The Next First (and Only) 100 Days
Posted by Robert Hargrove
I saw an interesting column in the New York Times by Tom Friedman, “The Next First (and Only) 100 Days.” Says Friedman, “Since F.D.R., we’ve measured presidents by their “first 100 days.” But now it’s really “the only 100 days.” That is to say, a President has about 100 days to prescribe their transformational agenda and get it passed year one.
After that, partisanship (members of Congress who I will call the “No Nos”) begins to block any forward movement and before long, we’re into the midterm elections. If the President’s party loses (which is often the case), they take their eye off the ball and begin to focus on winning the next Presidential election.
This not only creates a dysfunctional government here at home, as we have seen on issues like the national debt and job creation, but puts the USA at a disadvantage globally. Says Friedman, China has five-year plan. We have 100 day plan, once every four years.
It’s obvious that President Obama (or whoever wins the 2012 election) needs to be part of the solution to this malaise, not part of the problem. This could start with the President declaring an Impossible Future (for example, full employment) that is big enough that both parties can subordinate their egos. The next step would be for both parties to learn to work more collaboratively with each other. It just won’t work anymore for a President to say, ‘We won the election. Now you listen to me.”
By the way, it dawns on me that the same logic applies to many CEOs and business executives. Their first 100 days may be their only 100 days. It’s this period of time that Wall Street, the board and others extend the new CEO or enterprise leader a honeymoon period that carries with it tacit permission to lay out their transformational agenda. Even if some board members disagree with the new CEO’s initiatives, others will come to their defense and say: ”Isn’t this exactly why we hired this guy?”
Yet I have seen over and over again that as soon as a CEO or top executive reaches the first 100 day mark, heading into the first year the opposition often begins to form. The goodwill that was previously extended can quickly turn into back stabbing, and forward progress on the CEO’s transformational agenda can come to a crashing halt. It doesn’t have to be that way and there are antidotes for this, but it often does.
The moral of the story? Think big and act bold in your first 100 days, it may be your only opportunity to do so.