Little Napoleons on the ship… don’t be one!
It’s really interesting that, the higher up the ladder you go in your company, the greater the overwhelming temptation to control people to get things done. Well I can tell you this - you and your subordinates are going to have a heck of a miserable time. I’ve been there and done that, trust me.
So what is the alternative? I have come across two sources of inspiration which may or may not be of help; YMMV (your mileage may vary). The first is the famous Joel Spolsky, the owner of Fog Creek Software. He actually publishes his strategy for running his company, and it’s a great read for those of us who are ‘managing’ other people or thinking of branching out on our own. The second is an awesome but little known concept known as ’self-managing teams’. That’s right folks. The team members do their own drivin’. So here are the links that I promised… it will really help those of us who have been assigned ‘managerial’ functions but have absolutely no idea what it means to effectively lead and channel a team or a bunch of teams. BTW I have actually seen a great change happen when principles from the second link are applied. People actually get excited about work :)
Something we didn’t get to learn in “Software Engineering 101″, rite?
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gbyeow Said,
May 30, 2006 @ 5:45 pm
All the companies I’ve been with run by the second rule of self management. It works for some but not others. Ultimately depends on the individual’s mentality. Some people prefer to be led and dictated to.
As for the motivation that came about with change, it might very well be a short spurt of juice. The novelty of self management wears off over time. If the environment and the situation is not conducive for such management styles, it will eventually run out of steam. Unless the work is able to sustain a person’s interest over an extended period and the individual is dedicated to his work, leaving someone to their own devices is almost always a bad choice.
As they say, different people different tastes. One man’s meat, another man’s poison.
Simonsays Said,
May 31, 2006 @ 11:59 am
That’s where the taukeh steps in, to motivate the bored team members to “excel, boys and girls, to higher heights… to go boldly where no man has ever gone before!!! Beam me up, Scotty”.
Then the staff look at him, at each other, and continue to IM each other about gossip.