Society thinks of companies like movies: we want them to have a plot and a cast. But do a bold narrative and celebrity players make as much difference as we think? Or is the story in the executive suite a case of "a tale, Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing" in the despairing words of Macbeth?
One day I would love to conduct an experiment by replacing the entire board of directors of a major corporation with shop dummies and see how well things go. I'm confident most organisations would carry on regardless - and quite a few would unquestionably perform better. Out would go mad strategic initiatives, doomed takeovers, suicidal rebranding exercises and so forth. Responsible leaders on the ground would be able to get on with the job without distractions.
A retailer with which I'm involved appears to be testing this hypothesis by default. Over the recent holidays it shut its headquarters from December 23 to January 4 - almost two weeks. Meanwhile the stores had to open every single day except Christmas day. While the shops must open more days than ever, the centre feels able to take ever more time off. I think this policy must be driven to its ultimate conclusion, and the HQ shut down. An entrepreneur I know did that last year: forced to cut costs drastically, he simply closed the head office and ran the business from his car. And, guess what, he's still going strong.