What is easy isn’t always what is right…
Scott McKain, an adviser to many on how to more effectively run a business, just did a great article on how NBC screwed up with this Leno at 10 problem.
What Scott doesn’t point out in his advice is that the change is not always necessary for the good of the company. In this case, Conan was getting his butt kicked by the more experienced (and more entertaining) Letterman.
Scott’s article is excellent. Jump over and read it. Here is some of his advice:
1) Don’t EVER make the assumption that ANY productive employee is ready to be put out to pasture. We work for many reasons, and only ONE of them is money. Zucker’s assumption that Leno was wealthy enough and would want to ride off in the sunset started the disastrous chain of events.
2) Sometimes we have to allow good colleagues to depart. If NBC would have just allowed Conan to move on, instead of trying to sacrifice its business plan to keep him, they would have been in much better shape.
3) We must look to make the decisions that are best for the long-term…what fixes a short-term challenge may create lasting problems. That’s what happened here.
2 Replies to “What is easy isn’t always what is right…”
I think it’s an age thing. Conan is way more hip and funny than grumpy old man / sexual harasser David Letterman. Conan is also the best interviewer of all the late night hosts with his quick wit and self-deprecating humor. Hopefully Conan will jump to Fox and keep his 11:30 timeslot. I was a big fan of Leno, but his 10:00 show seemed lazy and stale. I also love Craig Ferguson’s ad-libbed monologues. It takes a true talent to ad-hoc 10 minutes of funny every night. And Jimmy Fallon is very hip and fun to watch, especially if you want to know what’s hot with the young crowd these days, though sometimes it’s a bit too noisy and silly for me (guess I’m showing my age too). I don’t know anyone under 50 who prefers Letterman. But he fits right in with the 60 Minutes dinosaur crowd.
What a great article. Scott points out exactly what is wrong with the NBC way of thinking. Now, they certainly have one heck of a mess to fix.