In his speech, Putnam described what he did as the CEO of Southwest Airlines to earn profits every year while his competitors were struggling to avoid bankruptcy during a financial crisis in the airline industry.
He offered several recommendations-hire people with good attitudes because skills are easier to develop, work to increase the size of the market rather than steal from each other, and communicate with the co-pilots, as their ideas are just as valid as the CEO's. However, his mantra for keeping a business afloat: simplify, simplify, simplify.
"That's what we did at Southwest. One kind of plane. One kind of tug. One computer system. Go back and take a look at your own organizations: How many vehicles do you have? How many different kinds of equipment? Is there a way to simplify that? Take some of the cost out and still be efficient?" he said.
