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In The Great Game of Business, Jack Stack shares his experiences and lessons learned throughout the years, including what he was taught about management early in his career. What was the most important lesson he learned about management? Ignore almost all of those "best practices." What he was being taught and what he had learned about management were entirely different! He discovered that the practice of management is filled with myths guaranteed to screw up any company, and we've compiled our blogs on the 5 Myths of Management here:
1. Don't Tell People the Truth—They'll Screw You
The first myth comes from an environment of "every man for himself," or "cover your ass," which causes dishonesty and inefficiency in the workplace. Read more to see how Jack showed his company that dishonesty makes for bad business, and how to build credibility by telling the truth.
2. Nice Guys Finish Last
We've all heard how you have to be an S.O.B. to succeed in business. How you have to step on other people to get results. It's a tough world and you win through intimidation. The truth is that this mindset keeps good people from becoming managers, and businesses need all the good managers they can get.
3. A Manager's Job Is to Come Up with Answers
It's very common for managers, especially new managers, to think they're supposed to have solutions for any problems that arise on their watch. But in reality, it sets you up to fail because no one has all the answers—it simply leads to isolation for the manager and missed opportunity. By sharing the problems, it creates a learning experience for everyone, builds confidence in your people and taps into the collective wisdom of the crowd.
4. It's a Big Mistake to Promote People Too Quickly
When people spend all their time in one function, they see every issue from a single perspective. They can't appreciate other departments' needs. Walls go up. Communication is terrible. And it is harder to accomplish anything.
Jack Stack tackled this obstacle by getting people jobs in other departments. Read more to see how this essentially cross-trained his employees, promoting effective communication across the organization and giving people opportunities to grow quickly.
5. Don't Worry About the Big Issues—Just Do Your Job
In many companies, the belief is that you should only give people the information required to do their specific jobs; everything else should be treated as some kind of corporate secret. That is the biggest myth of all.
By giving your people the whole story (and teaching them to understand and use that information) they can make improvements in their daily actions that contribute to big wins and the success of the company overall.
When it comes down to it, management is all about instilling that desire to win in your entire team. Remember these five myths of management, and what you can do to turn these practices around and help your team grow to their fullest potential.
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