"Curse of the Bean Counters"

 

I want to speak a little about a curse that has effected the American business world. You could call it greed, but it’s not greed exactly, it’s more of a disease that has crept in, and causes greed (though not an excuse.) It has infected many of our major companies.

I call it the ‘Curse of the Bean Counters.”

I’m a rather old man, so I’ve been around long enough to see this time and again. I don’t believe people like Henry Ford, S.S. Kresge, Barney Kroger, Sear & Roebuck (two fellers,) or Montgomery Ward were greedy. I believe they found themselves in a free market world, needing to make a living (after all, it takes awhile to get old and die, you have to do something in the meantime,) each with different skills and experiences, and had a dream.

Ford’s dream was to put America on wheels, and he pretty much did, along with others of the same mindset. Sears & Roebuck got the idea with the new post war postal system, they could bring everything available in Chicago to the Midwest via catalog and the postal system, and so they did. Montgomery Ward got in on the idea, both opened retail stores. Ole Barney Kroger opened a small store in Cincinnati, so he could make a living.

Now these people had to have help, so they brought in Company. Think about that word. We all have company, we call them friends. We keep company with our friends. If I have a project in mind (let’s say building a deck,) I going to call my friends, Byron, David, Bruce and my brother, buy a case of beer, and me and my company (friends) will construct a deck. We all know what we are going to do, a common goal, and with a little pushing & shoving, we get it done, wa-la. The beer is the just reward. But let us not lose site of the fact, it's my deck.

These people did the same thing, in a more structured manner. These people (Ford’s, Kroger’s ect..) company, agreed to help him in his common goal, and a way of sharing the profits. Regular pay, salaries, bonuses ect… But Ford is still Henry Ford’s, and Kroger’s is still Barney Kroger’s.

These ideas still belong to the idea man, it’s his baby, his driving force, he has a vision, and seeing it grow is very satisfying. Their goals remain, “I want to put America on Wheels,” “I want to put groceries on America counter tops.” The company is along for the ride. Read that again, “The company is along for the ride!” With out Ford, there is no company. With out Barney, there is no company. That simple. You have to have an idea, and the will to do it. This usually come down to a man. Don’t poo-poo the idea man.

Now it none of these people fault, that Americans went along with it, and thought it a good idea, and bought some wheels and groceries. And so these companies grew because the Americans liked them, and did business with them, because as a Company, they were focused on their goal and did a good job. None of these fellows had a gun or a knife, they didn’t force anything. The offered Americans something they wanted.

As these Companies grew, they created company policies based on their customer base, and these policies, would carry success throughout the company. Ie….. When I worked for Safeway, One of their policies was “The most important person in the store, is the ‘checker,’ everybody in the store works for the checker, you make her job as easy as possible, because everybody’s money, EVERYBODY”S money come out of her register. If it don’t in, it can’t come out. So do your job and do it well.”

Now in the background, each one of these company has a very important person working. He’s called the ‘Bean Counter.’ His job is to keep track of all the beans, where they come from, and where they go, and to write it all down, so as to be able to tell the boss, at anytime, how many beans he’s got and where they are. That’s his job. That’s his only job..!!! He needs to be honest and good at it. He does (should) not effect things that go on at the level where the beans are collected. That’s the idea man and his activities which generate the bean flow. Without a flow of beans, you don’t need a bean counter, so his money too, come out of that register.

The problem arises when the principle (Ford, Kroger ect…) dies. Unless there is an heir, who has been trained in the business, and has an eye for the vision, the company tends to stagnate and succumb to “The Bean Counter’s Curse.”

When the principle passes away, with it the idea, the drive, the since of ‘Company.’ All we have now, it a big money making machine, that nobody wants to pass away, because; it’s making money. It’s supporting a hold network of people and other business. They don’t won’t to give up the company ride. So they form a committee to run the company, with a CEO….. and a CFO or head bean counter.

This is the beginning of the end. Committees have no guts, no vision, no sense of the market. The CEO’s job is to make the company make money. So they all look to the bean counter, who has all the numbers, (keep in mind, that’s all he knows.)

So the committee looks at the numbers, and the bottom line, cause that’s all they are interested in, and how to make it grow.

So our priority has shifted from the customer to the stake holders, without anybody realizing it. The committee, not understanding why the idea man did this or that, starts hacking away at the numbers. Bean counters point out we spend this much here and this much there, but nobody knows why. So they hack away at the numbers trying to get the bottom line to grow. What they don’t understand, is the numbers they are hacking away at are their customers. Each number they hack, to improve the bottom line, hacks away at the service you are providing, the reason the customer is there.

At first, this tends to work and the bottom line grows, and everybody makes money. “Hummm, it worked.” So they hack a little more, and things seem to be fine. So the committee thinks they are doing a good job.

Well they hack until the bottom line quits growing. This doesn’t make sense. The number are all good. Where are the customers?

Well, the committee sets out to fix it, but they have never been on the sales floor. They bring in experts and specialist and the next thing you know, the company is top heavy with suits. When they really know nothing, compared to Barney Kroger who started with $375. And so begins the slow decline, until the company is bled dry and dispersed.

How many times have we seen this? Sears, Monkey Wards, K-Mart and so many other. Sam Walton stepped in and filled the gap, gave the people what they wanted. And look at Wal-Mart, they are everywhere. But alas, he’s dead and they suffer the same disease, I can see, they are in the fix it process. Disney is in the fix it mode, none of them know what to do. The auto industry is caught between the bottom line and the government, with no thought of you, the customer.

Sooo…. how to fix it? You don’t. You let them die, they aren’t interested in you, only the bottom line, that’s what got them there.

But when it dies, the market place is still there. And a butt-load of skilled, experienced workers have just enter the work force. One of them will have an idea & the will and the gap will be filled. That’s the free market, let it work.

The key to success is serving one another, and doing it well.

The key to being a good customer, shop well, spend your money wisely, know who you’re doing business with and treat them with respect and appreciate what they do and have done for you.

Remember Capitalism is no more than “Thou Shall Not Steal.”

George Henry Nichols

September 2026