Professor Lynn Phillips
Appreciation
It is difficult for me to come up with the name of any educator who had more of an impact on me than Professor Lynn Phillips. It would not be a stretch to say that all of us in his class felt honored to be in the presence of such a master educator. There is a word in Yiddish – moyre – which is difficult to translate, but google translate translates as have anxiety, fear, be afraid of, afraid but also reverence. That is how we felt walking into Professor Phillips’ class.
My biggest takeaway from that class though is the level of preparation exhibited by Professor Phillips. His example is a guiding light to me to this day. Whenever I prepare to speak to a crowd, I think to myself, am I as prepared as Professor Phillips would be? Thank you, Professor Phillips, for teaching us. To this day, we appreciate it so much.
I asked a few of our classmates to present their thoughts about Professor Phillips:
“Investment banking is a combination of finance, strategy, journalism, and psychology, but capital markets and sponsor coverage are mostly just wholesale marketing. With every new company I look at, the distinctive words, rhythm and style of Lynn Phillips flash back to me: Market analysis, Customer analysis, Competitor analysis, Company fit. Sustainable advantages which are important to customers, the Five Forces Framework, the Seven S Model, and so forever on. He would get into that Tulsa cadence that was hard not to emulate. I recall that I took a couple of Professor Phillips’ courses, and he had such a giant reputation that you knew in advance what you were in for and bid up like crazy to get in. I still cannot hear “Thriller” without thinking “But you’ve got Phillips!” It was so well done thanks to our talented classmates. I remember the case on the Curled Metal Inc. pile driver cushion pads that protected the top of the piling from the pile driver. If the top of the pile splits or shatters, you are in trouble and facing the cost of a second pile driving process. The brilliant but elusive Mike Wilkins drew a cartoon of the pile cushion pad with a demure young woman alongside to promote the product. “Not without the right protection!” she said. That class was a blast! I have never worked harder nor learned more from anybody than I did from Professor Phillips. Professor Phillips also gave us the tools to produce something that we have all worn fairly well for thirty-five years, with the occasional misstep: confidence.”
Skip Clemmons, MBA ‘85
“Lynn was my favorite professor at the GSB. He had an intensity and focus that was terrifying; his preparation was legendary with those sliding chalk boards all prepped for class. I will long remember the Southwest Airlines case when Willie, TJ and I (and Hugh?) presented in front of the class (faking our Texas accents, except for Willie), not knowing that the founder (Rollin King) was sitting in the back of the class (that was another Lynn classic: having the company execs stealthily sitting in the back of the class). Same with the Canon Copier/Xerox case. I have to say that Lynn’s qualifications were less stellar in racquetball and wiffleball…where I clearly dominated him (inside joke: he showed his intense competitive spirit there too). Lynn is a one-of-kind, incredible teacher; I was lucky to have taken both of his classes.”
Mark Conroe, MBA ‘85
“Lynn, your impeccable preparation combined with your knowledge and intensity in the classroom led to an unparalleled learning experience for us all. (Your success on the squash court, however, was another matter entirely.) Thank you.”
Bob Horne, MBA ‘85
“Lynn was the first teacher that I ever had that treated me as a peer. Make no mistake, in class he was the professor and I the student, but once class was over we were “just” friends. I was fortunate to not only take Lynn’s marketing class, but also a self-study course under him. Additionally, we played in a City softball league together and I even lived with him post-graduation for a couple of weeks. As life goes by we remember people for how they made us feel and what they taught us along the way. Lynn made me feel like a friend first and student second, and he taught me the art of, and reward in, public speaking. I have never forgotten these selfless gifts that Lynn so generously gave.“
Willie Langston, MBA ’85
“Lynn’s class was hands-down, my favorite at the GSB. His passion inspired me to pursue a career in marketing and product development. Lynn was the early pioneer of marketing concepts such as customer value proposition, customer value delivery system, user centric design (long before these concepts were discussed at firms like IDEO or the birth of the d.School). In the last five years I have been working with Lynn on a variety of consulting projects and continue to learn new things from him on each and every project. I have watched him take in new data from breakout sessions at a five hundred person conference, and then on the fly brilliantly adapt his closing key note presentation synthesizing the new material seamlessly into his presentation. Lynn’s consulting has changed the landscape in dozens of industries from Aerospace, to High Tech to Pharmaceuticals to Consumer Products. In addition to transforming Fortune 500 companies, I have seen Lynn take fledgling companies and guide them to a path of tremendous success, providing the insights and tools to carve out a unique positioning in the marketplace, or create a disruption that transformed the category. He is the only person I know that in their late sixties was still working round the clock pulling all-nighters because of his drive for excellence. It has also been fun to watch his devotion and dedication to raising his teenage son, as a single parent. Just don’t challenge him to a squash match unless you are prepared for a seriously competitive match!”
Patty Brenner Jackson, MBA ‘85
“The core of my experiences at the GSB were the people (yes, even Willie Langston), the culture (think LPF) and the creative impassioned thinking the faculty challenged us with. Nothing embodied all three of these as fully as taking a class from Professor Phillips. The classes were exciting, fun, hard as hell and memorable. From having a CEO come down from the back row to tear apart our case-study analysis of their company (yup, it happened) to being challenged more than any manager I faced in my pre GSB life (sorry Bain and Company and my old manager Mitt Romney), we were pushed cajoled and encouraged with his charismatic manner. Of all the professors I had at the GSB, he was the one. He was so cool I remember my first ever car purchase made with my signing bonus second year was the exact same car as his : a super bitchin’ white two door Datsun 300 ZX T-Top with a red velour interior. I didn’t quite look as cool as he did cruising around the campus, but still…. I had that car for 22 years and I have lasting memories of his class even up to today.”
T. J. Heyman, MBA ‘85
“Lynn led by example. He was challenging and probing, with high expectations he knew we could deliver on. Always encouraging, even when it wasn’t quite “H” caliber work. I was a “poet” who knew nothing about marketing or little else of the business world when I arrived at the GSB. Lynn’s academic talents and passion had a significant impact on my professional pursuits, and a successful 35-year career in marketing (still going strong and loving it) that followed.”
Nancy Wynn Kerbs, MBA ‘85