Published Work

It's Time Again to Respect Our Chicago Business Elders

As I traveled to Europe this summer, I was struck by the enduring history and the respect the countries have for remembering it so well.

This resonated in me because it wasn't too long ago in the go-go 1990s that Americans discarded the way we had been doing things in business for hundreds of years to leverage the new economy. Youth, energy and passion were in vogue and traditional ways of doing things were out.

Unfortunately, this "new way" came along with fancy furniture, strange titles and foosball tables that didn't boost company profits one bit. During this period of time, investors paid for potential or what the companies could be. This "value" was reflected in the run up in stock prices that reached an all-time high in 2000.

What a difference a few years makes. Once again, we now value gray hair and experience. In fact, youth and radical new ideas seem to scare most people a bit these days. We now revere older people again.

We fondly call them "gray beards" who magically have renewed wisdom to share with all of us. In Eastern cultures, this had never changed. Respecting your elders has always been a way of life with very rewarding results. In that culture, age means experience and nothing can replace that experience.

Jack Kraft, a well-respected entrepreneur and investor in Chicago, reflects on what we have all learned over the past few years: "The problem with maturity is that it's based on experience rather than potential," he said. "Experience only comes with time and sometimes costly lessons."

I remember a few years back when the Chicago Software Association sponsored a seminar on business valuation. The room was packed as people jammed to hear the collective wisdom of Bob Geras, Bill Weaver and Wally Cornett. At the time, some people respectfully referred to them as the three horsemen. This is the way it should be.

Bill Weaver of Chicago-based Sachnoff & Weaver recounts an experience he had during the Internet Bubble: "I sat on a panel of experts talking about funding," he said. "One expert was a young dot-commer who had just raised $12 million for his start-up concept company and was already focused on his next round of $25 million to be raised six months later.

"I was reasonably dumbfounded and made the mistake of voicing my doubts. I was thereafter viewed as the fossil on the panel and no future questions were directed to me. I have no idea what happened to the company but I think it's highly likely that it's long gone."

Tom Churchwell of Chicago-based ARCH Development Partners tells of a time when experienced investors "turned large amounts of cash over to smart, inexperienced kids because they get the new paradigm."

Churchwell believes that experience counts but it can also "blunt innovation." He believes in balance: "The art of our game is to balance smart, younger, innovative minds with smart, older, battle-scarred veterans," he said. "If the investors are smart enough and lucky enough and they all work hard enough, they might all get rich."

Weaver also believes in a balanced team for start-ups: "A young entrepreneur needs to surround himself or herself with experienced advisors and listen to what they have to say."

Shaye Mandle, formerly president of the Illinois Coalition and now at Science Application International Corporation (SAIC), is one of those young business leaders. He recalls the youthful energy of the 1990s when companies paid through the nose for potential and high-priced degrees.

He quips: "As we used to say around my fraternity house, "potential means you ain't nothin' yet!" "

"Companies should be investing in their futures. That means promising young talent," Mandle said. "The best way to accelerate the impact that young talent can have on an organization is to partner them up with an elder mentor. Can a young upstart create a successful business or have a substantial impact on an existing one? You bet they can. Will they make rookie mistakes? You bet."

Mandle believes that experience helps to hone your business instincts.

"Real life happens and many times the scenarios that play out run contrary to what your training or brain would lead you to believe," he said. "Experiencing these scenarios provides one with context. Context allows you to anticipate situations and deal with them effectively. A degree cannot fully do this. Training cannot fully do this. Experience is the holy grail of successfully negotiating life's pathways."

Mandle sees a silver lining to all the failed young leaders during the 1990s.

"Look at all the immensely talented individuals who failed during the bursting of the Internet bubble. Many were young, promising business leaders," he said. "Unfortunately, many of them failed to listen to their elders. But guess what? They now have experience. They have the opportunity to help the next wave of young potential because they've been there."

He concludes: "Respecting one's elders is a reflection of respecting one's self. It demonstrates that you understand that the more you learn, the less you know."

For me, this seems truer every day. I have so much to learn but that's what keeps business so interesting.