Michael Unplugged- Introduction to my upcoming second publication GET IT DONE- YOUR OPERATIONS STRATEGY PLAYBOOK

 

Can you unplug? Stay calm when the other shoe drops unexpectedly? In Operations shit can happen daily, so how do you function? What do you need to know to be effective? This is the mission of my upcoming second publication, Get It Done--Your Operations Strategy Playbook.

My publications change higher ed learning--it is immersion, thinking not reading, learning by doing, totally interactive.

Just as my first publication "The Way of the Unicorn," Get It Done focuses on the knowledge students need to retaiin from the course to take with them into their careers to understand how to Get It Done--the mission of Operations Strategy.

How is this accomplished? Using a totally interactive format that is published and supported by Great River Learning.

I bellieve this is a new paradigm for learning that resonates with today's students (reaction based on surveys has been overwhelmingly positive) since their lives are totally focused online and they don't have the will and the attention span to plod through "scholarly" texts.

Simple. You can assign them, but most students won't read them.  Even if they do, they won't distill the lessons they should learn. This is what I realized about my students at NYU, so I started to pull together my own lessons using the vast resources of the Internet blended with my own global business experience of half a century.

The publication will be released in May for my use in Summer 2025. You can preview the paradigm and some of the ongoing lessons by getting access to my first and ongoing publication, "The Way of the Unicorn."

A recent trip to Japan with my wife and soulmate Lotus inspired me to frame the spirit of the publication with the following Introduction:

Michael Unplugged

Will you be able to do it?

Welcome and introduction to

Get It Done: Your Operations Strategy Playbook

Michael Serwetz 2025

   

Do you feel me? Are you sharing my mood? Good! Read on and see what this publication and The Way of the Unicorn is about.

In the Operations business, the other shoe drops every day.

Those of us who have been around the Operations block a few times learn (or should learn) to expect the unexpected: Shipment is rejected for quality and delivery is tomorrow,  factory is late for a variety of possible reasons or excuses, customer wants to add on to or subtract from their order with ridiculously short notice, lab rejects fabric for miniscule amount over tolerance, etc. I could go on, but you get the point.

Don’t get me wrong—some of the above is all too familiar. The questions for Operations Management are:

1. How do you minimize the occurrence of problems that become obstacles to fulfilling the order on time, with quality, delighting  your customer? (and making some money in the process)

2. How do you react when they do happen?

The answer to both questions is why I wrote this publication: a set of principles and practices—a playbook—that guides your approach to the business of Operations, produces the best possible result as much of the time as possible and gives you a comfort level to solve problems when they inevitably occur—The Way of the Unicorn.

As the title says, as an Operations Manager, VP, etc. your job is to Get It Done. After it is sold, put up for sale, or designed, the rest of the company depends on you to finish the job.

Like a baseball player or golfer, when it is just you and the ball, and it is the bottom of the ninth inning or the eighteenth hole, you have to find the resources within and without to produce an excellent result (which in the Way of the Unicorn is Customer Delight); some of it comes from the Zen within and the rest comes from muscle memory.

So here comes the Unplugged part.

If you are wrapped up and plugged in too tight, you will not be effective when that moment comes. The effectiveness comes from a combination of 1. Finding the calmness and focus within and 2. Leaving the rest to muscle memory.

(The brain is a muscle, right?)

Technically, no. According to Johns Hopkins:

“Weighing about 3 pounds in the average adult, the brain is about 60% fat. The remaining 40% is a combination of water, protein, carbohydrates and salts. The brain itself is a not a muscle. It contains blood vessels and nerves, including neurons and glial cells.” 

That said, if it isn’t a muscle, it certainly controls muscle function. As novelist Stephen King said, “The brain is a muscle that can move the world”.  As the speech by Jesper Petersen, Danish minister, points out, in diseases like ALS we see the relationship of the brain to muscle control. 

So, in answer to the two questions posed above, you can see that the state of your brain and how it is trained has everything to do with how you react when shit happens.

