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I've experienced first hand why businesses need bureaucracy, because I resisted building one. Turns out it's the same reason cars have 4 wheels. It just works.
by unabst 10y ago
I've experienced first hand why businesses need bureaucracy, because I resisted building one. Turns out it's the same reason cars have 4 wheels. It just works.
Some workers require oversight to be productive, and for some it just helps. This means you get the most out of your work force, and can also hire workers who can't manage themselves. But managers also abstract trust and responsibility from multiple staff to one staff, help organize workflow, and ensure proper communication across teams. It's a simple matter of fact that some work is more fun, some people communicate better, and people don't organize themselves. Add to this the coaching and mentoring factor of a good manager, and it's a no-brainer.
Granted, what most employees fail to understand is if you have a manager, the company has already deemed you need one, and you're practically paying for your own overhead. Good managers are hard to come by, and are expensive. But businesses desperately need good managers because they solve most staffing issues. In other words, if you stop being complacent and just behave like a manager, chances are you will become one.
Here is how it's done: You start by managing yourself and removing your own overhead. Then you start taking care of other responsibilities because you can't help it. Know what needs to get done, understand the big picture, and just help accomplish it from the side. And when you provide relevant insight about how to improve something, put out a fire, or organize a project, you're already manager material. Your goal is to replace your manager without actually replacing him, without being the boss, without pissing anyone off, and without higher pay. You just made your bosses job easier, increased the value of everyone else, and ensured work got done. If your company doesn't give you a raise, you're at the wrong company.
Here is how it isn't done: You keep relying on your manager to keep you in check. You only accomplish your minimum requirements. You blame training for not being able to do anything else. You feel entitled for a raise just by being there for a long time.
Both of the above are exaggerated to emphasize two opposites, but most people are somewhere in between. Of course, if you're not manager material and you suck at your job, the likelihood is you will get fired, so it's perfectly okay to be complacent and just do good work. But the point is, you have your manager to thank for your straight forward and fairly comfortable job, and at the end of the day, his/her salary is practically coming out of yours.
- dasmoth 10y agoWhat if you're looking for autonomy without becoming a manager?
- unabst 10y agoYou're a great worker. If you're autonomous, you're already good at managing yourself and your own work, so you're half way there. You're the person that would be high on the list of potential recruits for managerial positions if there was a shortage in your company. And you'd have to turn them down to maintain your non-managerial status and lower payroll. If you have a group of people that can manage themselves, you have a group of potential managers. In other words, they're worth more than people who can't manage themselves, and the likelihood of them doing simpler tasks that can be done with someone more cost effective is greater. Meaning, unless you're allergic to non-autonomous people, it becomes a good business decision to just start managing some helpers instead of forcing everyone to help themselves. The quintessential helper is "the intern" (and they may be grooming you for a managerial role if they put you in charge of one). Also, if you're an entrepreneur you're a manager. If you can't manage people, you have no business trying to build a business. It's also worth noting public education systems do not produce managers. The teacher-student dynamic is similar to the manager-worker dynamic. They don't teach you in school that you could learn whatever you want on your own and that the teacher is mostly there just to make sure you get your work done. It's pretty much the same with managers.
- dasmoth 10y agoThanks for the response -- interesting stuff. But any thoughts on what to do in the "allergic to non-autonomous people" situation?
- mwfunk 10y agoIf you're just describing people who can't or won't think for themselves (or have very poor judgement when they do), your options are (a) work alone or with a small group of people you respect, (b) work for a company with high standards for hiring (no place is perfect, but some are better than others), (c) learn how to constructively work with people you consider lesser mortals while hiding your contempt, or (d) don't put people into made-up buckets and learn how to make the best of whatever situation you find yourself in. (d) is by far the most challenging, and by far the most rewarding, because what you're capable of won't forever be circumscribed by preconceived notions about people, who can be quite surprising in unexpectedly positive and negative ways.