Job Satisfaction in Steady Decline
Wake up corporate America, people are not satisfied, happy or engaged at work, and the situation is worsening. The way we manage and lead our organizations must change — organizations that don’t change or change too slowly are going to lose more and more of their best people and their customers. Start reducing management malpractice in your organization today.
According to The Conference Board, “Americans are growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs….The decline in job satisfaction is widespread among workers of all ages and across all income brackets. Half of all Americans today say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60 percent in 1995. But among the 50 percent who say they are content, only 14 percent say they are ‘very satisfied.’ This report, which is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households, conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, a leading market information company (LSE: TNN), also includes information collected independently by TNS. This information reveals that approximately one-quarter of the American workforce is simply ’showing up to collect a paycheck.’ The survey finds that job satisfaction has declined across all income brackets in the last nine years. While 55 percent of workers earning more than $50,000 are satisfied with their jobs, only 14 percent claim they are very satisfied. At the other end of the pay scale (workers earning less than $15,000), about 45 percent of workers are satisfied, but only 17 percent express a strong level of satisfaction.”
Workers are dissatisfied at work because they can’t raise concerns without jeopardizing their jobs, their talents and capabilities aren’t matched with their jobs, they aren’t respected or trusted, their contributions aren’t appropriately recognized and valued, they aren’t allowed to dream or imagine or innovate, their ideas and suggestions are not sought after, they aren’t listened to, their work-life balance sucks, they find less and less meaning and fulfillment in their work, their opportunities for growth and development are limited and controlled, they’re punished for making mistakes, they don’t have clarity about what’s really expected of them, their conformity to endless policies and norms feels suffocating, and, at the end of the day, they don’t feel good about themselves or how they’ve spent their time. Work is a place they have to be, not want to be. All of these worker dissatisfactions and associated organizational problems stem from management malpractice.
91% of Workers are Disengaged
According to a recent Gallup Poll, 91% of employees in Japan are disengaged at work. Why? Management malpractice is even worse in Japan than it is in the U.S. Yes, management malpractice is the culprit — management malpractice is always the primary cause of employee disengagement at work, no matter where the workplace is located geographically. Sadly, this situation in Japan has not improved in the past five years. No wonder the Japanese economy continues to stagnate. Here’s how the Gallup Management Journal reports it:
“Only 9% of Japanese employees are ‘engaged’ at work — that is, psychologically committed to their jobs and their employers. That figure, a key finding from The Gallup Organization’s most recent Employee Engagement Index survey of Japan’s workforce, has remained virtually unchanged over the past five years. The survey reveals that 67% of Japanese employees are ‘not engaged’ — they pick up a paycheck but aren’t really enthusiastic about their work or their companies. The remaining 24% are ‘actively disengaged;’ these employees not only don’t care about their jobs, but they are upset with their company and their managers and aggressively spread this malaise to those around them.”
When are we going to get the message? There’s too much management malpractice in the workplace. Do something about it today, don’t wait until tomorrow. Do something now.
Taking the Gloves Off!
Management malpractice is rampant in organizations and we’re not doing anything about it. People are being demeaned, manipulated, deceived, opressed, abused, and injured — and we chalk it up to “that’s the way people and organizations are.” We’re economic slaves with good jobs (relatively speaking) in a highly successful capitalistic system that allows power to be abused. But it’s people, not systems, who abuse power, knowledge and relationships, right? Yes, but it’s organizational systems, created by people, that institutionalize the patterns of abuse, labeling them “necessary processes to maintain the well being of the many.” First we create our systems, then our systems create us. Of course, we always remind ourselves that bad bosses will eventually lose their people, their customers, their positions and their power. The system is self correcting, we tell ourselves. But not until bad bosses have made a lot of short-term cash and destroyed hundreds, thousands, even millions of people in the process. Sadly, the system won’t stop bad bosses because the system is too often created by them. What am I talking about? I’m talking about barriers to change. You and your co-workers have to stop management malpractice in your organization, nothing else can or will do it. Whenever we accept management malpractice from an organizational manager or leader, we perpetuate a destructive system. Inaction is acceptance. Acceptance is perpetuation. Perpetuation is institutionalization. Institutionalization is the system. The system is the system is the system — full of management malpractices that have been institutionalized. You know the rest of the story. Either we change the system or the system will continue to weaken us, one malpractice at a time, here a little, there a little, until we have lost our will and our ability to change.
Status Quo?
