Bah Humbug! 4 Business Lessons from Ebenezer Scrooge
Everyone knows the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, the famous character in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, who defined stingy and had the coldest of hearts. This classic holiday tale is not only entertaining, but it is a parable that can teach us quite a bit about ourselves and how we conduct our personal and professional lives.
Here are 4 business lessons we can all learn from Ebenezer Scrooge:
1. Strive to be successful. I’m not praising how he earned his money or his attitude toward it, but you can’t deny Scrooge’s tenacious drive towards revenue and ROI. He and his now-deceased partner, Jacob Marley, built a successful business which Scrooge continued after Marley’s death. He was shrewd with both his money and his time, unwilling to give either to the townspeople when it didn’t serve him.
Most organizations have to make money in order to stay in business. Make sure your bottom line is healthy before investing in too many other things. Don’t be afraid to question whether or not it’s worth doing something if it doesn’t contribute to how you earn your revenue. Think of what Scrooge would be like in the sequel (had there been one): he’s had a change of heart, but he didn’t lose his business sense. I believe he’d still make money, but while being a better boss, citizen, and philanthropist.
2. Treat your employees fairly. Scrooge’s sole employee, Bob Cratchit, would like to spend Christmas with his family. While Scrooge does acquiesce, he still admonishes Cratchit’s desire as seemingly frivolous and demands that he come to work early the next morning to make up for the day off. Of course Cratchit should keep up with his work and be willing to make sacrifices when facing a deadline. However, we get the sense that this is an everyday attitude with Scrooge, who is relentless in wanting and expecting more from poor ol’ Bob.
Can you imagine trying to pitch old Ebenezer a plan to create better work/life balance? He not only kept poor Bob Cratchit from his family, but he even ignored his own nephew’s invitations to Christmas dinner. Yes, it’s important to stay productive and focused in order to get work done, but you can only push so hard for so long. A colleague of mine was fond of saying “No one ever wished they’d worked more on their deathbed.” He wanted me to do a good job, but also realized that there was more to life than a constant focus on work.
We don’t know what other opportunities for employment were available in this town, but I would expect that a good employee would not tolerate Scrooge’s management style for long and would leave if given the chance. This is still very true today.
3. Delight your customers. As mentioned above, Scrooge was stingy with his time and resources and gave little of either to others. His was the only game in town, and therefore his customers were at his mercy.
Is your business is profitable because you’re miserly and tight with a buck (e.g., offer smaller portions, fewer benefits, limited availability), or because you delight your customers and keep them coming back? Some companies make no bones about their no-frills business model – by offering fewer bells and whistles, they’re able to keep costs low for you. That’s fine if that’s established and apparent. If you’re cheap, they’ll continue to buy from you until they can find it cheaper. But if you focus on serving customers’ needs with the best products and services at a good price and with a good attitude, they’ll reward you with their loyalty.
4. It’s never too late to change. If there’s one takeaway from the tale, this is it. After visits from the ghosts of Jacob Marley and Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come, Scrooge changes his ways and presumably avoids the hellish fate that he was headed toward.
Whether from a 360-degree assessment, a life-changing moment (such as ghosts and spirits visiting you in the night!), or the simple realization that there’s a better way, then don’t be afraid to stop behaving badly or making poor decisions and turn things around. Old habits can be hard to break, but with the right effort and attitude, change can be invigorating.
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