FIXING THE SYSTEM Abrams’ curiosity and determination have biological roots. Born in San Francisco and raised mostly in California, he had an academic upbringing but never completed college himself. His father, Herb, was a pioneering radiologist who later co-founded International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize). They’re very close, Abrams says, and his father “has never wavered in his firm belief that if you work hard enough at changing the world, the world will surely change.”
The relative who had an even greater impact on Abrams’ career was his paternal grandfather. In The Company We Keep, he writes about the hardware and machinery business that Morris Abrams established in New York City in 1922. It thrived for decades, and a highlight of young Abrams’ trips east was wandering “through the maze of storerooms that felt like caves filled with treasure.” But its fortunes declined in the 1950s as key people left and started their own companies. Morris Abrams Inc. was sold several times, and the final owner even sold the name before going bankrupt.
“The loss of good people, and the business that left with them, took its toll,” Abrams writes. “I have come … to think that small businesses like my grandfather’s do not have to die this kind of death.” While recognizing that not every company can become a permanent institution, the demise of his grandfather’s business made Abrams “look at what was wrong with the system and figure out how to fix it,” he says today. “You need to empower others, thereby inviting them to stay.”
The employee-ownership model has been a work in progress for South Mountain Co. (Abrams explains the particulars in great detail in his book as well as on www.somoco.com.) Nothing is static, and the company as a whole seems to thrive on constantly evaluating better ways of doing things. “The danger is if you stop asking questions,” says owner Peg MacKenzie, who started as a carpenter 20 years ago and now runs a number of office systems and also manages the personnel committee.
For instance, recognizing that skills sharpen, interests develop, and bodies age, Abrams and his fellow owners encourage one another to pursue interests that could benefit them and the company alike. Nobody is forever pigeonholed as a job function. Owner Phil Forest is a prodigiously gifted carpenter who had long been interested in energy efficiency. He spearheaded and now runs the company’s renewable energy division, which performs home energy audits that often lead to significant contracts to design and implement improvements. “John recognized that it’s something I really wanted to do, and he provided me with the opportunity to do it,” Forest says.
Owner Deirdre Bohan came on board in 1995 as bookkeeper and quickly made it a half-time job. Abrams asked her what she really wanted to do, and she said she liked interior design. For the next two years, she spent the other 20 hours a week going to school and creating what is now a thriving interiors division that, she explains, “helps assure that our projects’ furnishings and architecture will be complementary and harmonious.”
It’s worth pointing out that nobody gets a blank check for such pursuits. Ireton says that Abrams “also thinks about business as a craft. He respects the business side and devotes himself to being good at it.” Bohan remembers a “somewhat rigorous” process that required a detailed business plan and the clear demonstration that she could execute it. Forest created a plan that explored objectives, feasibility, financial expectations, and more for renewable products. Clients were asked of their interest in such a service; committed to the company’s success, they weighed in with valuable input.
If that comfort with flexibility and individual initiative is more than some business owners have or even want to have, then Abrams suggests that they reconsider how they think of their business. “If you think of it as your individual path to wealth, and others are there to serve your needs, there will be consequences, in terms of commitment and levels of responsibility,” he says. “If you think of a business as a community of collaborators, all of whom are contributing to the best of their ability, then you can do a lot more for those people and the community that you’re a part of.”
You might even build a business that outlives you. “Here’s what I see builders thinking about when they’re my age,” Abrams says. “You put 30 years of your life into building these things that you love, put your heart and soul into it, and what do you do with it?” Your kids may not want it, and chances are nobody wants to buy it from you. “You don’t want to just close the doors.
“I suppose the best advice I can offer is to trust others. It can be difficult and frightening to let go, but the rewards are always greater than the risks.” The greatest reward, he says, “is seeing that sometimes, when people do things their way, it turns out to be a better way, which is good for me, good for them, and, most importantly, good for the company.”
Web extra: John Abrams, In His Own Words