble Beach during the Concours* and visit the paddocks at the Monterey Historics and Goodwood. Stay up all night in the pits at one of the 24 Hour races. Walk the pits and the starting line at Bonneville during Speed Week (you might even talk the SCTA/BNI into letting you make a pass in something reasonably safe that your private engineering cadre puts together for the occasion--You'll make the cover of HOT ROD if you do). Pose for photos with the ordinary people and sign autographs.

*But use one of those corporate jets to make sure you're also in Detroit to experience the Woodward Dream Cruise.

10. Be Open: Let people in and out of FoMoCo get to know you. Surely letting cameras follow you around during some of your travels would make for interesting, candid television which could help promote the Ford brands and to humanize perceptions of your leadership. Utilize the automotive and business press to get your message out. Show up on www.fordboldmoves.com

11. Don't Neglect the Spiritual side of Life: Given other executive responsibilities, items 1-10, above, will dominate your time. However, you cannot understand Ford's customer base from a purely secular perspective. Furthermore, if you neglect higher things, your ethics and empathy will suffer.

12. Trust but verify: Delegation is the only way anything gets done in any complex organization. And it's even more so in one where the top boss is always out in the field. However, people being people, organizations typically are designed to insulate top management from reality and to defer decisionmaking. But if you've got the best managers in place, you can trust them with most of the details as long as you become the "quality checker." Customer-driven goals can breed "American Innovation" if encouraged.

13. Don’t Forget the Forty-Percenters: Remember, you’re a hired hand. Bill didn’t fade into the sunset. Just like Henry II, he’ll be around and it’s still his family name on the building. And Bill’s power base comes from stock control. So even if Wall Street loves you, if Bill doesn’t, be worried. Remember what happened to Iacocca.

Of course, if you pull this gig off, you’ll be a legend of modern American business. On the other hand, the least you can do is keep the seat warm for Carlos or Mark . . . .

Just don’t screw it up any worse than it already is, Okay?