Friday, August 25, 2000
Analysts see embarrassment of Riches
'Survivor' winner has counterparts in business world
By John Eckberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Richard “The Snake” Hatch, a corporate trainer who won $1 million on Survivor, may be the creature of a profit-driven culture; but Tristate consultants here see no executive role model.
Hatch
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The day after Mr. Hatch outwitted, outplotted, out-itched and outlasted 15 other contestants on a tropical island, local advisers who coach executives skewered his win-at-all-costs strategy.
But they also admitted that there are probably a lot of Riches in this world.
“This morning we had an informal discussion among eight in the company kitchen,” said Brenda Gumbs, vice president of human resources and organizational effectiveness at Pope and Associates, a management consulting firm based in Springdale that has worked for about 250 of the companies on the Fortune 500 list.
“To a person, we wanted to deny that there could possibility be any connection at all between Rich and business life. Deny as we may, we had to admit that there are people in business who succeed that way.”
And they prosper at companies large and small — from multinational titans to mom-and-pop firms on Main Street, USA.
“We don't want to believe that you win through manipulation and with unholy alliances, but some people do win success that way,” Ms. Gumbs said. “But at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, "Is that what you stand for?'”
Ellen Frankenberg, who has a doctorate in family psychology and is owner of Frankenberg Consulting, doubted if the show seen by an estimated 51 million would change the flavor of America's workplaces.
“It is not a true metaphor for business,” she said. “How many executives do you know who can sit in a hammock all day like Rich and think about interpersonal interactions and strategize?”
The show, taped during 39 days last spring, nationally averaged a 28.2 household rating, or 28.43 million households. (CBS researchers say that translates into 51 million people.) TV's highest-rated program remains the 1983 M*A*S*H finale, which drew a 60.2 rating, or 50.15 million homes.
In the Tristate, Survivor averaged a 40.4 rating, or 323,200 households, second only to Norfolk, Va., (40.7) among all U.S. cities.
Survivor first pitted teams of contestants against one another with a participant eliminated each week. Its contestants were more interested in back-stabbing than backslapping — more inclined to scheme than offer support.
“I thought (Richard) was evil personified,” said Paul Coulter, owner of Coulter Enterprises, a personal coaching and consulting company based in Erlanger, who has advised 81 companies over the past two decades.
“He had no sense of spirit or connectedness. He took care of himself — what a sad strategy. I was shocked the guy won.”
Kelly Wiglesworth, a bikini-clad and insect-bitten river guide who relaxed with yoga, came in second.
She would make a better employee and corporate leader than Rich, said Mr. Coulter, who has coached about 300 managers in the past two decades.
“I'd much rather have somebody around like her,” he said.
“She is an achiever who had some sense of introspection. She looked at the process and saw how the changes affected other people.”
Robert Parsanko, founder of Executive Insights, a Cincinnati firm that provides coaching and advice to chief executives and management teams globally, said the show had little in common with business organizations he knew.
“The objective of any organization is to bring together people for a shared common cause,” Mr. Parsanko said. “Putting these people on a island did not constitute a true organization.
“It was a collection of individuals in a cutthroat environment. Can this happen in real organization? Sadly, yes. But it doesn't last for long. Like on the show, people go away disillusioned.”
Sean McCosh, 27, brand manager at Eureka Trailblazer Training at Eureka Ranch in Newtown, doubted than any company would excel if it focused only on profit.
“Something I did see with Survivor was deception and lying,” Mr. McCosh said. “You can't do that in the marketplace. You lie to your customers, and they'll find out.
“Maybe it's not at the end of the day. Maybe it's the end of the year. But customers will find out the truth. They always find out at the end.”
Enquirer TV critic John Kiesewetter contributed.
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