Are you enamored with the status quo? Are your people overly committed to or content with the status quo? What are you doing to create a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo? How much dissatisfaction is healthy and how much is too little or too much? Can you have too much dissatisfaction with the status quo? What are you doing with your dissatisfaction? How do you respond to the dissatisfaction of your people? Do you support and encourage it or do you squelch and reject it? What do your people think of your dissatisfaction with the status quo? Would they say it’s healthy, unhealthy, or nonexistent?
Discontinue or destroy something — a process, a rule, a system, a routine, a habit, a practice, or a relationship that entrenches the status quo or enshrines certainty. Creative destruction is the process of burning the old so the new can grow. Creatively destroy something monthly — making sure that something better emerges from the ashes.
You can avoid the management malpractice of encouraging a healthy dissatisfaction with the status quo while rejecting and squelching the ideas and initiatives that emerge from such dissatisfaction by encouraging an entrepreneurial attitude in your organization. At the Stanford Business School, according to Professor Grousbeck, they teach students the difference between administration and entrepreneurship: “We think that a dissatisfaction with the status quo is often what impels an entrepreneur, whereas an administrator, even a forward-looking one, is often thinking in terms of evolutionary developments—of how he or she can improve the current situation at the margin.” Be entrepreneurial, distrust the status quo, and never allow yourself or your people to become satisfied with it.
Peter Drucker
In the past 11 days since his death on 11/11/05 at the age of 95, much has been spoken and written about Peter Drucker’s vision, conviction, generosity, energy, graciousness, and genius. He was a remarkable man who inspired and instructed millions. After I read The Effective Executive and Managing for Results as a 19 year old in Brazil, I knew that I was changed forever. His clear and persuasive admonition to workers — assume responsibility for the overall results of your organization, no matter where you currently stand in the organizational hierarchy — remains the best advice ever given for building strong organizational cultures. I will miss his wisdom and devotion, but most of all, I will miss his clarity. One of his most often quoted statements, “So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done,” was a crucial touch stone for me as I wrote Management Malpractice. Thank you Peter F. Drucker for the infinite value you created while you were with us.
Challenge Your Biases and Assumptions!
When was the last time you challenged your most basic assumptions? When was the last time you questioned your most fundamental biases? Be honest with yourself. What do you do to make it easy for your direct reports to challenge their assumptions and biases? Or do you make it difficult for them to do so by your own example or your own assumptions and biases? How often do you think you should challenge your assumptions and biases? How often is too often, or not often enough? What is the best thing that ever happened to you because you challenged your assumptions or biases? What is the worse thing that happened to you because you failed to challenge assumptions and biases?
Take five minutes right now to challenge one of your long-held assumptions or biases. Begin developing a new belief or opinion to put in its place. Implement your new perspective this week. Yes, it is just that easy.
You can avoid the management malpractice of asking your people to challenge their assumptions and biases when you have no intention of questioning your own by facing this reality: every time you face a crisis or an opportunity you apply your years of experience and learning — along with your accumulated assumptions and biases — to address it. The older and more experienced you get, the harder it is to challenge your assumptions and biases, so you need to work at it daily. Clear the decks of your mind and the corners of your heart of every thought, idea, or feeling that’s served its purpose. The evolution of your organization depends on it.
Barriers Between Us: Accept or Remove?
“If I’ve said this once, I’ve said it a thousand times. You cannot use the same processes for managing R&D that you use for the operating units. It doesn’t work,” Eric Esplin, head of the R&D division for a mid-sized conglomerate, said in frustration to Fiona Wilde, the company’s CFO. “This new capital expenditure authorization process doesn’t fit us and never will. We can’t project revenue and margins on early development projects with any accuracy and if you force us to do so, you’ll only be disappointed when the numbers don’t pan out. It puts us in a no-win situation.”
“I have no choice. The ceiling on capital expenditures was set by the banks, not me,” Fiona said with similar frustration. “My responsibility is to justify every dollar we spend, and, frankly, R&D expenditures are the hardest to justify and the easiest to get out of control.”
“Then we should get out of the development business,” Eric returned.
“That’s not my decision,” Fiona said.
“When you implement a new capital approval process that does nothing to accommodate us and our differences, you are making the decision,” Eric said.
“I’m just doing what I was told to do,” Fiona said.
“You’re doing what organizations always do . . . you make rules based on the needs of the majority. To hell with whoever’s outside the majority.”
