Can you give us an example of a cherished myth that limits, rather than expands the companyês possibilities?
The company is tearing itself apart over the issue of giving advice. One of the company’s founding myths was that brokers could not give conflict-free advice, so Schwab would not give advice. It became a moral imperative. It’s what made Schwab not just different than other brokers, it made Schwab better than other brokers. Schwab brokers were routinely fired for giving advice. And for many years the taboo helped differentiate Schwab. But now it turns out that Schwab customers really do want advice. And Schwab now understands that what it really had a problem with was not the advice, but the conflict of interest. Yet even though Schwab customers are asking for advice and the company wants to provide it, it is having a hard time delivering a meaningful advice offering because it continues to trip on this old piece of myth. Q: What was your favorite single interview or experience while writing Charles Schwab? A: Crashing a Schwab holiday party. Initially the company refused to have anythi
