David
We are seeing this an all too common phenomenon with most if not all of our
clients and contact organisations.
I don't think it is that they don't want to manage - more that they really
aren't sure how anymore.
The world has become increasingly complex for all of us and it is hard to
know the right choice to make. In the past when confronted with complexity
and uncertainty, many - including me - would sit on the issue to see what
happened - I found that 60-80% of the short term problems actually
dissapeared as a result.
This is no longer true, sitting on the issue often leads to numerous side
effects - most of them negative. the result is that people feel forced to
make decisions and take responsibility. Uncertain of how to act and all too
aware of the consequences of failure, they become the proverbial 'rabbit in
headlights' not knowing the right response or which way to turn. Furthermore
the gut reaction or instinct that so many of us relied on doesn't seem to be
generating very clear suggestions.
When they look to senior management for advice they are frequently told
-'don't bring me problems only solutions' or 'I've set the targets you decide
how to deliver them'. Neither is a stress reducing response!
When they look to their peers many are scared to admit similar concerns, and
corporate bravado now demands that we show no weakness lest the re-engineers'
axe should be lurking close by.
Finally they are reluctant to turn to their staff for fear of showing
weaknees and losing respect in a situation where in the past the relationship
has been one where the manager gave rather than sought advice.
We have found this a hard challenge to break into. One approach is to
create experiential events which encourage them to bring out their true
concerns and channel the emotions into addressing them. We have found it
effective to help them cull their diaries and ruthlessly delegate up, down
and sideways. We have encouraged them to create time for reflection,
encouraged them to benchmark, use internal and external coaches and
sounding boards, work together to reshape the agenda and so on.
In most cases the workload has to be cut and focussed in some way whilst
they develop the capacity to cope. One solution involved bringing top and
middle management together to come to the realisation that if they carried
on down the current path they would only partially achieve some goals and
would do much damage on route. They collectively agreed and acted to scale
down the number of initiatives and goals on the agenda.
As others have said, much of what these managers are displaying are
symptoms of a deeper more fundamental problem. It amuses and frequently
saddens me to see just how often organisations fail to even review the
results of past initiatives and the causes of success and failure. As a
result it feels like the design of many new initiatives is a victory for
hope over experience, and in my experience, hope is not a strategy!
Rohit Talwar
Centre for Bus. Transformation
London
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