Here’s the connection to Operations, if you haven’t seen it already. IF you are wrapped up too tight and playing fire chief, you will not think about how to approach improving the functionality of your department and finding the Efficient Frontier (explained in Chapter 3) but spend your time fighting for control of daily fires.

But IF your daily work is guided by the principles and practices laid out in this publication, you will remain unplugged and calm because you trust your ability to build a super organization and to have a winning reaction to shit happening, maybe every day, due to what you learned becoming an Operations Unicorn.

Truth: I was not always a Unicorn; I learned from failure as much as success. I built the lessons in this publication over many years in Operations and Sourcing, the Good, Bad and WTF. Nor did I acquire what is laid out in this publication in an academic environment. I got it from thousands of hours on planes and in factories around the globe, the lessons of which are built in to the publication.

If you learn and follow the playbook, staying true to its principles and relying on your own ability, you will also be able to unplug when you are not at work or on vacation; if not, you may never leave the office.

As I finish this publication, I am totally unplugged and in the ancient city of Kyoto, Japan. The Japanese culture embodies the lessons of thousands of years that is also relevant to Operations: Humility, Quality, and an obsessive quest for perfection. 

Take a look at the attached pictures ; in this serene environment, it is easy to unplug. Do you think if you were in my shoes, you could be unplugged? Could you learn, retain and apply the lessons within this publication? If you can do, I believe, given no other issues, Unicornness will direct you, and you will be able to calmly direct your team and partners to success.

This is my intended result, after you read and absorb Get It Done: Your Playbook for Operations Strategy. Oh, and also to enjoy the ride; this is not a “textbook,” it is me coaching you each step of the way in this Playbook.

Send me some emails from the playing field and let me know what happens.

(Note: If you wish to preview The Way of the Unicorn or Get It Done when it is released, send me an email at sourcerer1@me.com and I will arrange it with GRL)

Now take a look at these pics of me in Kyoto- unplugged:

Calm yet?

Macy's-The Asteroid that Killed Retail- REPOST 2025 The sign says, "Coming sooner than you think"

Not too long ago, I wrote The Evolution Solution, which explained the rise of Amazon and the Category Killers according to Darwin’s Theory of Survival of the Fittest. 

The evolution of all events on Earth is part and parcel of natural history, therefore is subject to the same rules and principles. This includes the evolution of retail business in US and globally.

66 million years ago, a huge asteroid hit earth, forming the Chicxulub Crater in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The effects of this cataclysmic event resulted in the death of 75% of the plant and animal species on earth- including dinosaurs and creatures who had existed for something like 165 million years previous. The balance 25% were those who were able or enabled to survive and grow after the event.

Fast Forward to December 19, 1994. Federated Department Stores “bought” Macy’s (but yet it was Macy’s management that ran the show and still is). Eleven years later, in 2005, Fedmacys bought May Company Stores, completing the hat trick the same year with the purchase of Broadway Stores. By March 2005, All units were converted to Macy’s stores. The other names, their histories, and maybe their loyal followings, were dead.

Look at the list of those stores sanitized to be Macy’s (Wikipedia, The Dead Department Stores–you can see the rest of the names in the graveyard here:

·      Abraham & Straus (Macy's in 1995)

·      D. M. Read Macy's In 1990

·      Ames (Eastpoint)

·      Bamberger's (Macy's in 1986)

·      The Bon Marché (Macy's in 2005)

·      C.C. Anderson's Golden Rule (The Bon Marché in 1923)

·      The Paris (The Bon Marché in the early 1980s)

·      Barnes-Woodin Co. (Yakima, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1952)

·      Columbia River Mercantile

·      A. M. Jensen's (Walla Walla, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1951)

·      Missoula Mercantile Co. (Missoula, Montana, The Bon Marché in 1981)

·      Montague-McHugh (Bellingham, Washington, The Bon Marché in the 1950s)

·      Runbaugh-Mclain (Everett, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1952)

·      Stone-Fisher Co. (Tacoma, Washington, The Bon Marché in 1952)

·      Russell's (The Bon Marché after World War II)

·      Bullock's (Macy's in 1996)

·      Bullocks Wilshire

·      Burdines (Macy's in 2005)

·      Maas Brothers

·      Carter Hawley Hale Stores (merged into Macy's West 1996)

·      The Broadway (Southern California). Headquartered in Los Angeles.