“The banks want justification—we give them justification. The banks want CapEx ceilings—we give them CapEx ceilings. The executive board wants a new capital approval process that focuses on the numbers—we give them exactly what they want. That’s what organizations do; they make decisions for the whole—and, unfortunately, sometimes individuals have to sacrifice,” Fiona said.
“Individuals are always the ones who have to sacrifice, that’s the problem,” Eric said.
“Look,” Fiona said, feeling more agitated, “turn in your capital requests using the new forms and then add an explanation. You’re making this more difficult than it needs to be.”
“That’s because this is more difficult than you realize. By requiring me to use these new forms, you’re forcing me to use a process designed for operating business decisions, not R&D—it’s ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to do it. It creates an unnecessary communication and approval barrier that should not exist. You don’t see it, because it doesn’t affect you the way it affects me and my division. I have to live with the effects, you don’t. You’re happy making everyone conform to a single, uniform process simply because it’s easier—for you—to manage and control,” Eric said.
“Now you are offending me,” Fiona said.
“Now you know how I feel,” Eric said as he walked out.
Protest!
You don’t have to put up with management malpractice any longer. A majority of today’s workers have been demeaned, manipulated, deceived, oppressed, abused or otherwise injured by management—over 88%, according to those polled on our website. This is utterly and completely insane! It’s time to put an end to this absurdity of organizational life by exposing management malpractice every time you encounter it. Post your organization on our guilty companies list, send an anonymous memo to your boss, share a copy of the book Management Malpractice with your management, start a revolution in your organization by going to our “Get Involved!” page, tell your story to the world. Soon, we’ll be posting video-taped testimonials from hundreds of people on the damaging effects of management malpractice. The protesting is only going to get louder. Don’t let management malpractice continue in any form in your organization. Yes, you can overlook minor, unintentional and unrepeated infractions but don’t hesitate to expose the rest with extreme prejudice. No manager or leader in any organization anywhere should be allowed to malpractice management and get away with it. We can stop this growing epidemic of management malpractice if we want to stop it. Do we? Do you? Join the revolution, it has already begun! If you need some inspiration, listen to Billie Joe Armstrong scream “American Idiot,” or Bob Dylan mumble “Only a Pawn in their Game,” or Barry McGuire chant “Eve of Destruction,” or reread Tom Paine’s “Common Sense,” or Thoreau’s “Walden,” or Upton Sinclair’s protest against the meat-packing industry in 1908 “The Jungle,” or John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath,” or Kevin Trudeau’s “Natural Cures They” Don’t Want You to Know About” or relook at the photos from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal or the post-hurricane catastrophe in New Orleans. Management malpractice is about dehumanization. We cannot let it go unexposed and uncorrected any longer.
Danger in Being Too Negative?
The danger in focusing only on the negative while neglecting the positive lies in never envisioning the possibility of greater change, improvement, learning, breakthrough, progress, fulfillment, or happiness. Managers and leaders who are overly negative and critical in the name of facing reality alienate their employees and customers, close down honest and open dialogue in their organizations and foster cynical, hopeless and lifeless cultures. Ignoring the positive while focusing only on the negative can be a form of management malpractice. But management malpractice will never be stopped if that’s all we expect from the managers and leaders of our organizations. The attitude that managers and leaders in organizations will always malpractice management and will never improve is far too negative to produce change and improvement. Some say that the best way to overcome a bad habit is to face up to all the ugly effects and consequences caused by the bad habit. Good advice. But applying such advice requires contemplating, envisioning and planning life after the bad habit is eliminated. Focusing on the positive as a means to overcoming the negative is not bad, misguided, or evil, it’s a vital part of the human development process. Use it to your advantage. Here’s some even better advice from William James, “The greatest discover of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind …. The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” We can overcome management malpractice in our organizations and rise to new levels of trust, cooperation, fulfillment, happiness and success in our workplaces. We can and we must! That’s what this revolution is all about!
Danger in Being Too Positive?
