2nd Rule of Management: Don’t Screw Up!

Great news. The war on talent is over. We lost. There just isn’t enough to go around. It’s possible a mountain of it is stored away in some government warehouse – along with the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail – that may form part of a ‘Brave New World’ cloning conspiracy in the distant future – but for now, it’s time to retreat and start something new:

A war on incompetence.

After-all, the evidence is clear: there are far more incompetent managers than there are talented people.

BTW, If you’re an incompetent manager, it’s probably not your fault. Your  incompetence isn’t a reflection of your potential, intellect or personality. You just lack the skills/capability/know-how/beliefs/etc necessary to get the job done. Instead:

• You’ve been elevated to a position of responsibility (which indicates you’re more competent than you really are) without knowing what really works and matters most.
• You don’t want to let anyone down (so you want others to think you are more competent than you really feel) even though you don’t have the tools you need to be the best you can.
• And you’ve been on a leadership training course (so you should be more competent than reality reflects), but not shown how to convert these complex theories into practical solutions.

Which might just explain this: when we observe [frontline and middle] managers and correlate behaviour (what they do), beliefs (what they think they should do) and results, the lowest performing 40% have the same conviction as the top 10%. Despite the woeful performance of their team they are absolutely certain they are doing the right things right – which, of course, they are not. They are, in fact, doing the wrong things right: administration, controlling, co-ordinating and supervising, and blaming their poor performance on factors outside their control (which, of course, they are not).

On the other hand, average managers – those who have highly variable behaviours, beliefs and results, and who make up about 50% of all managers we have observed, are almost (but not completely) certain they are doing something right and pretty damn sure they’re doing something wrong. They’re just not quite sure what’s what.

This means: On any given day 8 out of 10 managers are either doing the wrong things right or the right things wrong. Only 2 are doing the right things right – and in all likelihood, one of them will be doing the right thing wrong tomorrow.

In other words: about 80% of managers are just about to screw up, or just did. Hence, the second rule of management: Don’t Screw Up. Which can to achieved when 4 commitments are made and kept:

Start by being competent and build from their. Tim Gallwey (the father of modern coaching) uses a great phrase: ‘the more you know, the more you know you don’t know’ (as you learn more about management you learn how much you don’t know). It is a life long journey, so what’s the hurry. Start by getting really good at the fundamentals of management, the rest will follow.

Take it seriously. How would you feel if I told you 80% of doctors, fire-fighters, pilots or even mechanics weren’t doing the right things right. It would be appalling. In one way or another these groups are all responsible for the well-being of people. So are managers. You are in a privileged position. You impact the lives of real people. Take it seriously.

Work hard. It isn’t possible [for frontline and middle managers] to manage effectively in the same number of hours your team members take to do their job. You have more responsibility. More things to do. And more competing priorities. Work/Life balance is all well and good, but we can not keep pretending it doesn’t require hard work and longer days (than our team) to get the job done.

Be humble. Ralph W. Sockman said it best: “True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be.”

About the Author

Jason Moore consults on culture and leadership effectiveness. Jason co-developed the Humanistic/Performance Culture – Performance Improvement Diagnostic (a performance improvement system that works across many levels of the organisation. The H/PC is a transformational – yet simple and practice – online diagnostic. It reduces risks, builds competence and drives business growth with evidence-based accountability and real-time feedback) and blogs his thoughts on making work a better place to work. Follow Jason on Twitter or download his eBook: Meeting of the Living Dead.