Fast Company #3  The Empire Strikes Back

Will R. Yliniemi Fast Company Article

The Empire Strikes Back by Paul Roberts, February/March 1999

Summary

Oakley Incorporated is a company that specializes in making sunglasses and sneakers for the High-End market. Oakley has succeeded by ignoring everyone elses rules and by inventing its own rules and sticking to them.

Rule 1  It has to be Beautiful  This reflects Oakleys philosophy that design-is-everything. The mentality is to push the envelope and to come up with the best sunglasses on the planet. The design area in the company is cluttered with objects that supposedly will stimulate or inspire Oakleys employees in design.

Rule 2  Do Everything Yourself  Oakley controls every aspect of its operation (design, engineering, manufacture, and shipping).

Rule 3  Challenge Every Norm If youre doing something a certain way because its always been done that way, then you are probably doing it wrong.

Oakley Inc. prides itself in having a fortress mentality  what we make is gold, and people will do anything to get it, so we protect it. Their 40 million-dollar facility looks like a bomb shelter, like something out of Star Wars. Its annual report reads like The Art of War, while their business displays as much attitude as it does acumen.

Reflection

Though the business concepts employed by Oakley Incorporated make some sense, I was totally turned off by the companys image and exaggerated self indulgent attitude about its facilities, products and contribution to product development methodology.

Its products; high-end sunglasses and sneakers appeal to an upscale market that purchases on the basis of being Chic. The companys facilities demonstrate a level of Yuppie psychotic neurosis. Yes, I believe that work should be a fun and creative place. But, please spare me the insane notion that Oakleys facilities (with menacing castlelike walls, water tight doors, towering metallic walls, studded oversize bolts, B-52 ejection seats & a torpedo in the waiting area, and an Oh Shit Gong) are an integral necessity in producing and marketing a quality product. I was left with the impression that all these unusual quirks represent a contorted immature video game mentality that has little to do with business, and much to do with personal imagery and recreation.

The only concept related in this article of the company that has any relevance to my work in Extension, was the Rule about Challenging Every Norm. This is an idea that can stimulate change in organizations, individuals, and is and can be useful to the Extension Service.

Discussion

In sharing this article with a colleague, they indicated that they would like to work in such a place, but agreed that the image had little to do with quality. The flush U.S. economy and its excesses in product demand drive this company and its clientele.

-- Anonymous, March 16, 1999

Answers

Thanks for your comments. It appears as if this organization was interested first in creating an image for its employees that would make them interested in working for them. This image is passed on to the customer as a marketing strategy. It does work effectively for them, but may as you said, be a result of the strong economy.

Watch your word selection (ie. "Its" instead of "It's". Remember that "It's" means "It is".

-- Anonymous, May 23, 1999