Democratic Strategy
A while back we talked about Machiavelli and John Bogle (Mixner).
Machiavelli says, basically, it is all right to break the rules, especially if you do so to reach your ends. Bogle says that the ends aren't your ends, they're society's. Character and courage don't count for much if they are all about you, instead of us.
Machiavelli was writing way back when, Bogle, last year. Bogle was trying to make sense of the melt-down in the financial markets over the last decade. Machiavelli was selling his services, his knowledge. Block adds words to the discussion that are worth reviewing here.
Democracy is all about people having a say in their future, capitalism not so much. Owners and managers - bosses - exert special powers in the workforce that vary from the democratic ideal. Bosses aren't elected to terms that are finite. Do it right, and a boss can hold on for a very long time. We assume that as we enter the plant gate, it is all right to leave some of your decision making ability behind. Bosses indeed do know better, and we'd better realize it - or else. No, it is not so blatant, but when was the last time you spoke what you were really thinking in a weekly review session, unless by chance, you were the boss - the manager - in the meeting?
Block has thought through a lot of this. His point of view is worth sharing. Normally, planning for the future of an organization takes place at the highest levels. A team - and, usually it is a team - of senior managers joins together to consider the values of the organization, its mission, its vision, objectives for the next years, and maybe even specific strategies for the organization to follow. The assumption is that the plan will be carefully articulated, shared with the organization, and, here things start to get sticky, implemented at all levels of the organization.
You know as well as I do that implementation is where all strategic plans begin to fail. Great plan, poor implementation. We see it all the time. We didn't have time to implement the plan. Customers were asking for stuff, so we didn't have time. Something like that, right? So, do you pitch the planning process and give up? Maybe not. But what to do?
Modify the process. Don't be dictatorial. Let the team determine what is important to them and their work. "Values spring from the top," you say. Maybe. Forcing the entire organization to use a time-clock may not make sense. Forcing the entire organization to follow edicts from headquarters may not make sense. We all say, "We knew that." Since you knew that already, what were you doing? You were defining some of the company's values locally, that's what. "You're caring for a sick child today. I'll cover for you." The work will get done. Control shifts from HR to individuals in their own work units. But "HR has to control," you say. Maybe not. Nor does a boss have to control if she does things right. Set parameters, yes. What customers, broadly, do we target? OK. Clarity, then is a management role (Block, 32). Value-added ways to address a market. Again, a management role (Block, 32). But the how and whys? They get answered not by senior management, but by the folks who know the answers. Reward goes down in the organization as it is no longer the carrot it once was. Punishment goes down too. The team rewards and punishes, not management. Direction goes down; clarity goes up.
So, who keeps their job in this new environment? People who understand that they are not subordinate, but equals, that's who. Want someone to protect you and your job? Not going to happen. Your responsibility is making sure a team wants you enough that they ask you to play in their game. That's not management's job. It's your job. Eventually, we'll need fewer managers, won't we? The teams will manage themselves. Some managers will realize that managing, even coaching, is an empty title. They had better be doing some work, not just managing. "But the reports due at the end of the month," you say. Is anyone reading them, anyway? Isn't it better to interact with customers, rather than managers, anyway? That's your job. That's management's job, as well.
Who leaves the organization? People who don't hold up their end of the bargain. Not interfacing with customers? Maybe it's time to leave. Don't know who your customer is? Maybe it is time to leave. Or, more properly, maybe it's time to find out, and do something about it.
Block, Peter. Stewardship. Choosing Service Over Self-Interest. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. 1993.
Bogle, John C. Enough. True Measures of Money, Business, and Life. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2009.
Mixner, Jack. The Virtuous Leader. http://mixnerstrategy.com/blog/2009/01/the_virtuous_leader.html