Eliminating micro-team managers may make perfect sense. Eliminating layers may make sense, too. But gutting management capacity and turning managers into players with token responsibility for coaching, coordination, development, and execution is a recipe for trouble.
We’ve seen this movie before. A shock hits the broader system and organizations decide to ‘delayer’ focusing the brunt of their efforts on middle management. This time AI is the excuse. Yet the real opportunity and need here is to redefine the role of manager, not eliminate it.
Leaders charged with righting foundering organizations often claim “the culture is broken.” However, just as you cannot fix people, experience tells me that focusing on fixing a culture is a fool’s errand. Instead, focus on these nine issues:
For the management of business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations, the retail or service location is, of course, the ultimate proving ground. The experience for the consumer—good or bad, reflects the organization’s management systems from values, commitment to hiring, leadership development, and operations effectiveness. Here are some examples—good or bad—of the management system in action.
