Delegate Everything Except the Bet-the-Company Call

“Kaiser budgeted his time well. On rare occasions, when personally fascinated with a project such as automobile design, he immersed himself in details for extended periods. But after his organization expanded into a dozen industries, he resisted prolonged involvement in most projects until important commitments had to be made. He effectively delegated authority. When setting up Permanente Metals late in 1941, Kaiser approved several personnel assignments and then concluded in a memo to Gene Trefethen, “The purpose of this memorandum is to establish clearly the responsibilities of everyone, due to the fact that the allocation of my time is such that I do not believe it will be possible for me to follow the work oudined in any other way but through you.” 11 His meaning was clear: run it yourself; consult me only when absolutely necessary.”

“Kaiser left the creation of Kaiser Industries in the hands of financial advisors and highly capable administrators. As an entrepreneur and “business thinker,” Kaiser was essentially an old-school, “seat-of-his-pants” operator. He lived in the realm of big ideas and long-range future possibilities. He was very gifted at delegating authority to subordinates; “detail work” in Kaiser’s companies usually represented significant challenges for even the most gifted individuals.”