Forrest Breyfogle III Talks About Wisdom On The Green

A Harvard Business Review article “Why Few Executives are Skillful Managers” made the following points: “despite the billions of dollars, euros, and yen invested in coaching and management development, remarkably few executives can be regarded as skillful managers.” It’s my guess that the majority of managers with responsibility for large teams and significant businesses either do not possess the requisite skills of a manager — or they just don’t put them into practice. Why? There are three main reasons. Firstly, time constraints and day to day pressure to deliver instant results make it almost impossible for execs to ponder, think through, and apply their new abilities. Second, budget constraints can result in a lack of support and follow-through on the best intentions. Finally, behavioral change is difficult — it’s all too easy for a development plan to slip to the bottom of the to-do list.” The article suggested the following development areas: delegation, management distance, visibility, work-life balance, and continuous learning and reflection.

Some other thoughts …
I do not disagree with the issue of executives making skillful managers; however, I have some other thoughts on what should be done to address the problem. I suggest that Executives would be much improved if they were to operate within a well defined strategy that leads to the 3 Rs of business; i.e., everyone doing the Right things, and doing them Right, at the Right time. This management system needs to be different than the establishment of somewhat arbitrary goals throughout the organization for departments without a structure plan for determining what will be done differently to determine how the goals are to be met. Furthermore, this system of management needs to consider the evolution of business strategies that lead to specific behaviors that are congruant with the focused financial needs of the organization.

Executives operate their organizations using strategic planning, scorecards and business improvement systems that can lead to decisions that are wrong for the company. These issues with resolution are described in “The Elephant in the Room: Corporate Performance Management Issues and its Reinvention, Going Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard”.

With the linked described system, Executives would now have a structured framework for them to operate within that cannot be gamed. Lean Six Sigma consulting and/or coaching would provide more of a structure for what they should be doing to be successful operating their businesses within this infrastructure.

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