InformationWeek

Secret CIO: A Paradoxical Peoples' Picnic

It may seem a calculated way to build company spirit--but it works

By Herbert W. Lovelace
Issue date: Aug. 19, 1996

Cindy and I have just returned from the annual company picnic. I am hot, tired, and dusty. She, as always, looks great.

The company picnic has softball, swimming, tennis, games for children, and lots of cholesterol-rich food such as hot dogs, hamburgers, and potato salad. There are also green salads, yogurt, and fruit bowls for arterially challenged employees and executives with company-paid l ife insurance premiums.

It's an all-out effort by human resources, which works with deadly seriousness for weeks to ensure that everyone has a spontaneous good time. I was a guest at an executive committee meeting where this year's picnic plans were reviewed; less effort went into the launch of our last successful product line.

After the HR people have finished with the basic plans, implementation of the picnic is turned over to a group of secretaries and clerical types. They give it their all, and not just because they are volunteers. It's well-known throughout the company that picnic committee members receive a disproportionate number of the promotions awarded to secretaries and clerks.

Each year, the results are outstanding. Everything goes off with the precision of a well-orchestrated battle plan. The results show what a corporation is capable of when it has a unified goal. Everyone has a good time, even the executives who show up to participate en masse because it is expected of them.

Wat ching the executives should be included on the activity list, because that is a lot of fun, too. It is a fascinating example of the taxonomy of human behavior.

Our kingdom of executives is divided into two phyla: those who mingle and those who do not. The minglers, of which I am one, are subdivided into two classes: those who genuinely prefer the company of real workers to that of other executives, and those who take the concept of noblesse oblige to the extreme. Most of the latter even drive their family's second car to the picnic so that they don't appear too flashy. They walk around smiling and pressing the flesh. Some of them, especially the business group heads who came up through sales, are really good at demonstrating that at heart they are just part of the masses. The only way to tell they're not for real is to notice that they eat with their own kind, not the people with whom they have been shaking hands. One year, I watched Kratmeyer, head of international operations, spend time kidding around w ith several of his middle managers, including one I knew he was going to fire the following week. Maybe he was setting the stage for being shocked and disappointed when he delivered the news.

A Cut Above
The nonminglers--Gornish, our CFO, is one--stick with the other officers from the start. They graciously accept the homage of the lesser managers and mail-room clerks. They make no pretense that they have much in common with the little people--but on the other hand, they act very human and not at all stuck up. I find Gornish a lot more likable at a picnic than in the office.

That's the paradox. Even with all the politics, everyone seems to have fun and feel a little better about one another. It really does seem to help morale. I understand the picnic could be considered cynical manipulation, a calculated way to build company spirit. The funny thing, though, is that it works.

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