Ernie and Bert Style of Management

Everything I know about Business- I learned from Sesame Street

Sesame Street, as Google is constantly reminding us is celebrating 40 years on the air, entertaining, educating and –let’s face it- babysitting toddlers for 4 decades.

In honor of this occasion- I thought it would be suitable to discuss the phenomenon I like to call the Ernie and Bert style dichotomy of management.

Ernie- is forever the optimist! He has crazy dreams and wild ideas. He’s the people person. The visionary. Unfortunately- his ideas are sometimes too crazy- and he sometimes needs an element to ground him and make sure that costs are kept in mind and that the project has a sufficient dose of reality. This dose comes in the form of his roommate the pigeon loving, monobrowed Bert.

In the management office- you need the Ernie to see where opportunities lie and to tackle them boldly. You need the Ernie to share his vision and get clients and the team excited about a new project. You need the Ernie to take risks- which comes hand in hand with reward.

You also need the Bert. The Bert is the accountant or cost controller. The Bert nags Ernie to keep on task when Ernie is so busy chasing new clients that his older accounts are languishing. The Bert makes sure that Ernie’s plans bring in a profit, and that there are processes in place to keep the profitability on track.

Management requires a certain level of dichotomy in their practice in order to be effective. In some organizations, there’s one who serves as the Ernie consistently and one who acts as the Bert. It’s in your own company and business unit’s best interest to be able to work both roles yourself and channel your inner fun loving snickering Ernie as well as your inner calculating, cautious and careful Bert and allow both to influence your management and leadership practice.

And just remember- sometimes even Bert can get swept up in the fun. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF4HCFpbRWQ

Thanks to John Murray who wants to buy a letter S.