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Submitted by tcomeau on
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(Title edited to prevent massive coronaries for M&M! :shock: :shock: )

One of my "industry news" sources is Scientific American. This article
http://tinyurl.com/2uc6xp
includes a description of how Enron worked before Jeff Skilling became CEO.

[quote]
Kinder accentuated trust and accountability through a management style that included closely reading his managers’ reports, then challenging and debating them at regularly scheduled face-to-face meetings; in turn, he had these managers do the same thing with the employees under them, such that at every level Enron was transparent and thus less susceptible to mismanagement and corruption. Further, Kinder fostered a familylike atmosphere at Enron, for example, showing care and concern for the personal lives of his employees (for instance, paying the travel expenses for one of his managers to return home for a family funeral), which tends to engender respect and loyalty.
[/quote]

That sounds to me like a high-D, perhaps high-C manager trying to do things the Manager Tools way. On the other hand, it's discouraging to see how quickly bad management can unravel a company. The Google example is also interesting, though less illuminating.

tc>

jhack's picture

Tom,

You scared me for a moment...so let me quote one other piece:
[quote]
Everything changed in 1997, when Skilling replaced Kinder as president. A graduate of Harvard Business School and a fan of Richard Dawkins’s epochal book The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press, 1976), Skilling misread the theory to mean that evolution is driven exclusively by cutthroat competition and self-centered egotism.
[/quote]
It's an interesting article. By establishing new behaviors ("Rank and Yank", for example), the new leadership changed the 'culture' and set in motion the dynamics that would lead to disaster.

That may be discouraging, but it cuts both ways: a good leadership team could turn around a 'bad' company quickly by behaving well. That's the mission for M-T managers.

John

tcomeau's picture
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[quote="jhack"]
That may be discouraging, but it cuts both ways: a good leadership team could turn around a 'bad' company quickly by behaving well. That's the mission for M-T managers.
[/quote]

Agreed. The problem with Manager Tools is that it's not seductive. It doesn't promise instant results, shiny hair, effortless weight loss and instant boosts in quarterly profits. There are few catchy phrases. It requires sustained effort and leadership by example.

It's like real work.

tc>

stephenbooth_uk's picture

I believe that Mark and Mike referred in at least one cast to how good management isn't the sort of stuff that movies get made about.

The movies that get made about management (and management related things) tend to be about the other sort of manager who gets ahead by borderline criminal, if not actually criminal, activities and/or the sorts of things that many people would find immoral. Sure they tend to get caught and brought down in the end, usually by a plucky underling or protege who had a sudden attack of morals, but who actually believes that [b]they[/b] will ever get caught?

Stephen

WillDuke's picture
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Is this the time to trot out "The Apprentice?"

Could there be a worse business model?

stephenbooth_uk's picture

[quote="WillDuke"]Is this the time to trot out "The Apprentice?"

Could there be a worse business model?[/quote]

At the weekend I saw a show (fictional but, supposedly, based on fact) about a publishing house in the 1970s that for a time was run according to IChing predictions. Might that qualify?

That may be fictional but I did once know an astrologer (we were both on the same course) who told me that he was frequently consulted by company directors and asked to draw up a horoscope to answer a business question. I didn't have the temerity to ask him if the companies thrived or died.

Stephen

tlhausmann's picture
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[quote="stephenbooth_uk"]
At the weekend I saw a show (fictional but, supposedly, based on fact) about a publishing house in the 1970s that for a time was run according to IChing predictions. Might that qualify? [/quote]

Wasn't there a book written about "Managing by Biorhythm"?

(Folks, It *is* April 1)

stephenbooth_uk's picture

[quote="tlhausmann"]Wasn't there a book written about "Managing by Biorhythm"?[/quote]

Given some of the books I've seen over the years (e.g. management guides based on fictional characters) I wouldn't be suprised.

[quote="tlhausmann"](Folks, It *is* April 1)[/quote]But it's after midday where I am and was when I posted my entry, it's not an April Fool!

Stephen

CalKen's picture

Hmmm...managing by I Ching and biorythm, what an interesting concept.

It is also rumored that Nancy Reagan gave advice to Ronald Reagan based on her astrologer's inputs, which I guess would have made her astrologer the most powerful person in the world at the time.

**shudder**

Great postings, and I agree. MT will not get you tons of women (or men as applicable) or nice cars or condos but it gets the job done. Period.