With the news that Sears (SHLD) has now lost Aylwin Lewis, its nominal CEO (the de facto CEO remains its owner, Eddie Lampert), I took the opportunity to ask Jesse Eisinger a few questions via IM about what is going on over there. Jesse's something of an expert on Sears: he wrote a great piece on the company and its management for the February issue of Portfolio.
Felix Salmon: When you have a second, you can explain to me wtf is going on at Sears
Jesse Eisinger: What's your confusion?
FS: Is this strategy, or panic?
JE: Lewis had no significant influence at Sears. He was the public face, but had no real authority. Lampert kept all the authority for himself and relied most heavily on his number two at the hedge fund, Bill Crowley, to implement his decisions. Lewis didn't have any retailing experience, either. So he was the wrong guy for the job, even if he had been allowed to do it.
FS: Did Lampert inherit Lewis, or hire him?
JE: Lampert hired him.
JE: One of Eddie's Big Ideas is to gather Smart People in a room to Solve Problems, rather than relying on that silly notion that experience matters.
JE: And it's not a bad strategy: Smart people can have fresh eyes, etc. But smart people must be encouraged to think creatively and be given responsibility and resources. The problem is that Eddie undermines his smart cookies, by depriving them of enough money to invest in their ideas.
FS: From reading your article, another of Eddie's Big Ideas is to do Big Things (like stock buybacks or splitting companies in two or firing the CEO) -- rather than Little Things like investing in the stores
FS: So
