One of our clients recently brought up the topic of ‘monkey management’. Coined back in the mid-1970’s this term refers to the problem of managers reducing their effectiveness by taking on unsolved problems (monkeys) that rightfully need to stay with their employees.
A manager’s job is to develop employees, create opportunities, remove obstacles, clarify priorities, etc. These are things that are important to keep the business moving forward, but are not urgent.
Problems tend to be more urgent. A manager’s job is to ensure problems are solved, but not to personally solve all problems. When managers take over ownership of problems from their employees, the important issues they’re responsible for are delayed and the organization as a whole suffers. It is critical that we recognize when problems are being ‘delegated upward’.
I’m interested in your perspective. Are you the employee who delegated upward? At the time was it your intention to have your boss solve the problem for you? Or are you are a supervisor or manager who picked up monkeys in the interest of solving problems? Were you aware that you were taking on someone else’s problem? Did you reach a point when you recognized that you were becoming the bottleneck in productivity? Did you come to the realization yourself or did someone point it out to you? More importantly, regardless of which side of the issue you were on, how did you go about changing your own behavior?
Tom Cline
I am sure that each and every one of us has asked ourselves the question above.
I am repeatedly asked my opinion on this topic in conversations and training sessions with owners, managers, and employees alike. We all want to be liked. We all want to feel a part of the group. We all want to be “one of the guys” (sorry ladies - no gender exclusion intended). Everyone knows the boundaries, right?
Or could it be that “familiarity breeds contempt”? If we become friends with our subordinates they will abuse the relationship? It’s my job to be tough and to make the necessary decisions and I can’t worry about a friendship getting in the way? Nice guys finish last?
Finding that right balance between being someone's boss and being his or her friend is essential, but extremely difficult. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this subject, from the perspective of being a supervisor or from the one being supervised.
Scott Tackett
This week’s blog post comes from one of our readers and pertains to the challenge of changing a company’s culture. This business owner writes:
“How do you effect real change in your businesses culture? It has to start at the top and work down. It also takes a long time. This is something I've struggled with. I'm sure others have too.“
ANY change in business is “real” and should be taken seriously. As our reader suggests, how that change effects company culture would appear to be driven by the owner and upper management. HOWEVER, there seems to be a point in a company’s maturity when the inmates take over the asylum, so to speak. A time when the business owner is at the mercy of the culture that’s been adopted and cultivated by the employees, dictating that change must now be implemented by leadership at a much lower level. As a result, the question now becomes: Can culture be dictated from the top down or does it need to be adopted from the bottom up?
I would argue that change is adopted and then fostered from the bottom up. To create a positive culture change business owners must hire for attitude, and enable leaders to have an affirmative impact on the company’s culture at a much lower level. Whether you agree or disagree, I’m eager to hear your opinions and thoughts.
Tim Hull
In today’s 21st century work environment managers and leaders are faced with much more complex issues than we ever thought possible just a few short years ago. One thought provoking topic centers around whether employers have the moral and ethical ‘right’ to restrict certain behaviors both on and off the job. Should employers be concerned about and attempt to address employees who participate in dangerous/high risk hobbies? What about freedoms of speech and expression and other protected civil liberties? How about health issues such as obesity or smoking that could lead to increased health care costs? The question I am posing here is this: Do employers have legitimate business reasons for attempting to limit or abridge certain “activities and/or behaviors” on the part of their employees? Your thoughts, comments and feelings would be appreciated.
Scott Tackett
With all the corporate scandals in the news over the past several years, it got me thinking about one company whose name has not appeared...UPS. Why? Simply put - because UPS sees ethics as a primary part of achieving a competitive advantage with customers...and as an aid in attracting and retaining employees. They have taken a number of actions to “lead with integrity” and place a daily emphasis on ensuring corporate integrity and ethical behavior. The determinate of ethical behavior is the organizational culture… it’s how things are done at UPS.
Many managers think of ethics as a personal sense of right and wrong; a confidential matter between individuals and their consciences. Some managers may even think that employees’ misdeeds have nothing to do with the company; that it’s not a management issue. Wrong! Ethics and ethical behavior is as much an organizational issue as a personal issue.
The other side of this is that many managers rush to implement a compliance approach in hopes that having standards in place will help them get through the day without being indicted.
Neither view is acceptable in my opinion.
As effective leaders we must help guide and coach our employees so that everyone (including you) looks at the needs of the customers (internal and external), suppliers, the company and the community when making decisions. Leaders, like those at UPS, define morality and the “right” or acceptable standard of behavior and never, ever waiver from that position.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “As long as there is poverty in the world, I can never be rich… As long as diseases are rampant, I can never be healthy... I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.”
Think about it.
Scott Tackett
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