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In this world constant changes are a fact of life. How to act in this changing world， then， presents a real challenge for executives of big businesses today. The leader of a big company shoulders great responsibilities. Naturally， he wants to be absolutely sure he is doing the right thing. But does it follow that he should never take a chance， that he can afford to delay action until he obtains all the information he needs？ A good manager draws on the wisdom of committees. But can committees replace individuals？ In the selection， the author， a successful businessman himself， expounds his views on these questions， throwing light on mature management.
The Key to Management by Lee Iacocca
If had to sum up in one word the qualities that make a good manager， I'd say that it all comes to decisiveness. You can use the fanciest computers in the world and you can gather all the charts and numbers， but in the end you have to bring all your information together， set up a timetable， and act.
And I don't mean act rashly. In the press， I'm sometimes described as a flamboyant leader and a hip-shooter， a kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants operator. I may occasionally give that impression， but if that image were really true. I could never have been successful in this business.
Actually， my management style has always been pretty conservative. Wherever I've taken risks， it's been after satisfying myself that the research and the market studies supported my instincts. I may act on my intuition —— but only if my hunches are supported by the facts.
Too many managers let themselves get weighed down in their decision-making， especially those with too much education. I once said to Philip Caldwell， who became the top man at Ford after I left： "The trouble with you， Phil， is that you want to Harvard， where they taught you not to take any action until you've got all the facts. You've got ninety-five percent of them， but it's going to take you another six months to get that last five percent. And by the time you do， your facts will be out of date because the market has already changed. That's what life is all about —— timing."
A good business leader can't operate that way. It's perfectly natural to want the facts and to hold out for the research that guarantees a particular program will work. After all， if you're about to spend $300 million on a new product， you want to be absolutely sure you're on the right track.
That's fine in theory， but real life just doesn't work that way. Obviously， you're responsible for gathering as many relevant facts and projections as you possibly can. But at some point you've got to take that leap of fait. First， because even the right decision is wrong if it's made too late. Second， because in most cases there's no such thing as certainty. There are times when even the best manager is like the little boy with the big dog waiting to see where the dog wants to go so he can take him there.
What constitutes enough information for the decision-maker？ It's impossible to put a number on it， but clearly when you move ahead with only 50 percent of the facts the odds are stacked against you. If that's the case， you had better be very lucky —— or else come up with some terrific hunches. There are times when that kind of gamble is called for， but it's certainly no way to run a railroad.
At the same time， you'll never know 100 percent of what you need. Like many industries these days， the car business is constantly changing. For us in Detroit， the great challenge is always to figure out what's going to appeal to customers three years down the road. I'm writing these words in 1984， and we're already planning our models for 1987 and 1988. Somehow I have to try to predict what's going to sell three and four years from now， even though I can't say with any certainty what the public will want next month.
