Why Good Management is so Difficult
This book by the Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School identifies that cultural change is beyond organisations that can’t reinvent the way their middle managers lead.
The dichotomy between leadership and management is a major part of the problem - “The obsession with leadership has led to a dangerous diminution in the perceived importance of… management."
Closing the gap between what we 'know' and what we actually do
Birkinshaw aims to go beyond merely identifying a bullet list of what good managers do. As he says, if being a good manager were simply as easy as following a set of instructions, anyone could do it.
So what stops managers from putting into everyday practice the behaviours that countless management books agree are the key to sustainably high performance?
Birkinshaw identifies three core practices / explicit choices that will make a difference, if consciously attended to and painstakingly followed day by day.
- Letting Go - for example you can practice letting go effectively by having a 'stop doing' list as well as a 'to do' list; what can you let go of or delegate?
- Giving Credit to Others - for example package work into projects and allow others to experience the autonomy of succeeding; Birkinshaw also encourages managers to nurture their own critics and own up to failures
- Self Control - for example become more attentive to your own shortcomings, noticing the true effect of decisions you make, especially learning to challenge your own assumptions as to the 'right way' to do something
In summary, Birkinshaw argues that "we have to work very hard to overcome our need for control and our bias for self-aggrandisement. We also have to be very self-aware to realise when our behavioural flaws are getting in the way."
"In my house I'm the boss.Woody Allen
My wife is just the decision maker."