Early on, this policy had advantages. Charney was constantly in
tune with what was happening in the company, and it prevented
bureaucracy from establishing itself and bogging people down. But
not only did the advantage not scale well, but the costs began to take
their toll as well.
You can imagine what happened when the company suddenly had
250 stores in 20 countries. By 2012, Charney was sleeping only a few
hours a night. By 2014, he wasn’t sleeping at all. How could he?
There was always someone with a problem and someone somewhere
in some distant time zone taking him up on the open-door policy.
The human reality of getting older didn’t help either.
It was this extreme, cumulative sleep deprivation that was the
root of so much of the company’s catastrophic failure. How could it
not be? Research has shown that as we approach twenty or so hours
without sleep, we are as cognitively impaired as a drunk person. Our
brains respond more slowly and our judgment is significantly
impaired.
In 2014, during a difficult transition between distribution
facilities, Charney moved into the shipping and fulfillment
warehouse, installing a shower and cot in a small office. To him and
some diehard loyalists, this was proof of his heroic dedication to the
company. In truth, bad judgment had bungled the transition in the
first place, and then his constant presence and micromanaging on
site—which became increasingly erratic the longer it went on and the
longer he went without sleep—only compounded the difficulties.
Charney descended into madness in front of his employees.
Unshaven. Bleary-eyed. At the mercy of his temper, unmoored from
even the most basic judgment or propriety. Issuing orders that
contradicted orders he had issued just minutes before, he seemed
almost hell-bent on destruction. But he was the boss. What could
people do?
Eventually, his mother was called in to bring him home, to coax
him into taking care of himself before it was too late. But he was well
past saving. Even back in the normal office, he would call employees
late, late into the night and sweetly talk about work until he drifted
off, finding that collapsing from exhaustion was the only way he
could put himself to bed.
barry
(Barry)
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