The Management Bestiary
- J.S. Ninomiya 1988
Bad management never goes out of style. Seven all-too common types of ineffective or destructive executives.
Godfathers typically demand complete control of their organizations and total loyalty from their employees. Subordinates are given freedom in their routine duties, but their goals are dictated from above.
Ostriches love the status quo and fear discord. They always hope problems will simply go away and would rather stick their heads in the sand than face unpleasantness of any kind. Ostriches are more concerned with a superior's opinion of their job performance than with the morale of their subordinates, who often lack initiative, imagination and productivity.
Do-It-Yourselfers want to handle everything themselves. The only tasks they ordinarily delegate are the ones they find trivial or require special skills. Unfortunately, they often make themselves indispensable.
Detailers want to know everything their subordinates do "in detail". As they see it, their task is to know more than their subordinates, so they can make correct decisions by themselves. Detailers are so busy trying to keep up with their employees that they are virtually incapable of managing groups of any size.
Politicians tell us what we want to hear. Their superiors like having them around for the same reason. One of the drawbacks to this style is that Politicians tend to overdo it. No one looks forward to the 38th sincere note from the boss.
Arbitrators are often successful at dealing with large groups because they possess a deep understanding of people and human conflict. They believe in teamwork and team decisions. But they have a weakness for compromise at the wrong moment, and they tend to be so friendly with subordinates that they find it hard to crack down when the going gets tough.
Eager Beavers measure their worth by the number of letters and reports they generate and how hard their subordinates work. In the same way that beavers build ever larger dams to interrupt the flow of water, Eager Beavers create ever greater workloads and eventually interrupt the smooth functioning of their organizations.
[Excerpt from HBR Nov 2003]
Bad management never goes out of style. Seven all-too common types of ineffective or destructive executives.
Godfathers typically demand complete control of their organizations and total loyalty from their employees. Subordinates are given freedom in their routine duties, but their goals are dictated from above.
Ostriches love the status quo and fear discord. They always hope problems will simply go away and would rather stick their heads in the sand than face unpleasantness of any kind. Ostriches are more concerned with a superior's opinion of their job performance than with the morale of their subordinates, who often lack initiative, imagination and productivity.
Do-It-Yourselfers want to handle everything themselves. The only tasks they ordinarily delegate are the ones they find trivial or require special skills. Unfortunately, they often make themselves indispensable.
Detailers want to know everything their subordinates do "in detail". As they see it, their task is to know more than their subordinates, so they can make correct decisions by themselves. Detailers are so busy trying to keep up with their employees that they are virtually incapable of managing groups of any size.
Politicians tell us what we want to hear. Their superiors like having them around for the same reason. One of the drawbacks to this style is that Politicians tend to overdo it. No one looks forward to the 38th sincere note from the boss.
Arbitrators are often successful at dealing with large groups because they possess a deep understanding of people and human conflict. They believe in teamwork and team decisions. But they have a weakness for compromise at the wrong moment, and they tend to be so friendly with subordinates that they find it hard to crack down when the going gets tough.
Eager Beavers measure their worth by the number of letters and reports they generate and how hard their subordinates work. In the same way that beavers build ever larger dams to interrupt the flow of water, Eager Beavers create ever greater workloads and eventually interrupt the smooth functioning of their organizations.
[Excerpt from HBR Nov 2003]
posted by epiclectic at 10:16 PM
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