Lessons from 'long-distance warrior' Bill McGowan

Some people say “The more things change, the more they stay the same”—and a new documentary about MCI’s renowned 1970s- and 1980s-era chief Bill McGowan titled “Long Distance Warrior” offers numerous examples of that dynamic in action.

In the category of how much things have changed:

I don’t remember what year it was that traditional long-distance providers made the determination that the service wasn’t worth advertising any more—sometime within the last decade, I think?

Recognizing that made watching old MCI commercials almost as nostalgic as watching old cigarette commercials. The documentary includes a famous one in which MCI tried to make people stop feeling guilty about making long-distance calls. “You haven’t been talking too much,” an announcer says. “You’ve been paying too much.”

But despite reminders such as those about how much things have changed, here are a few examples of how history repeats itself:

· The documentary takes us back to a time when people had to punch 22 digits to make a call using MCI—the same sort of growth pains that VOIP providers have encountered more recently as they try to deliver services over cellphones provided by uncooperative wireless carriers (CP: VoIP de ja vu) .

· Or how about the time Mountain Bell cut off customers’ ability to call MCI? Not so long ago, we saw at least one rural telco attempt to use that tactic against VOIP providers such as Vonage. More recently at least one VOIP provider has admitted it doesn’t complete calls to areas with high terminating access charges (i.e., rural areas) (CP: Rural carrier groups ask FCC to intervine in call blocking disputes). That approach didn’t gain much, if anything, for Mountain Bell or for anyone who has followed in that carrier’s footsteps.

· AT&T initially tried to squash MCI, arguing against the legality of MCI’s business model and claiming that it was in the public interest to have a monopoly phone company. Listening to those arguments, I couldn’t help thinking about all the incumbent carriers that are trying to make community broadband networks illegal (CP: ITIF municipal broadband debate reveals strong passions on both sides). And although that story hasn’t played out yet, I’m wondering if the incumbents’ approach won’t blow up in their faces just as AT&T’s approach did. “Long Distance Warrior” attributes the government’s decision to break up AT&T, in part, to the carrier’s antagonistic approach to MCI.

I watched a preview copy of “Long Distance Warrior” shared by WTTW National Productions, which plans to present the work on public television in September. Keep your eye out for it. In addition to the lessons about how history repeats itself, the work also reminds us that although he passed away in 1992, McGowan made a number of contributions that continue to influence how companies are managed today.

Among other things, the documentary credits McGowan with inventing the term “management by walking around,” with helping to popularize the practice of giving stock options to employees, and with being the first executive to use email (which MCI first offered back in the 1980s) as a way of communicating with employees at all levels throughout the company.

It also includes some great quips from a man famous for his one-liners. A typical McGowan-ism: “The meek shall inherit the earth, but they’ll never increase market share.”