Comments on: from hierarchy to wirearchy

By: Timbo

Timbo — Sat, 14 May 2005 05:23:12 +0000

Oh, and to support what Shelley says, read “A bullfighter’s guide: Why business people speak like idiots” by Brian Fugere, Chelsea Hardaway and Jon Warshawsky

By: Timbo

Timbo — Sat, 14 May 2005 05:21:50 +0000

My grandfather and uncle were two very successful upper-level managers/CEOs. Successful in that their employees enjoyed working for them and respected their integrity.
They shared three management basics with me that I think apply even more now than 10 or 20 years ago:
1) Set people up to succeed.
2) Hire really smart people, then get out of the way.
3) Make sure those you manage have the skills to do your job…and do it well.
Does that track for anyone?

By: Bruce DeBoer

Bruce DeBoer — Sat, 14 May 2005 00:57:44 +0000

My take is that those “command and control” type leaders are on the way out — shape up or ship out. In the arsenal of the command and control type Manager you found weapons labeled “information is power”.
The new successful manager or CEO’s share the Jim Wilde (above) view. Skills start with an intuitive sense of balance between bottom up and top down; too much of either one slows you down or damages your business.

By: Jon Husband

Jon Husband — Fri, 13 May 2005 23:07:15 +0000

Not only do we trash and smash ideas on blogs … but we DO offer other ideas, encourage each other, point to other interesting and useful information, build the early parts of relationships, think out loud without (some of) the constraints of reporting relationships, etc.
All the stuff of innovation and responsiveness, the loosely herded energy of skunkworks … and eventually, when focused .. passion bounded by responsibility.
And .. irony of ironies .. we keep hearing about the relentless need for innovation

By: Jim Wilde

Jim Wilde — Fri, 13 May 2005 20:12:39 +0000

Hi Guys,
It is all in the configuration of the information that makes leaders, leaders. Just look what happens with ideas on blogs. We smash and trash them to create new ones. Leadership will be left to those who have imagination and the know-how to configure the information into something useful — products/services/processes.
We are already seeing billion dollar companies like AES, W. L. Gore & Associates that are run by the employees. Those with ideas, lead the way. What’s more, we have companies running internal and in some cases external markets where employees bid for resources in the open. Of course, there are always exceptions.
The companies that don’t get it, will be acquired, downsized, or bankrupted.

By: sig

sig — Fri, 13 May 2005 13:47:11 +0000

*finding and ordering book on Amazon*
Shelley, maybe you can give me a clue — where are the non-males in this discussion??
I have a vague idea that the female population is less inclined to be directing & controlling and thus less “managing”.
If that is so then we need more input and leadership from that camp in this discussion (risking having my butt kicked using the term ‘camp’)!
Am I onto something here? Shelley? Please put me right…

By: Shelley Noble

Shelley Noble — Fri, 13 May 2005 12:54:35 +0000

Dudes, read Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak Are Strangling Public Language
by Australia

By: Phillip

Phillip — Fri, 13 May 2005 09:47:59 +0000

It changes the role of leader to that of ‘master disorganiser’. Ultimately, line managers will be wighted down by the sheer number of tasks at hand — the ‘CEO’ will need to be the catalyst of change as opposed to the hoarder of info/data/wisdom.

By: David Hickethier

David Hickethier — Fri, 13 May 2005 09:24:55 +0000

I would love to see some dialogue on this one. As a leader who works with an extremely talented group this has been weighing heavily on my mind for some time.