Comments on: Got Baby Boomer Executives? Here's the Succession Planning Solution http://www.manasclerk.com/blog/2008/04/01/got-baby-boomer-executives-heres-the-succession-planning-solution/ Because the killer app is us. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 06:16:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Forrest Christian http://www.manasclerk.com/blog/2008/04/01/got-baby-boomer-executives-heres-the-succession-planning-solution/#comment-29317 Forrest Christian Wed, 02 Apr 2008 20:24:48 +0000 http://www.manasclerk.com/blog/?p=388#comment-29317 Cities like Chicago have already felt the pain of their aging infrastructure. I was in the Chicago Board of Trade during the blackout in the Loop caused by a failing power station. (Exploding may be a more appropriate word.) Christopher B. Leinberger, in a recent article in The Atlantic ("<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/03/the-next-slum/6653/" rel="nofollow">The Next Slum?</a>") makes a point that Stewart Brand and others have made for years: "The experience of cities during the 1950s through the ’80s suggests that the fate of many single-family homes on the metropolitan fringes will be resale, at rock-bottom prices, to lower-income families—and in all likelihood, eventual conversion to apartments. "This future is not likely to wear well on suburban housing. Many of the inner-city neighborhoods that began their decline in the 1960s consisted of sturdily built, turn-of-the-century row houses, tough enough to withstand being broken up into apartments, and requiring relatively little upkeep. By comparison, modern suburban houses, even high-end McMansions, are cheaply built. Hollow doors and wallboard are less durable than solid-oak doors and lath-and-plaster walls. The plywood floors that lurk under wood veneers or carpeting tend to break up and warp as the glue that holds the wood together dries out; asphalt-shingle roofs typically need replacing after 10 years. Many recently built houses take what structural integrity they have from drywall—their thin wooden frames are too flimsy to hold the houses up. " The infrastructure of the 1950s through today is not as robust as the century old infrastructure in Chicago. The sewer pipes in my area of northwestern Indiana are all deteriorating quickly, and we're not alone. This is yet another reason to find some of these high mode folks who have yet to be spoiled by their own success and still have low associative barriers. Cities like Chicago have already felt the pain of their aging infrastructure. I was in the Chicago Board of Trade during the blackout in the Loop caused by a failing power station. (Exploding may be a more appropriate word.)

Christopher B. Leinberger, in a recent article in The Atlantic (“The Next Slum?“) makes a point that Stewart Brand and others have made for years:

“The experience of cities during the 1950s through the ’80s suggests that the fate of many single-family homes on the metropolitan fringes will be resale, at rock-bottom prices, to lower-income families—and in all likelihood, eventual conversion to apartments.

“This future is not likely to wear well on suburban housing. Many of the inner-city neighborhoods that began their decline in the 1960s consisted of sturdily built, turn-of-the-century row houses, tough enough to withstand being broken up into apartments, and requiring relatively little upkeep. By comparison, modern suburban houses, even high-end McMansions, are cheaply built. Hollow doors and wallboard are less durable than solid-oak doors and lath-and-plaster walls. The plywood floors that lurk under wood veneers or carpeting tend to break up and warp as the glue that holds the wood together dries out; asphalt-shingle roofs typically need replacing after 10 years. Many recently built houses take what structural integrity they have from drywall—their thin wooden frames are too flimsy to hold the houses up. ”

The infrastructure of the 1950s through today is not as robust as the century old infrastructure in Chicago. The sewer pipes in my area of northwestern Indiana are all deteriorating quickly, and we’re not alone.

This is yet another reason to find some of these high mode folks who have yet to be spoiled by their own success and still have low associative barriers.

]]> By: gmehl http://www.manasclerk.com/blog/2008/04/01/got-baby-boomer-executives-heres-the-succession-planning-solution/#comment-29316 gmehl Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:57:19 +0000 http://www.manasclerk.com/blog/?p=388#comment-29316 Forrest, The problem you define is all too real. Last week my view of the issues enlarged. The US power industry is a key example of the wholesale aging out of executive leadership. What I had not realized is that a disproportionate fraction of the power generation and transmission infrastructure is also aging out. So its not just the leadership, it is the technology as well. I spoke with an executive within a leading edge equipment supplier for that industry and they are expecting 25 to 50% annual growth in their production. This is also creating a capability shortage within their ranks. So the depth of the issues is far deeper that the problem presented on the surface. The tools are available to do what you suggest, however it seems that few at the needed level of influence are responding. When this gets rolling, it will make the mortgage "crises" look insignificant. Forrest,
The problem you define is all too real. Last week my view of the issues enlarged. The US power industry is a key example of the wholesale aging out of executive leadership. What I had not realized is that a disproportionate fraction of the power generation and transmission infrastructure is also aging out. So its not just the leadership, it is the technology as well. I spoke with an executive within a leading edge equipment supplier for that industry and they are expecting 25 to 50% annual growth in their production. This is also creating a capability shortage within their ranks.

So the depth of the issues is far deeper that the problem presented on the surface.

The tools are available to do what you suggest, however it seems that few at the needed level of influence are responding. When this gets rolling, it will make the mortgage “crises” look insignificant.

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