Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

How Southwest People Communicate Their Ideas

Herb Kelleher was asked one time how people at Southwest Airlines (LUV) were able to communicate their ideas for improving the company. Kelleher responded with a two-fold answer, that's very instructive in itself.

First, he said concerning things like new routes and new cities, there was a "fairly well defined process" in place that was pretty well adhered to.

What I like about that is it cuts against the grain of those that promote chaos as if it's something that works well for a business. What Kelleher was saying, and all managers and executives need to know, is that there are foundational things within a company that need defined paramaters for people to work within. For Southwest, this was the major one.

Now on the other hand, Southwest had another rule for general ideas that their people. Anybody could at any time communicate an idea to whoever they wanted within the company. The other rule was that whoever was told the idea had to be receptive to it.

That didn't mean that every idea was approved of. It meant that they knew there were great ideas floating around there among their people. If they were picking and choosing which ones to listen to, they could definitely miss out on some potential great thoughts that their people had to offer.

Kelleher knew the vital importance of free-flowing information. It was a huge aid to combat bureaucracy and the tendency to hoard information by anybody in the company. When people know their ideas are being heard, and in many cases implemented, it even increases the flow of ideas more.

When this is done over a period of time, as Kelleher says, "This kind of environment creates a culture where people feel comfortable talking with anyone, sharing ideas or posing questions on a problem."

In the end, it's our people that really know what's happening in the workplace and how the problems can potentially be solved. To create the type of culture where ideas and information flows freely, will result in a company that is able to take full advantage of all that their people have to offer.

Other Herb Kelleher Sources:

Special Event

Leadership: The Essential Herb Kelleher

The CEO as Brand Guardian

Herb's way

Speeches and Presentations from Southwest Leaders

Southwest Airlines: The Hottest Thing in the Sky

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