The potential danger in focusing only on the positive while minimizing the negative lies in never understanding the core of the problem, difficulty, trouble, dilemma, obstacle, threat, menace, crisis, predicament, confusion, unrest or turmoil. Managers and leaders who are overanxious and overreaching in they efforts to contain or curtail the discussion of legitimate concerns, criticisms and disagreements in the name of emphasizing positivism and eliminating negativity risk closing down honest and open communication, alienating their employees and customers, and fostering an authoritarian, control-obsessed culture. Ignoring the negative while emphasizing only the positive can be a form of management malpractice. Management malpractice, like other pesky problems and menacing obstacles, doesn’t go away by itself or through only the positive reinforcement of praiseworthy or well-practiced management. The only way to get rid of management malpractice is to see it, expose it and prevent it – which requires a lot of serious focus on removing the negative as a means to accelerating and expanding the positive. Some say that the best way to overcome a bad habit is to form a new one in its place. Good advice. But applying such advice still requires seeing the bad habit, admitting that it is a bad habit that should be overcome and then forming a new habit(s) to take its place. Focusing on the negative as a means to expanding the positive is not bad, misguided, or evil, it’s a vital part of the human development process. Use it to your advantage. Here’s some even better advice from Thomas Edison, “I never quit until I get what I’m after. Negative results are just what I’m after. They are just as valuable to me as positive results …. I can never find the things that work best until I know the things that don’t work.” We all malpractice management from time to time, but we need to see our malpractices as things that don’t work, expose them as malpractices that produce negative results and then prevent future malpractices by avoiding the things that don’t work. Management malpractice doesn’t work! See it, expose it, prevent it in your organization, today!
See It, Expose It, Prevent It
Are you able to see management malpractice in all its various and sundry forms? Have you ever tried to expose management malpractice in your organization? Do you know how to consistenly prevent management malpractice in your organization? Great management principles and strong corporate values are too often consciously or unconsciously twisted and perverted by leaders and managers because of personal biases and for personal gain at the expense of their people and organizations. When this happens — and it happens much too often in today’s business environment — great management principles and strong corporate values turn into nothing more than worn-out clichés, meaningless lip service, manipulative devices, and outright lies — dangerous and destructive lies. When this happens, people become cynical, distrustful and unproductive. No wonder 70% of U.S. workers are disengaged at work, according to a recent Gallup Poll. Putting a stop to management malpractice in organizations is never easy but it is essential for an organization to move from bad to good or from good to great. If you want to stop management malpractice in your organization, you must become savvy enough to see it in all its subtle forms, committed enough to expose it every single time it occurs, and prepared enough to prevent it from happening again and again in your organization. This website is devoted to helping you learn how to see it, expose it and prevent it.
Schering-Plough
When organizations and their leaders avoid responsibility for their actions they can cause tragedy, as Schering-Plough is alleged to have caused for people suffering from asthma. As many as seventeen people may have died because of faulty Schering inhalers. Of course, Schering-Plough’s culpability has not yet been established, and the company has not yet accepted full and complete responsibility for actions that may have led to the tragedy. However, the company has recalled 59 million inhalers because some of them don’t contain the necessary active ingredients for alleviating asthma attacks. Long known for rigorous quality control and disciplined manufacturing practices, Schering-Plough recently began surprising analysts, shareholders, and eventually customers with a growing number of product recalls, FDA fines, and sanctions. However, management offered no explanations and few solutions. Instead, they avoided responsibility and failed to correct the situation. Now the company is in the middle of a criminal investigation. Apparently, management poured money into marketing and sales for blockbuster products such as Claritin while delaying needed plant upgrades and overrelying on the past strength of manufacturing systems. Whether management will eventually accept full and complete responsibility for its actions remains to be seen. Critics including Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, believe that there’s no excuse for the company’s sloppy manufacturing, calling it bad management. Hopefully, for the sake of millions of consumers and thousands of employees, Schering-Plough will accept responsibility for its actions, even if it means paying millions of dollars in damages to the grieving families.
The Price of Raising Concerns?
Laura Scatena walked into Dirk Reynolds’s office with a somber look on her face. Dirk was the executive vice president and chief operating officer for Bertrand Meeks, a large engineering design and construction company. Laura, vice president of business development, was one of five VPs who reported to Dirk.
“Everything okay?” Dirk asked, not used to seeing Laura without her usual cheery smile.
“I’m concerned that the new decentralized business development structure isn’t going to work, especially with clients like Shell and Dow,” Laura replied. “They love having one contact point for all of our services. I know the decentralized structure will give the business units more autonomy and control over their operations, but we may lose some of our key clients in the process.”
“It’s not like we haven’t discussed this, Laura,” Dirk responded with a slight frown. “The fact is we’ve discussed it to death. There are always tradeoffs with these sorts of decisions, but you were there when we all decided that the upsides of decentralization were greater than the downsides. This decision has been made.”
