As Republicans prepare to take control of the House of Representatives – and attempt to rebuild their credibility on fiscal matters — Forbes advises the GOP look to the example of Southwest Airlines and “cut some lemons.”
Below is an excerpt; please click here to read the entire article.
Now that Republicans have convinced American voters to give them another try, how do they reestablish their bona fides as the party of smaller government and less spending? While they will no doubt get a lot of advice in the coming weeks, they should try stealing a cost-cutting page from Southwest Airlines.
Last year Southwest Airlines announced with great fanfare that they would no longer serve lemons with drinks during flights. And by doing so, they would save $100,000 a year … [sending] an important message to its two key audiences: its customers and its own employees.
For customers Southwest’s announcement provided a visual symbol of the lengths the company would go to–even denying passengers a garnish with their drinks–to save money and be the low-cost airline. But the announcement also sent the same message to Southwest’s own employees as to the lengths they are expected to go to keep costs low.
For Republicans this will mean taking on a sacred cow or two to signal to both the American people and federal employees that the era of profligate spending is over.
It won’t be easy. As Ronald Reagan once said, “A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”
[But] … slaughtering a number of small sacred cows … can earn them the credibility to take on the big [ones]. It all begins by cutting a few lemons.
