First, Let’s Fire All the Managers

https://hbr.org/2011/12/first-lets-fire-all-the-managers

by aard • 8 years ago

41 6 8 years ago

neotrope• 8 years ago

Sounds a lot like https://www.holacracy.org

Without experiencing holacracy to base my comments on, I’d guess these organizations struggle in big ways when pursuing unpopular ideas:

    - Hard times that require shuttering a dept or laying off employees 
    - Executing against an expensive long-term vision

minicoolva• 8 years ago

I don't need manager. I need self managed colleague

mark_l_watson• 8 years ago

“The problem isn’t the occasional control freak; it’s the hierarchical structure that systematically disempowers lower-level employees”

so true. People do better work and are happier when they feel like they have control of what they work on.

Our family eats Morning Star veggie burgers - really interesting to read about their distributed non-management style.

mikestew• 8 years ago

Seeing as how the title paraphrases Shakespeare, I'm not sure what to make of the fact that "first, let's kill all of the lawyers" was in reference to making a less-than-admirable character king. It's a compliment to the legal system, not looking to tear it down.

https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/17/nyregion/l-kill-the-lawye...

1auralynn• 8 years ago

Anyone who wants a deeper dive into this stuff should read the book Reinventing Organizations, which goes into detail about Morningstar as well as several other "self-management" organizations. Really great read.

https://www.amazon.com/Reinventing-Organizations-Creating-In...

anotheryou• 8 years ago

I'm not sure the tomato business translates well to IT.

I'm a project/product manager and I'm writing specifications, give an answer if someone is unsure about how to do something, link departments, contact the outside, try to find ways to improve weak work.

While I try to make my team self-sufficient, it surely doesn't default to it.

Programmers forget to remind marketing of releases, front-end guys don't talk enough to the designers, QA as the last link has to work overtime when time is scarce, programmers writing UI ignoring all conventions and of course the common disagreement that dissolves in to nothing with a hint of counseling.

Any tips for making myself less needed? I really try, but giving away responsibilities most often fails. I recently started tracking delegated tasks so things are actually done at some point (devs have tickets, but other departments don't).

With demanding upper management everyone also feels like he has no time to do anything other than "his job" regarding further responsibilities (even though the team is generally great and thinking along well).

First, Let’s Fire All the Managers

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