The decision Dirk was referring to was to decentralize Bertrand Meeks’s business development from one centralized function into six different business units including technology development, engineering design services, equipment sales, and three geographically based construction units.
“I’m sorry, but you’re the one who’s always espousing the ‘talk back to your boss’ philosophy,” responded Laura defensively. “How many times have you told us to never let a concern go unexpressed, particularly if it impacts the business?”
“You’ve been expressing your concerns for months. Everyone listened. We made a decision. Now it’s time to implement.”
“We’re making the wrong decision.”
“That’s not what you said yesterday in the meeting,” Dirk said, beginning to show his impatience.
“You know that I’ve been pressured by everyone to get on board. Of course there are advantages to decentralizing, but at the end of the day I still don’t think the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”
“You should have said that yesterday in the meeting.”
“I did. I’ve been saying it for weeks. No one’s been listening!” Laura snapped.
“You voted in favor of the decentralization.”
“As if I had a choice! You made me feel so stubborn and inflexible. And then when the business heads accused me of empire building, there was no place for me to go. I’m losing sleep over this. We’re making a big mistake. We’re going to lose clients and we’re going to screw up jobs. I guarantee it.”
“Are you sure this isn’t about losing your key people to the business units? Remember, they’ll still report to you for functional purposes,” Dirk said.
“This is not about me, this is about the business. You know how long it’s taken us to turn business development into one of our strengths. I’m afraid decentralizing will set us back, way back. And I’m telling you right now that I won’t be able to control the quality of our client interactions and negotiations,” Laura said.
“So this is about control?”
“No, this is about power. And you obviously think I have too much of it,” Laura said as she turned and walked out of Dirk’s office.
Five minutes later, Dirk walked into the office of the Chairman and CEO Sam Carlton. “We have a problem with Laura. I don’t think she’s going to get on board with the decentralization decision,” Dirk said after closing the door behind him.
Sam sat back in his large leather chair and looked at Dirk for a few moments. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he finally said. “After yesterday, I thought she was going to accept this.”
“I don’t think she’s going to be a team player on this. She’s showing too much resistance,” Dirk said.
“Tough to lose talent like hers.”
“Yes, but maybe it’s for the best.”
“It’s your call, Dirk. If she stays, make sure she doesn’t scuttle the decentralization. If she leaves, make sure she doesn’t sue us,” Sam said as he went back to what he was doing and Dirk returned to his office.
Put an End to Hypocrisy!
Are you ethical? Honest? Forthright? Open? Fair? Empathetic? Reasonable? Humble? Forgiving? Do you hold your people to a higher standard than you are able to attain and sustain? How do your direct reports view you? 360 feedback aside, do you really know? Do you want to know? Do you care? Is management malpractice ethical? Moral? Good? Noble? Truthful? Exemplary? Productive? Pragmatic? Useful? No! Not in any form. Do you malpractice management? How often? What are you doing about it? Anything? What will you do about it?
It’s time for a new dialogue, a new agenda, a new hope for the future of our organizations and workplaces. With new courage to expose management malpractice whenever we see it and new resolve to prevent it from damaging ourselves and our coworkers, we can revolutionize our work environments so that all of us can better learn and grow, find more fulfillment and meaning, and create extraordinary value and results for ourselves and our organizations. Join the revolution, help bring an end to the hypocrisy in your organization.
Sign of a Great Organizational Culture
Great organizational cultures are those that treat the individual with the utmost respect, dignity, deference and attention. Yes, organizational cultures are about collective norms, standards, habits, patterns, rites, and rituals; but the only way to distinguish the great cultures from the mediocre and ignoble ones is to examine how the individual is treated. The finest, most advanced team building, organizational development, communication and common purpose in the world cannot compensate for the mistreatment of just one individual. Treatment of the one symbolizes treatment of the many–i.e., what is done to one can and will be done to many. Again, there is no other way to appropriately judge or accurately measure the core influence and underlying strength of an organization’s culture except by examining how the managers and leaders of the organization treat individual people, one by one. A single manager or leader who malpractices management can destroy years of organizational culture building, unless his or her malpractice is quickly exposed and corrected. You cannot allow individuals in your organization to be demeaned, manipulated, deceived, oppressed, abused or otherwise injured and at the same time develop a great organizational culture. It will never happen. Management malpractice and great organizational cultures do not mix.
