Free Advice for Sam Zell

Implications: Individual ideas from employees may help Tribune innovate in new and interesting ways.  But Sam Zell still needs to define a vision of what the company is -- and what it can be.

Analysis: Having spent weeks convincing his 19,000 Tribune employees that they are uncreative, oversensitive and bureaucratically stymied, Sam Zell is now trying a different approach: He’s ordering every Tribune employee to get creative in the kind of new, different and breathtaking ways that can actually save the company.

Ideas will be put into a massive, interactive suggestion box and ranked and refined by the Tribune employees themselves.  No doubt many managers will try and dust off old, silo-based ideas and try to get their staffs to give enthusiastic "thumbs-ups" to the ideas that benefit their groups.

I can't help thinking that these beaten-down employees need to be inspired (or at least directed) by some kind of vision that reaffirms why they should continue to put their hearts and souls into the company.  I don’t have access to the suggestion box myself, so I’ll post my ideas here instead:

1.  Define the corporate mission.  For example:

Tribune’s goal is to be the best (bleeping) media company in the world, as defined by content, innovation and business performance.

2. Reaffirm the mission of Tribune’s newspapers.  For example:

The goal of every Tribune newspaper is to be the essential source of news and information for the audience it serves, understanding and “owning” the stories that matter most to its readers, delivering the content when and where it is wanted – and continually reaffirming its importance within the business and cultural life of its geographic community.

3. Integrate and innovate for readers and advertisers.  For example:

The goal of every Tribune brand is to integrate its content into the fabric of its customers’ lives.  This means: a) delivering content across all relevant media platforms; b) adapting as necessary for different audience segments; c) engaging consumers in a two-way dialogue that allows divergent views to be represented; d) creating a bond that has unrivaled value for consumers and advertisers alike.

OK, Sam, I know none of this is earth-shattering advice.  But it’s not only free, it’s fundamental.  And it needs to be repeated often, with or without profanity.