Orange County Choppers, the business starring in the hit show American Chopper, announced that they will be vacating their huge building that was built during the peak of the economy due to foreclosure. Why would a business that has had tremendous growth over the last ten years be facing foreclosure and have to vacate their manufacturing facility?
The faithful fans of the series know that Paul Jr. has had difficulties with his father in the past; so much so that it forced Paul Jr. into starting his own business and telling his father to take a long walk off a short pier. What did this mean for OCC? It meant that they pushed out their visionary chopper builder Paul Jr. because Paul Sr. believed that he made the business successful and Jr. was just a slacker, but what Sr. didn’t realize was that Jr. was the one that was able to create new and exciting designs that Sr. could only dream of.
According to Dictionary.com (2011), innovation is defined as something newly introduced, such as a new method or device. Jr. was the individual that brought innovation to OCC and brought exciting new designs to fruition. In the absence of Jr., the OCC team has been designing lackluster designs due to the inability to truly innovate. It proves that even if a company has a huge manufacturing facility, CNC machines, water jet, and all of the tools required to create cool innovative parts, it won’t amount to anything without a leader with vision.
Ego can cloud anyone’s vision for reality. When you are on top, it seems as if it will last forever and you can simply coast through the rest of life with no real need to push and drive yourself to new innovative ideas. The companies that succeed are constantly reinventing themselves to create something bigger, faster, and better. OCC will need to search for some new talent that is hungry for success, and can bring some new ideas to the table. It seems like everything that can be done in the motorcycle industry has already been done and it will require some inspiration to make it happen.
Say what you will about Jr.’s work ethic, yes he may be a slacker; he may come up missing in the middle of the day; he may give the impression that he doesn’t care; but at the end of the day he is the one that brings the killer ideas to the table. Does it matter? No, not when the bikes are coming out awesome and they get done on time, everybody’s creative process is different.
How do you groom a successor when you are an ego maniac and you think you know everything and your kin knows nothing? Everyone wants to retire someday right? Would it make sense to pass along the business to the 2nd generation that knows how the business functions?
Here is my question to you…
Do you personally know of any businesses initially ran by ego maniacs that has had a successful transition to the 2nd generation?
Thanks for visiting my blog! Your comments are encouraged! When you get a chance, stop by my website and check out the innovative parts created by American companies in the USA for your Harley Davidson motorcycle.
Thanks,
Larry
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