Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick [Hardcover]

In his new book, Plain Talk, Iverson shows how he achieved his amazing success and offers constructive advice for managers and workers alike. Contrary to popular opinion, Iverson believes that the interests of workers and managers are-and should be-harmonious. Both are after their own ends. Both want to be successful. There is no reason, in Iverson's view, to drive an artificial wedge between the two. The main focus of Plain Talk is on maintaining and nurturing the virtue of productivity in all employees.

Unlike other books on business success, this one is free of jargon and quick-fix schemes. Moreover, the book's advice is well grounded in Iverson's spectacular successes at Nucor.

In the early 1980s, the American steel industry was in dire straits. As the number of steel workers plummeted from 400,000 to 200,000, some predicted the demise of the industry. But not Ken Iverson. While Nucor's production was down by nearly 50%, he did not lay-off his workers. Rather, he cut hours and salaries-for workers and managers, even including his own. Iverson explains that, "No employee was being asked to carry more than his or her share of the burden." Far from acting altruistically, his decisions were in the long-term interest of Nucor. As a rational manager, he knew that cutting back on his workforce without cutting back on management would have hampered his ability to pull the company out of its low period.

Indeed, according to Iverson, a major hindrance to productivity is bureaucratic, heavy-handed management. He decries the layers of management that burden most large American corporations. At Nucor, there are exactly four layers between sooty steel workers and suited upper management.

As a means of enhancing profits through productivity, Iverson places great emphasis in trusting his employees. He trusts them to accomplish their goals without undue interference from management. Just as the crowning principle of a proper legal system is "innocent until proven guilty," so Iverson grants his employees the benefit of the doubt, only taking action against them if they fail to live up to their end of the contract. Iverson counts on the rationality of those who work for him-in stark contrast to bureaucratic corporations in America today. Iverson's investment in trust pays dividends: high employee morale, productive excellence and consistent profits for Nucor.

Such is Iverson's approach leadership that Nucor has no union. No, he doesn't prevent employees from organizing-the employees don't want a union. Iverson explains that Nucor's culture of freedom and self-reliance has eliminated the threat of unionization.

"...our employees don't seem to like unions much. They generally see unions as outsiders trying to push their way in and take a slice of their pie. One day...a union organizer positioned himself outside our mill...to hand out pamphlets and talk to the workers.... A few workers stopped, though, to state that they didn't need any union's help. They strongly suggested that the organizer move on and find somebody who did...."

Although Iverson is a brilliant manager, he does himself an injustice when he hails the "egalitarian" culture at Nucor and condemns "hierarchy." One of the chapters is even titled "Destroy the Hierarchy." These are misleading terms in the context of the book because their actual meaning is not what Iverson intends: his actions and success belie his explicit statement. No egalitarian could have achieved what Iverson has, because egalitarianism-the doctrine that all men should be existentially equal-implies that the most industrious be treated no differently-receive no more reward-than the lazy and feckless. Egalitarianism is the perversion of justice. In reality, no one is equal because everyone has different levels of ability and motivation. Moreover, this fact implies that a hierarchy of ability-in business as elsewhere-is a natural consequence of differing aptitudes and desires. What Iverson means-and has put into action-is that: each should get what he rightly deserves. This equivocation somewhat mars the book.

Plain Talk is a wonderful portrait of a titan of industry at work. It is a pleasure to encounter so many rational values applied to a major corporation in one book. This alone pales whatever minor flaw one may find in it. If you are looking for a business hero, you will find him in Ken Iverson.