Mismatching People and Jobs
There are far too many mismatches between key people and key jobs in today’s organizations — and if it’s happening in key jobs, it’s certainly happening in more subordinate positions as well. With all the attention on attracting and retaining key people, you’d think senior executives would do a better job of getting the right people in the right jobs at the right time, but they’re not. According to a popular McKinsey Quarterly article, “Matching People and Jobs,” most companies treat employees as “undifferentiated resources” who often fail to reach their peak performance and full potential: “A systematic and continuous approach to fitting the right person to the right job at the right time has long been the Holy Grail of workforce organization. But most managers, search as they might, come up empty-handed. Few companies understand which employees are essential or how best to structure their workforce. As a result, human capital — the skills and knowledge of employees — too often remains an untapped performance lever.” Not surprisingly, organizations and management teams that put the right people in the wrong jobs, or vice versa, will never enable their staffs to tap into their full potential. The malpractice? Promising people that the organization will do everything possible to put the right people in the right jobs at the right time in order to ensure that each individual can maximize his or her talents, when you know that the organization does not have the tools, systems, or commitment to make sure that people are enabled to tap into their full potential.
Feeling Belittled, Berated and Demeaned?
“You call this ready for prime time?” Sam Danzig asked as he tossed the draft proposal on the conference table in front of his four staffers. “My four-year-old granddaughter could do better than this.”
“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Especially given that we’re responding to your request for a new approach to our proposals. Remember, this is a draft—it’s for discussion purposes,” Kate said tentatively.
“Well, you’re gonna have to do a hell of a lot better than this if you want to have a meaningful discussion,” Sam responded.
Sam was the managing partner of a small business services firm. He was frustrated and dissatisfied with the company’s recent new business development efforts and was determined to make sure that everyone knew it—and felt it.
Kate made one more attempt to have a productive discussion. “What about the basic outline? Can you at least give us some input on that?”
“You’re not listening. I can’t evaluate the bones without seeing the meat. Show me the meat, people . . . or is that language too sexually charged? Show me that you can think through this process and come up with some viable alternatives without me having to baby-sit you along the way. Is that clear enough, Kate?” Sam said with a smirk.
Kate remained silent, staring at Sam in disgust until she looked down at the papers in front of her.
“Cat got your tongue, or am I getting the silent treatment?”
John Bailey, one of the other staffers sitting around the table, came to Kate’s rescue. “We’ll get you another draft before the end of the day.”
“Don’t bother,” said Sam derisively. “I wouldn’t want you all to strain yourselves by actually thinking. Give yourselves enough time to get it right before you waste my time.”
No one moved from their seats as Sam stood in front of them.
“What are you waiting for . . . someone to do your work for you?” Sam asked sarcastically.
“We’re waiting for some respect,” Kate said, her face flush and lip quivering.
“Respect is something you earn every day—and none of you has done so today. So run along. Show me that you merit the designation of professionals.”
There was still no movement from the staffers.
“Okay, I’m an SOB, but someday you’ll thank me for it. Now earn your keep for a change by bringing me a draft I can actually consider,” Sam said as he left the room.
Kate burst into tears as the other staff members shook their heads and tried to comfort her. They all felt belittled, berated, and demeaned.
Exposing Management Malpractice
Leaders and managers, expose your mistakes, your failures, your short-comings, your weaknesses, and especially your malpractice of management principles and values that are espoused by your organization. Expose them today and everyday. To do otherwise is management malpractice! What is management malpractice? Any managerial activity or course of action that thwarts, hinders or makes it unnecessarily difficult for people to do their jobs, share ideas, grow and develop, collaborate with co-workers, find meaning and fulfillment, create value and get results. Now, as you honestly assess yourself, if you can, don’t blame your failure to expose your own malpractice of management on anyone else or on any group because they failed to expose their management malpractices. Accept full accountability for your management practices and then work actively and regularly to prevent them in the future. If you do this openly and sincerely, your people will not desert you, criticize you, laugh at you, take advantage of you, ignore you, abandon you, disregard you or ignore you—they will respect you, honor you, understand you, relate to you, admire you, listen to you, sympathize with you, follow you, and strive to be better managers and leaders themselves. Do you believe it? If not, you may be too cynical and distrustful, because of years of being subjected to management malpractice, to build a truly great organization.
Once exposed, management malpractices can never have the same smothering and stifling effect upon you, your people or your organization that they previously had. In fact, ongoing exposure of management malpractices fosters a transparent working environment where individuals, teams and leaders can work together more openly, honestly and collaboratively to prevent malpractice in the future.