Stumbling about

Keep it fresh

I was walking around town with a friend recently and we came across this beautiful bicycle. I don’t bike, and I’ve never thought of bikes as particularly eye-catching. But this one was. It had that classic feel, but still glistened as if it just rolled off the production line.

We stopped to take pictures, and this sparked a conversation about our respective relationships. The focal point was that after the “honeymoon stage” relationships become much more deliberate. People describe this as hard work, but I’m not sure that’s right. Yes, it takes effort, but I don’t find the “work” to be particularly hard. It’s desired. I want to try, and if I don’t then I’m in the wrong relationship.

Beyond effort, and the shift from natural to deliberate, the thing that I see as most important is understanding why you’re together in the first place. What has made your relationship work to this point? Don’t forget that, and keep doing those things. You don’t need something new and you don’t need to change. Keep what works.

Look at Southwest Airlines. Many view Southwest as the pioneer of the low cost carriers in the United States. However, most don’t know about Southwest’s predecessor…conveniently named Pacific Southwest Airlines, or PSA.

Before airline deregulation PSA owned the California airline market – the largest in the world. They had a high spirit, fun, no frills culture. Their planes had big smiles on the front of them, and their stewardesses were energetic and attractive. They consistently used words like “love” to describe their philosophy on running an airline. Ring a bell?

Southwest Airlines was founded in 1967 in Texas and, recognizing PSA’s dominance, they decided that this was the model to follow. Pre-deregulation Southwest was forced to operate only in Texas, and PSA operated only in California, so they wouldn’t be directly competing. Given this, PSA was happy to accommodate the Southwest executives with their operating plans, operating manuals and the like.

Southwest’s motto became “copy PSA in Texas.” According to Lamar Muse, Southwest’s first CEO, creating the operating plans was “primarily a cut-and-paste procedure.”

In time, one thing became clear: Southwest understood why PSA was successful and PSA didn’t.

Deregulation came in 1978. PSA strayed into other models (like the fly-drive-sleep campaign), but Southwest, understanding the reason behind the success of the no frills model, outlined it’s ten governing points:

1. Remain a short-haul, under two-hour segments
2. Utilize the 737 as our primary aircraft for ten to twelve years
3. Continued high aircraft utilization and quick turns, ten minutes in most cases
4. The passenger is our #1 product. Do not carry air freight or mail, only small packages which have high profitability and low handling costs
5. Continued low fares and high frequency of service
6. Stay out of food services
7. No interlining – a/c costs in ticketing, tariffs and computers and our unique airports do not lend themselves to interlining
8. Retain Texas as our #1 priority and only go interstate if high-density short haul markets are available to us
9. Keep the family and people feeling in our service and a fun atmosphere aloft. We’re proud of our employees
10. Keep it simple. Continue cash-register tickets, ten-minute cancellation of reservations at the gate in order to clear standbys, simplified computer system, free drinks in Executive service, free coffee and donuts in the boarding area, no seat selection on board, tape-recorded passenger manifest, bring airplanes and crews home to Dallas each night, only one domicile and maintenance facility

Two of these points have shifted slightly over the last three decades, but they’ve mostly stayed the same. The result: Southwest Airlines was the best performing US stock between 1972 and 2002 – better than Intel, Wal-mart, Comcast, you name it (yes, an airline!).

This is not to say never to change. Rather, know why you’re successful, and what the criteria for change should be. Southwest hasn’t yet come across most of its criteria for change (whatever it believes those might be), and chances are that your relationship hasn’t either.

January 26, 2011 at 8:36 am 2 comments