Shades of Grey Written by Nan S. Russell
A paperweight sits on my desk, etched in silver message: Life isn't always black and white. It serves as a reminder there are few absolutes at work (or in life). Yet, it would be easier if there were; if good ideas from bad, trustworthy people from non-trustworthy, and right paths from wrong ones could easily be discerned. I've learned in twenty years in management that increasing one's perspective increases grey, as words like always and never become obsolete for describing most situations and most people.But early in my career, I was convinced there were right ways and wrong ways to do things at work. Of course, my way being right and someone else's wrong. Dug-in positions that at time seemed immensely important strike me now as limited in knowledge, understanding or perspective. Now, I'm as convinced there are often many ways to accomplish same goal and many right answers to same problem. Certainly some approaches may be better than others, but whose interpretation defines better? It is a subjective workplace and a matter of judgment if an idea is a good one, a performance rating accurate, or a decision correct. Sometimes that interpretation is based on quarterly profits, employee morale, company goals, personal filters, necessity, or a passionate champion embracing a challenge. But here's thing. That subjective element often frustrates us. We think there should be a play book we understand or a standard method to judge an outcome so we can agree whether it's good or bad. Yet we have differing vantage points, information and criteria depending on our roles. There may be big picture, long-term, short-term, temporary, personal, best, best of worst, and a long list of considerations.
| | Do You Make These Ten Management Mistakes?Written by Chris Anderson
As a busy executive, you face some extremely difficult challenges like creating and dominating new markets or finding and keeping best people. But then, like many executives, do you find yourself spending too much time solving everyday problems (that only you can solve, right?), which prevent you from growing your ideal business?Most managers find themselves spending 80% or more of their time “reacting” to business events and very little time in preventing those same events from occurring again. If this sounds familiar then you may be making some of these management mistakes: 1.Do you have a compelling vision for your company, that projects a remarkable future, but few of your employees have heard of it or could explain it if asked? 2.Do you have a company mission that addresses your customer needs yet your operations fail to measure your progress towards your mission? 3.Do your objectives focus on increasing revenue and profitability while your assets are performing poorly, generating negative cash flows, or encumbered by debt to create profit? 4.Do you talk a lot about your employees (positive or negative) without noting what your employee turnover or performance metrics are for your industry? 5.Do you spend a lot of time working IN your business on tactics yet fail to spend a greater amount of time working ON your business to define your strategy, performance metrics, and real resource needs? 6.Do you have regular interactions with employees yet fail to communicate status of objectives, financials, or metrics? 7.Do you make money available for training yet fail to measure how that training helps your company achieve its goals? 8.Do you constantly strive to improve your company’s performance yet fail to compare your performance against external benchmarks for success? 9.Do you believe that your customers, employees, and vendors all love your company yet you have no process for measuring their satisfaction on an on-going basis? 10.Do you produce forecasts and budgets yet fail to achieve agreed upon goals or learn from experience to improve in future.
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