Decentralized Objectives, Centralized Crown Jewels

“TCI was decentralized to the point that decisions were delegated to six different regions, each with their own accounting, engineering, and maintenance teams. Layered on the owned systems, we were operating systems through more than fifty partnerships, most of which were with the original operators we trusted to keep running more systems. If you buy a property and find a manager motivated by ownership in the company, keep them in power and trust them.”

“What we needed more than anything was to convince banks of our creditworthiness by delivering consistent financials. So JC and I began creating key targets based on the performance of our leanest and most profitable systems. After comparing results and noting basic measures such as cash flow, down to how many installers needed per mile, or marketing people per city, we set benchmarks for each new franchise we bought. JC was notoriously demanding. “If you’re off by even one percentage point, don’t even wonder—know you’ll be in my office to explain,” he told teams. He enforced the financial benchmarks with military precision, always setting a realistic but aggressive budget, then beating it. Poor performers were not tolerated.”