"Past is Uncertain As the Present & Future"!!!

Today's business press is full of articles and quotes about what caused the current economic mess. Greenspan, who was on the job for 18 years (which is too long for anyone), is defending his actions and says that he did what was right given the information he had. Others disagree and blame him for the current situation. John Reed, former Citicorp CEO has stated that the merger of Citicorp and Travellers was a mistake, while Sandy Weil his successor says it was a good move.

Obviously each of these individuals have their own view of what happened, which may be right or wrong, but it is really perception that is the foundation of even history. I am an avid read of American history and am amazed when I read different biographies about revolutionary heroes, which is popular today. The story of Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Burr all supposedly deal with the same "facts" about what happened, but they all have a different bias.

Unfortunately in the United States today, we focus only on what is happening today and don't learn from the past. We keep making the same mistakes, but it gets worse, because the actions of leaders today impact the entire world and not just one country.

Further we have created "news and commentary" networks and publications, that are so interested in getting the "headline first" that they often ignore the facts. In addition, the major organizations and companies tend to employ "spin doctors" to only show their good side and ignore their failures and weaknesses.

We can only learn from the past if we recognize that there were good and poor decisions and actions. However, we need to examine whether what worked or failed in the past, will work or fail today. This should be an integral part of all educational institutions and company training courses.

I believe that all of companies and institutions should take the time to examine their history and share it with the world. This means being willing to give all sides and then using these insights to improve the organizations. But it must be remembered that "the past is as uncertain as the present and future" and that it is okay to have different perceptions and conclusions.

When I developed the GE strategic planning workshops and seminars at Crotonville in the 1970's, I hired consultants and professors to study GE's past strategies and identify what they did well and not so well. One of the consultants came back after a month study and told me "in GE the past was as uncertain as the present and the future". I laughed and asked what he meant. He said that he interviewed dozens of executives and they all had a different perception of GE's past. This was a lesson I never forgot.

In the original GE Strategic Planning workshops, a four-hour "strategic history of the company" module was included, that covered both GE's successes, failures and even questionable management actions, such as "the great electrical conspiracy" and participation in cartels.

These sessions were a major success and I ultimately continued to lead these sessions, both inside and outside of GE. It is the foundation of my new book" The Secret to GE's Success", which also used these insights, as well as what I have learned from own experience and study, to evaluate GE today and the current leadership and strategies.

History is a critical element is learning and in developing sound business and public strategies. I believe that all companies and institutions would take the time to learn from its own past successes and failures and not just study "other company or organizations case studies". The real learning takes place when it is relevant to the students, employees and managers and it is a critical part of creating sound, viable and successful strategies and execution plans.

In short, know your self first and then learn from others.

Bill Rothschild, author of "The Secret to GE's Success"-which enables readers to learn from the successes and failures of an American Icon Company and put these lessons to work for themselves.