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Tough Calls

Written by: Andy Marken

Article Overview: Book Review -- AT&T and The Hard Lessons Learned from the Telecom Wars – By Dick Martin; AMACOM, 1601 Broadway, NY, NY 10019, www.amacombooks.org; November, 2004; 304 pages, $24.95

Tough Calls

In today’s era of overly cautious brokers, analysts, accountants and PR people we want you to know that for a period of four years AT&T was a client – during and after acquisition of TCG which Mr. Martin discusses from a much different perspective than we had. Earlier TCG had acquired CERFnet, a client for ten years and one of the first of four legs of DARPAnet which later became the foundation of today’s Internet.

Our CERFnet and TCG management teams both said we were probably kept on because AT&T knew the Internet was the next big thing but could barely spell Internet, let alone publicize it or talk to the press about it.

Our second disclaimer is that when we told friends at the “new” AT&T we were reviewing a book on the tumultuous years asked us to forget the book and let the beast lie in peace. Sorry guys and gals.

This is an interesting and for the most part candid PR insider’s look at the multitude of mistakes and missteps that took a global business icon to its present position which some have described as … still a good name but so?

Our view of AT&T during those years was from the 2nd floor where the business work was done while Martin’s was on the 70th floor where the guiding thoughts and strategies were being made. In reading Tough Calls we recalled that during that period the floors in between didn’t seem to change.

It was interesting for the people in lean, hungry organizations like CERFnet and TCG/CERFnet to experience first-hand the operations of a huge corporation. Per merger project meetings were 2-3 people with the mandate to make it happen. Post merger project meetings often found the 2-3 individuals with 10-15 suits.

It seemed – and Martin’s book seems to validate -- that despite the efforts at the top, the workspaces on the floors below still seemed to focus on the 3-minute phone call. The myriad of other means of communications the company seemed to be intent on learning, capturing and leading had trouble gaining much traction or credibility within the organization.

As AT&T’s senior PR person, Martin had a seat at the table and had his say in the decisions. The book is an excellent documentary of the decisions and actions his team and he made as well as the company’s plans and actions he had to position and explain to the press. To his credit, he highlights a number of the PR team’s mistakes which can be important learning points for anyone in the field.

It is obvious that Martin respected the professionalism of Bob Allen, the then departing chairman/CEO of AT&T. We like most people in business, blinked and missed John Walter’s tenure at the company. Martin does an excellent job of helping the reader understand Mike Armstrong as well as what he did right and wrong. He gives you insights into the egos that have to exist – at a number of different levels – if an extremely large company is to move forward. He also opens the window to the behind the scenes moves and countermoves that were made not only inside the organization but also by outside influences.

In 300-plus pages, Martin does an outstanding job of giving the reader a combination MBA and doctorate of PR course in he importance of winning the perception wars. He also clearly outlines how organizations can avoid drinking to Kool-Aid by not reading their own PR but instead listening to their key constituents – employees/families, customers, investors and community leaders.

Fortunately for all of us, this is not a “tell all” book or one that lays the blame at everyone’s door but the authors. Of course neither of these types of books would have had much credibility because AT&T was – and to a degree continues to be – one of the most watched and scrutinized companies in the world. As a result, Tough Calls is an honest discussion of a wide range of corporate inflection points, key management decisions and unapologetic discussion of the reasons behind the decisions and subsequent actions/results.

In hindsight, all of us could have made better decisions and produced better results. Martin shows that these weren’t dumb or devious men and women bent on packing their own golden parachutes or taking down their competition at any cost.

Instead he gives you keen insight into how “Ma Bell” was struggling to survive and grow in a new competitive world. Transforming an organization of hundreds of thousands of people from a quiet benevolent monopoly into a tough competitor is difficult for any management team.

In every page Martin gives you the background of the plans, the inputs and thought processes behind the decisions, the actions as well as the results and an unvarnished analysis of what happens when you believe your own press – good and bad.

Unfortunately we never met Martin during the years we worked with the AT&T/TCG/CERFnet team – 70th floor, 2nd floor you understand – but we do thank him for his hard work and persistence in documenting and clearly explaining what happened during those tumultuous years. Hopefully, the management and PR teams of the rising Baby Bells will read Tough Calls because it would seem they are focusing on trying to capture the once lofty perception that AT&T once held as The Phone Company.

Reading Martin’s book may help them understand that they believe their own perception buzz at their own peril. The rest of us can only learn from the mistakes that the author so clearly presents and be slightly better prepared for competitive actions, swings of the economy and scrutiny by the media.

The easy way to win the perception wars is to learn from others’ mistakes and that makes Tough Calls a must-read!

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