·      Emporium-Capwell (Northern California)

·      Capwell's (East Bay)

·      The Emporium (San Francisco and South Bay, North Bay)

·      Hale Bros. (San Francisco and Sacramento)

·      Weinstock's (Sacramento and Reno)

·      Davison's (Macy's in 1986)

·      The F & R Lazarus and Co. (Macy's in 2005)

·      Shillito's

·      Rike Kumler Co. (Rike's)

·      William H. Block Co. (Blocks)

·      Joseph Horne Co. (Horne's)

·      Herpolsheimer's

·      Famous-Barr (Macy's in 2006)

·      William Barr Dry Goods Co.

·      The Famous Clothing Store

·      Filene's (Macy's in 2006)

·      Filene's Basement (separated from Filene's in 1988, closed in 2011)

·      G. Fox & Co.

·      B. Peck & Co. (sold to Gamble-Skogmo, Inc.)^[1]

·      Steiger's

·      Foley's (Macy's in 2006)

·      May-Daniels & Fisher

·      Daniels & Fisher

·      May Company Denver

·      The Denver Dry Goods Company

·      Z.L. White

·      Sanger-Harris

·      A. Harris

·      Sanger Brothers

·      Gold Circle (discount store chain) Founded in 1967 by Federated; merged into Richway in 1988 and later dismantled during 1990 bankruptcy

·      Gold Triangle (discount store chain for electronics, appliances, home building supply, sporting goods, photography, housewares) Founded in 1970 - closed in 1981, 6 Florida locations - 3 Miami, Plantation, Tampa and Orlando.

·      Goldwater's

·      Goldsmith's Merged into Rich's in mid-1980s. (Macy's in 2005)

·      Hecht's (Macy's in 2006)

·      Castner Knott (Hecht's in 1998)

·      Miller & Rhoads (Hecht's in 1990)

·      Strawbridge's (Macy's in 2006)

·      Thalhimers (Hecht's in 1990)

·      Woodward & Lothrop

·      I. Magnin, owned by Federated 1965-1988 and R.H. Macy Co. 1988-1994; most stores closed 1988-1993, remainder of stores converted to Macy's West and Bullock's or sold to Saks Fifth Avenue. Union Square, San Francisco location eventually incorporated into adjacent Macy's.

·      John Wanamaker or Wanamaker's (Philadelphia and New York City flagship stores), sold to Carter Hawley Hale in 1979, then Washington DC-based Woodward & Lothrop owned by Alfred Taubman; sold to May Company in 1995; merged with Federated Department Stores in 2005 (now known as Macy's, Inc.)

·      The Jones Store (Macy's in 2006)

·      Jordan Marsh (Macy's in 1996)

·      Kaufmann's (Offices merged with Filene's in 2002, Macy's in 2006)

·      May Company Ohio

·      O'Neil's (department store)

·      Stark Dry Goods - Canton (department store)

·      Sibley's

·      William Hengerer Co.

·      Strouss-Hirshberg

·      L.S. Ayres (Macy's in 2006)

·      Stewart's

·      H. & S. Pogue Company

·      Wolf and Dessauer

·      Liberty House (Macy's in 2001)

·      Marshall Field's (Macy's in 2006)

·      Dayton's (Marshall Field's in 2001)

·      Frederick & Nelson (defunct in 1992)

·      The Crescent (department store) (defunct in 1992)

·      Lipman's

·      Halle Brothers Co.

·      Hudson's (Marshall Field's in 2001)

·      J.B. Ivey & Co.

·      Meier & Frank (Macy's in 2006)

·      Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution (Meier & Frank in 2001)

·      O'Connor Moffat & Co., purchased by R.H. Macy in 1945, renamed Macy's in 1947. Their Union Square, San Francisco location is Macy's flagship West Coast store and headquarters of Macy's West.

