FountainBlue

Follow-Up from FountainBlue Connections: Lessons Learned from Bad Management Practices PanelDimensions of the Bad Management Problem, Data Compilation Provided by of Mike Kanze:

• "Bad Management" is a growing and pervasive problem within U.S. business:
• It causes more people to lose their tempers at work than any other cause. (Monster.com survey)
• 70% of workers are disengaged from their work, while 80% want nothing to do with management. These figures have grown rapidly over the last three decades. (Gallup survey, quoted on Management Malpractice web site)
• Fewer than four of 10 employees trust their management. Less than half believe their organization is well managed. (Mercer HR Consulting)
• The cost of bad management can be astronomical:
• ~130 million full-time employees in the U.S. workforce at the end of 2005 (Bureau of Labor Statistics data).
• Average annual earnings of all U.S. employees are ~$37K (BLS data).
• => ~$4.8 trillion (yes, trillion) in total earnings. (130 million employees x $37k / employee). This represents just under 38% of the $12.7 trillion 2005 Gross Domestic Product of the U.S.
• If 70% of the workforce is only 50% engaged (for example), then about $1.7 trillion (35%) of the $4.8 trillion earnings figure are wasted because of bad management.

Kernels of Management Wisdom

Attitude

• Be positive. There should be an 11 positive to 1 negative ratio of comments.
• Look first at yourself and your own role in a problem in front of you.
• Embrace diversity in your team.
• Leverage the strength of your diverse team's talents.
• Wisdom, humor, humility, and the willingness to share are all important elements of an effective leader.

Positive Reinforcement

• Praise in public, correct in private.
• Use the platinum principle - do unto others as they would like you to do unto them. Prioritization
• Use most of your time focusing on the A-Level and B-Level tasks. Accept the fact that sometimes the C-Level tasks fall.

Failure

• "Failure has everything to do with starting too early, expecting too much, and not taking the time to fully integrate what we have learned before moving on." – Jeanne Segal
• "It’s only when the tide goes out that you discover who’s been swimming naked." – Warren Buffett
• "Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it." – Colin Powell
• "Sometimes the dragon wins." – Anonymous Managing People & Working With Others
• Avoid too broad a span of control. "If you have a harem of 40 women, you never get to know any of them very well." – Warren Buffett (sorry, ladies!)
• Take a personal interest in others. Show them you care. Even obnoxious people love attention.
• Deal with potential conflicts early. Understand the other point of view. (Understanding is not acquiescence.) Stand your ground when you believe yourself right, but be ready to "agree to disagree" or establish an armed truce, to get the job done.
• Trust – but probe, verify, and understand.

Solving Problems

• Start by understanding the worst possible scenario or set of outcomes. Then build a positive solution that takes the "worst case" into proper account. Be honest about the downside potential – never blow sunshine into the wrong orifice.
• Learn what your customers both want and need. (These are not necessarily the same things.) Constantly improve the accuracy of your learnings. Share them often.
• Look for alternatives and offer them when you can. Give your customers additional reasons to say, "Yes!"
• Seek third-party information and speak with this data whenever you can.
• Don’t be afraid of getting mugged. Everyone gets beaten up in business sooner or later. "I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars; I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over." – Warren Buffett

Recommended Books on Leadership and Management

• The 5th Discipline, Peter Senge
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey.
• The Coach, by Steven J. Stowell, Ph.D. and Matt M. Starcevich, Ph.D.
• Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will, Noel Tichy & Stratford Sherman, Harper Business, 1994
• Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey Moore
• Dealing with Darwin, Geoffrey Moore
• The Discipline of Market Leaders, Michael Treacy & Fred Wiersema, Addison-Wesley, 1995
• The Effective Executive, Peter Drucker.
• Designing Organizations for High Performance, by David P. Hanna.
• Employee Driven Quality, Robin McDermott, Raymond Mikulak, Michael Beauregard, Quality Resources, 1993
• The Extraordinary Leader, by Zenger/Folkman
• Failure is Not An Option, Gene Kranz, Berkeley Books, 2000
• Financial Shenanigans, by Howard M. Schilit.
• First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (Hardcover – May 5, 1999)
• The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive: A Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni (Hardcover – Sep 1, 2000)
• The Goal, Eliyahu Goldratt and Jeff Cox, North River Press, 1986
• Good to Great, Jim Collins
• How Good People Make Tough Choices, by Rushworth M. Kidder.
• Henry V, by William Shakespeare.
• I Know It When I See It, John Guaspari, American Management Association, 1985
• The Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton Christensen
• The Innovator’s Solution, Clayton Christensen
• Inside the Tornado, Geoffrey Moore
• Gorilla Game, Geoffrey Moore
• Its about Time, John Guaspari, Rath & Strong, 1992
• Jumping the Curve, Nicholas Imparato and Oren Harari, Josey-Bass Publishers, 1994
• The Knowing-Doing Gap, Bob Sutton & Jeffrey Pfeffer
• The Last Word on Power: Executive Re-invention for Leaders Who Must Make the Impossible Happen, Tracy Goss
• Managing For Results, Peter Drucker
• The One Minute Manager by Ph.D. Kenneth Blanchard and M.D. Spencer Johnson (Paperback – Jan 1, 1983)
• The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey by Ken Blanchard, William, Jr. Oncken and Hal Burrows (Paperback – Jan 1991)
• Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams, 2nd Ed. By Tom Demarco and Timothy Lister (Paperback – Feb 1, 1999)
• The Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Principle-Centered Leadership, Stephen R. Covey
• PRINCIPLE CENTERED LEADERSHIP by Stephen R. Covey (Paperback – Oct 1, 1992)
• Procrastination, by Jane B. Burka, Ph.D. and Lenora M. Yuen, Ph.D.
• Seeing What’s Next, Clayton Christensen
• Selling the Wheel, Jeff Cox
• Victory Secrets of Attila the Hun, Wess Roberts, Doubleday, 1993
• A Whack on the Side of the Head, Roger von Oech, Warner Books, 1990
• Winning, Jack Welch
• The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005

198,514 workers within 36 companies in 21 industries, such as finance, manufacturing, retail, services, transportation and public utilities, had answered these questions at least once. Results are based on over 80,000 managers in over 400 companies.

Level 1

1. I know what is expected of me at work.

2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.

Level 2

3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.

5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.

6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.

Level 3

7. At work, my opinions seem to count.

8. The mission/purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.

9. My associates (fellow employees) are committed to doing quality work.

10. I have a best friend at work.

Level 4

11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.

12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

-------------------------------------------------------------