For those of you who don’t have a PhD in Family Business Studies (you can actually get a PhD in Family Business Studies), welcome to The Fredo Effect. Named for Fredo from the “Godfather”, the Fredo Effect refers to an immediate family member who is less capable than non-family employees and is only given a position because of family connections.
Roman meet Fredo. Fredo meet Roman. Roman’s lack of business acumen is evident by the explosion of the satellite at the launch in Japan and his failure as a movie producer. His most successful project occurs during his six-week management training program in the Parks division where he wins the best prize with a “normal” named Brian. And there are his personal peccadilloes, my favorite being that he can’ t pee next to another man.
Family businesses face the task of identifying roles that will satisfy the needs of their own Fredos while limiting the damage to the business. They are not always successful as evidenced by the fact that only 13% of Family Businesses make it to the 3rd Generation. Logan shows little concern for Roman’s shortcomings, and everybody justifies Roman’s potential ascension to CEO because he is a “people person.” While his hipster charm is fun, a Family Business is the only type of company that would value charm over competence.
My Family Business faced a Fredo moment when my father and his brother-in-law spun off Big Men Shops from Barney’s Army Surplus. My grandmother, his mother-in-law, wanted to have another brother-in-law join the business. My uncle was very charismatic; however, he did not have the skills to participate in the business. My father won the argument and Big Men Shops grew and prospered.
There is no getting around the fact that family relationships impact the life/health of the family business. Just ask Chris Cuomo about his coverage of his brother Andrew Cuomo. Family Businesses that create open lines of communication between family members have a better chance of working through The Fredo Effect.
Season 3; Episode 8 – Chiantishire – spoiler alert
With Kendall being completely neutralized and Conner proposing to Willa because the press is scrutinizing her history, it’s the Shiv and Roman show.
Shiv is feeling terrible about life after Kendall’s party. She decides to phone into the big meeting with Sandy Jr./Stewy and we’re also not sure the last time she showered.
The unfortunate truth about being a Roy sibling is when you reach rock bottom, there are many more layers of hell to descend. Shiv joins the rest of the family as they head to Tuscany for their mother’s marriage. During her mother’s bachelorette party, Caroline blames Shiv for choosing Logan over her, “I’ll have the carbonara and Daddy, please.” Instead of stopping there, she goes on to blame Shiv for her unhappy life and saying she should not have had children, she should have had dogs. We’re pretty sure that Shiv wishes she was a dog so she could rip her mother’s face.
During this conversation, Caroline congratulates Shiv for making the right decision to not have children. Of course, Shiv goes back to her suite and tells Tom she wants to have a baby…and take over ATN. Tom, who is already enrolled in Daddy and Me classes, is thrilled. When Shiv talks dirty to Tom, she says “You’re not good enough for me. I’m way out of your league. That’s why you want me. That’s why you love me, even though I don’t love you. But you want me anyway.” Whether Shiv is completely out of control, or asserting control over the one relationship in her life she can control, it’s not a happy place.
Roman is sitting on the other side of the teeter-totter. On the PJ (private jet) to the wedding, Roman tells Shiv “Well I can’t quite fire you yet, Shiv because I’m still a little scared of you, but my thinking is when I take over, I’m going to put you in the office next to mine and you’re gonna be my sexy secretary.” Roman is the only of the Caroline’s three children that is upset about it partially due to the inheritance issue and part of it due to his mom issue.
During the pre-wedding festivities, Mattson’s strange tweet starts to move the company’s stock price. Logan is concerned so Roman is dispatched to determine Mattson’s intentions. Mattson says he is looking for a merger of equals, not to be acquired. Roman returns to the wedding festivities with the message and to everybody’s surprise Logan is open to the suggestion if Mattson is “a serious person” and not “a Twitter panty flasher”.
While the “people person” is taking a victory dance, he accidently sends a dick pick to his father that was intended for Gerri. Logan confronts Shiv who tells him that everybody in the firm, except Logan, knows there is something going on. When Logan asks is this “Roman being Roman,” Shiv says no and Logan is not happy. He starts to question Roman’s value, Gerri’s value, and is most upset that something is going on at the company and he didn’t know about it.
Sensing a potential opening, Shiv goes to Gerri and asks if she is okay with everything that is happening at the firm. Gerri says she is fine, but Shiv keeps putting pressure on her to discuss the situation with Logan, filing a sexual harassment suit or kicking it up to the board level. In a neat turnaround, Shiv is killing two birds with one penis.
Allen Esrock is the Founder of NxtGen Nexus, a platform for the next generation of family business owners which is based on his experience of growing up in a family business. Prior to that he started Jitter Fingers, the first safe, social networking website for tween girls and their bffs with Jitter Finger clubs in 12+ countries and 250+ cities in the US.