·      Rich's (Macy's in 2005)

·      Robinsons-May (Macy's in 2006)

·      May Company California (Robinsons-May in 1993)

·      Hamburger's

·      J. W. Robinson's (Robinsons-May in 1993)

·      Steiger's (May in 1994)

·      Stern's (Macy's in 2001)

·      Gertz

The list above comprises 85 distinguished, in some cases legendary, units that became extinct by 2005. Just like the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Only this time the asteroid, the destructive force for those store units and their customers, was Macy’s/Federated. Also like the dinosaurs, maybe more than 100 years, wiped out.

Do you remember these stores? Maybe your mother or grandmother took you there as a child? Did you go there to see Santa? These stores were more than just memories; like Bailey Savings and Loan in It’s a Wonderful Life, they were neighborhood institutions with loyal followings.

I know. I worked as a buyer at Abraham & Straus before this merger. A&S, as it was known by its customers, was the leading unit of Federated, competing (favorably) with Macy’s for the attention of the New York City area shopper. A&S was moderate priced, though not immune to sales, which people took seriously because they WERE serious-not marketing BS.

There were many local units in the NYC area at the time- There were the “carriage trade” department stores- Saks, Lord& Taylor, Martin’s, Gertz(look at them now-two gone and two a shell of what they were), then the Moderate-Macy’s, A&S, Stern’s, Bamberger’s. Below them were the discounters-EJ Korvette, Mays.And the few who stood alone as the fashion arbiters-Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s (which latter is the only Federated unit not renamed Macy’s- though you wouldn’t recognize it if you saw it then). Each had its disntinctive niche and its loyal following.

Now we have Macy’s- trying to be all things to all people. Which never works. So then we have the 25% survivors-those velociraptors who saw the opportunities to feast on the suddenly open environment. Is it any coincidence that Amazon also began in 1994?

And what about the loyal customers in EVERY major city and region in the US? What were they left with? Those stores which had been a part of their lives-gone. Replaced by-who? Macy’s. Famous for the Miracle on 34^thStreet, but not about catering to customers in Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco, Akron, etc. Did Macy’s distinguish itself with superior merchandise to what had been there before? Not in my opinion. 

And when it came to the sales and promotions that brought people in passionate droves, did Macy’s do a better job than the dead souls that had been there before? Not in my opinion. Macy’s quickly trained the customers with predictable behavior what and when to buy.

What was gained and what was lost in this transition from distinguished regional and local department stores?

Gained- NOTHING. Only the arrogant satisfaction of Macy’s management knowing their previously local name had been proliferated nationwide. The merchandise was not better; the prices were not better; the service was not better.

Lost- 

For the Customers: A comfortable, trusted shopping place where their momma took them and where they take their kids; 

For the Retail Business- Instead of a dynamic local or regional retail department store environment, the entire nation is sanitized to one store, one name. Maybe, in some regions, one that they don’t know or trust.

Imagine if Baskin-Robbins (and every ice cream shop nationwide), eliminated all flavors but one-vanilla. What would be the fate of their business? People would learn to eat somewhere else.

Somewhere else- Amazon, Zara, H&M, Uniqlo. The Category Killers are the velociraptors who were invitedby this arrogant marketing move to build a customer base. For parents, there was no comfortable destination; for their children, left as orphans of a bygone era, left to make their own friends.

The result is clear and obvious- the demise not only of the regional department store, but of the department store in general as a shopping destination. Don’t underestimate the role that this played in today’s retail “apocalypse.”

What could Macy’s have done differently? Leave it alone. Buy it, and see the wisdom to keep the regional and local customer base coming. Many areas-merchandising, sourcing, logistics, etc. and economies of scale could be applied in a group situation. Without burying the locals.

I believe now you can see how the Macy/Federated buyout was akin to the asteroid hitting earth 66 million years ago; its destructive force wiped out life as it was before, and impoverished a rich department store culture.

Also, I hope you can see, again, how retail business is governed by the same rules and principles as all other natural history. And that Darwin probably had no clue how far reaching his principles of natural selection were. 

Final note: Break up Macy’s and give people back their local commerce? Would work, even in Amazon World.