So how far will the pendulum swing the other way?

Post #51,512 by jb4 9/12/02 11:27:46 AM Reply	So how far will the pendulum swing the other way? Not to disparage the crux of the argument presented (which I happen to agree with). But beyond this system (or any other system) of ~~manglement~~management, there is an overarching desire to find that panacea, that magic bullet that will a) make everything easy, and b) make you profitable and rich beyond your wildest dreams. I'll phrase this the "War for the Panacea" to maintain the theme. Management strives for this above all other. Why else would such a stupid thing as the "War for Talent" become as potent as it did? It was the "panacea du jour", and management flocked to it like flies to bovine excrement. Now to my point. This, like all panaceas before it, has been rightfully debunked. What will replace it? Well, when a panacea is debunked, the natural management reaction is to do just the opposite (it's the easiest response). Hence, instead of looking for talent, management will look for average Joes (or perhaps, even sub-average Joes, as those in a position of power do like to feel superior, almost paternalistic). This will result sooner or later in the Peter Principle rulling the corporate halls. I've already seen it here, where management believes that just throwing bodies at a problem (regardless of the bodies' qualifications, capabilities, or...yes, talent) is sufficient to solve it. (It's the old saw about making a baby in a month by making 9 women pregnant....) What they really need is people who are not afraid to work, and a ~~corpulent~~corporate culture that permits taking reasonable risks, rewards those who do and succeed, and tolerates (for a while, at least) those who do and fail. Good luck finding that combination in 21st century Corporate America.... jb4 "About the use of language: it is impossible to sharpen a pencil with a blunt axe. It is equally vain to try to do it with ten blunt axes instead. " -- Edsger W.Dijkstra (1930 - 2002) (I wish more managers knew that...)
Post #51,558 by gdaustin 9/12/02 4:55:15 PM Reply	Re: So how far will the pendulum swing the other way? I worked as a software contractor at Southwest Airlines, I can tell you how far. Conformity was valued above all else. Anyone even approaching "prima donna" status was let go. You were rated above all other factors by your attitude and your ability to get along with others. I worked for them and was gone, twice, in fact. I have no desire to ever work for them again, even though I feel strongly that they could sure use my 9 years of work experience at AA and SABRE. What this left were projects with very nice people working on systems which just didn't work very well. It's funny because the IT department's customers (the airline departments), weren't very happy with their work, but the culture really prevents them from hiring outside contractors, unless absolutely necessary. In fact, I've thought about writing some of the systems that their airline departments need as services, then contacting them to sell the services to them directly. (Things like scheduling aircraft for maintenance and pilots for recurrent training. You could go as far as actually scheduling the pilots and flight attendants, but the software you would write is so specific to Southwest's unions that you would not be able to sell it to AA or United, for example.) The bureacracy was confounding, with 2-3 groups responsible for the same project (at different phases of the project). There were "formal" procedures for passing responsiblity of projects between groups, with 2-3 signoffs. The customer just wanted their fixes made and someone responsible to cover the times when it didn't work. What they got was a bunch of polite excuses. Glen Austin
Post #51,559 by gdaustin 9/12/02 5:01:42 PM 9/13/02 10:40:24 AM Reply	An out of print book.... Written in 1982 by W. Edwards Deming, called "Out of the Crisis". Deming basically said that management in each company, each department, each factory floor had to come up with accurate metrics to represent his or her business. These metrics should be created by the management in co-operation with experienced personnel within the department. His assertion was that the experienced workers know best what to do, and your best bet is to listen to them and use the metrics that a seasoned pro would give you. Deming hated the MBA culture that was taking over management as he was entering his senior years. He really desired to see experienced folks from the factory floor promoted into management and sent to school. I think he was (and still is) right. Try to find Out of the Crisis in your public library, because I doubt seriously that you can still get a copy from Amazon or B&N. Glen Austin Edited by gdaustin Sept. 13, 2002, 10:40:24 AM EDT Expand All History
Post #51,575 by boxley 9/12/02 6:25:42 PM Reply	the magic "key indicators" I remember a group whose projects were measured in 6 month increments. The other teams voted for weekly key indicators and were pissed when the first group could not write them weekly because of the 6 month metric. A pissing contest commences. Such things are useful ONLY if their useful. thanks, Bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/Resume.html\|skill set] [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/index.html\|boxley's home page] qui mori didicit servire dedidicit
Post #51,581 by wharris2 9/12/02 8:43:56 PM Reply	Re: An out of print book.... Deming hated the MBA culture that was taking over management as he was entering his senior years. He really desired to see experienced folks from the factory floor promoted into management and sent to school. Deming is often seen as a business guru, which I think is the wrong take. Success in business is often more a matter of luck than in finding and following a particular style. Deming misapplied a lot of experience, I think, but here, I think he is absolutely correct. Very few times do professional managers mean well or do well by a company. Someone who has been in the trenches knows a hell of a lot more than an idiot savant MBA who can spout management platitudes until the cows come home. Maybe after five or ten years it's worth sending someone to an MBA program; by then they have some perspective and can better sift through much of the crud an MBA program teaches. My father went into an MBA program fifteen years or so after getting his degree (he's a guy who had problems his first time around in college, ultimately joined the Army instead of finishing college, and went back to college after a fifteen year absence, with his MBA program fifteen years after that) and even if he weren't my father, I'd trust him over any bright-eyed bushy tailed newly minted MBA any day. Damn, but I'm still amazed at him working a full-time job, working 2nd or 3rd shift, supporting his family, while going to school at the same time. Holy cow. I tried that once for about six weeks but (despite fairly good money for a college student) just had to give it up - I just couldn't take it.
Post #51,636 by gdaustin 9/13/02 10:43:34 AM Reply	I'll be danged.... Amazon does have it! Some college must be using it as a management text to get it reprinted. [link\|http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0262541157/qid=1031928042/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-8702469-1443251?v=glance&s=books&n=507846\|Out of the Crisis at Amazon]

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