Is no management better than bad management?

I heard Dan Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, talk Tuesday night and had a chance to speak with him for a while. Cool guy, and really smart! I did a review of his book here and on the 1800CEOREAD blog here. I highly recommend the book. Even though I read the book, the message I at Dan's talk that I had not yet embraced (I'm sometimes thick) is the importance of design. I've heard it everywhere, so it's not a new concept, but I had not thought of it from my own perspective - like how my products and services should be designed.

I think I need to learn more about design...

Anyway, on a different, but still Pink topic, I found this on Dan Pink's blog:

"Management by leaving people alone

I just heard about a fascinating new paper by the well-known German economist (well-known for German economists, that is) Armin Frank. In a recent study Frank found that the worst way to induce excellent performance in employees was to supervise them. The more supervision a boss slathered on, the more the employee felt distrusted--and the greater distrust the employee felt, the deeper his performance fell. Supervision, in other words, achieves the exact opposite of its desired effect: It often reduces motivation and efficiency. As Frank explains, "Anyone who is suspicious of the willingness to work of their employees is in fact punished by poor work levels; whoever is optimistic and gives them free rein is rewarded."
Posted on 04/19."

Here's the link to the piece he references.

Bad management is worse than no management in most cases, I think. We should keep this in mind as we develop our teams and make hiring decisions. Promoting that mediocre manager may not be the better choice versus leaving a position open for a while. And it is clear to me that when we "manage people," as in micromanagement or parental management, that they are hearing "I don't trust you," even if that is not our intent (it probably is our belief at some level though, and this is the problem).

What do you think? I know some of you are proud micromanagers out there - what's your view?

Interesting stuff!

Comments

[Tony Morgan]

Lisa, I certainly agree with your assessment that no management is better than bad management. In fact, for those of us with "creative patterns," no management is good management. Just help us understand the vision and values, give us a process or project, and let us go. If you manage tightly, we'll get frustrated and pursue the freedom to create in another organization.

By the way, Fast Company has an article this month on design strategy. I provided link over at my blog.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Thanks Tony, I clicked on over to your site and to the FC article! I love this statement, "Rather than rewarding big-time managers, reward the big-time problem-solvers." I agree totally, because in the future, management jobs will be much less about people management and more about project management, OD, and development.

[Jacques Lejeune]

Micro-management is definitely a road to mediocrity. I have seen so many managers looking after micro-issues while important business issues within their purview were ignored. What any business needs are managers with vision, also capable to drill-down and recoup detailed data whenever they feel reported results are questionable.

I would certainly agree with Tony's comments provided that every employee is capable to fully endorse the working style he suggests. Such "Laissez-faire" management approach will only work with people having the correct skill set.

[Lisa Haneberg]

Jacques - I think your point about what micromanagers are neglecting is important. Almost all micromanagers I have know have not had their eye on the broader or most important issues. Thanks for your comments!

[James Weisbrod]

I often work 12-16 hour shifts for the sheer enjoyment of building better product. As soon as some dumb ass manager steps into the equation and asks me to report my current actions, my productivity ceases, sometimes for days while I accomadate for the managers needs. They need courses on non-invasive management techniques. I mean isn't a good product in the end, proof-positive enough that your doing your job?

[James Weisbrod]

Okay... So maybe they aren't so dumb ass...

[Will Jay]

The "Bad management" vs. "No Management" questions assumes that talented staff cannot function without guidance. I think in a lot of cases they can. Case in point: the smaller non-profit organization I worked for thrived during the absence of a (lousy) departing director and before the arrival of a new (lousy) one. The institution had a high number of committed, long term staff as well as eager newer staff that knew how business ran and what needed to be done. Meetings were short and productive, morale was high, leadership naturally emerged, and staff was efficient and responsible.
Whether or not this might have continued in an upper management vacuum--who knows? But when the new (hostile, micromanaging) director arrived, morale crashed, retention dropped, and workplace stress increased. We had a 75% staff turnover in the first year.
It taught me a new albeit, cynical, idea; “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, manage.”