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At the risk of pounding the Jobs-is-dead meme too hard, this reminds me of a good story I read recently about Steve Jobs: Jobs tells the VP that if the garbage

At the risk of pounding the Jobs-is-dead meme too hard, this reminds me of a good story I read recently about Steve Jobs: Jobs tells the VP that if the garbage in his office is not being emptied regularly for some reason, he would ask the janitor what the problem is. The janitor could reasonably respond by saying, "Well, the lock on the door was changed, and I couldn't get a key." An irritation for Jobs, for an understandable excuse for why the janitor couldn't do his job. As a janitor, he's allowed to have excuses. "When you're the janitor, reasons matter," Jobs tells newly minted VPs, according to Lashinsky. "Somewhere between the janitor and the CEO, reasons stop mattering," says Jobs, adding, that Rubicon is "crossed when you become a VP."[1] [1] http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-07/tech/30043798_1_janitor-steve-jobs-vp#ixzz1aDW7Q1Y0 http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-05-07/tech/30043798...

raganwald 15y ago
We can go back further than that. Hal Geneen was the CEO famous for expanding ITT into a multi-national conglomerate using rigorous metrics-driven management. His favourite saying was, “Managers must manage.” As in, your job as a manager is to overcome the obstacles, not to use them for excuses. What do you manage if not the impediments to success?
- yzhengyu 15y ago
  Amen. I have lost count of the number of times where I saw engineering teams taking the full blame for failure where it was middle management dropping the ball with regards to dismissing the massive engineering risks engineering have found with third-party components, vendors, etc. When morale and motivation is in the pits, don't expect miracles or heroics to save the day.
- sausagefeet 15y ago
  So true. It reminds me of working on a project and there are so many times when some piece of the stack that we didn't write is acting up. You want, so bad, to say "well, we can't do this because X has a bug in it". But then you remind yourself that your users don't care why your product doesn't work, just that it does. And you spend some frustrating amount of time finding a work around.
  - emp_ 15y ago
    You just described my last few years working with SharePoint :)
- InclinedPlane 15y ago
  Indeed, if success was guaranteed, why manage?
jroseattle 15y ago
I read that story as well, in the context of a review of the failed launch of the mobile.me service. The full reference: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/07/businessinsider-steve-jobs-mobileme-failure-2011-5.DTL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/07/... It would be a huge challenge to work in that environment, but also hugely rewarding when you find success. Or hugely crushing when you find failure. But I really appreciate Jobs's sentiment here: you're an Apple VP, which means you can marshall resources to solve problems. If you can't fulfill the title, someone else will. Do, or do not. There is no try.
- alexqgb 15y ago
  "...which means you can marshall resources to solve problems." That's the critical condition. It's also the best job description I've ever seen for "Manager."
- cubicle67 15y ago
  it also requires authority in the same amount as responsibility - something few organisations get correct.
  - jroseattle 15y ago
    So true.
larrys 15y ago
If you want to truly experience the crossing of the rubicon try starting a business with your own money where success or failure is squarely on your shoulders. Where there are no do overs and the money lost is not other people's money. And you don't get a chance to pivot to something else with a pat on the back as a great learning experience. And back to living with your parents.
- ido 15y ago
  Amen to that. I'm currently going through that & it's been a hell of a ride. I'm (barely) profitable and things are really looking up, but there were (and still are) some pretty dismal moments while bootstrapping with my life's savings.
mahyarm 15y ago
But remember that you will still fail, and if your not, your not pushing the limit enough. It's ok to fail, but the next answer is what can you do to solve it with the resources you have, not to stop at an excuse.

raganwald 15y ago

We can go back further than that. Hal Geneen was the CEO famous for expanding ITT into a multi-national conglomerate using rigorous metrics-driven management. His favourite saying was, “Managers must manage.” As in, your job as a manager is to overcome the obstacles, not to use them for excuses. What do you manage if not the impediments to success?

yzhengyu 15y ago
Amen. I have lost count of the number of times where I saw engineering teams taking the full blame for failure where it was middle management dropping the ball with regards to dismissing the massive engineering risks engineering have found with third-party components, vendors, etc. When morale and motivation is in the pits, don't expect miracles or heroics to save the day.
sausagefeet 15y ago
So true. It reminds me of working on a project and there are so many times when some piece of the stack that we didn't write is acting up. You want, so bad, to say "well, we can't do this because X has a bug in it". But then you remind yourself that your users don't care why your product doesn't work, just that it does. And you spend some frustrating amount of time finding a work around.
- emp_ 15y ago
  You just described my last few years working with SharePoint :)
InclinedPlane 15y ago
Indeed, if success was guaranteed, why manage?

jroseattle 15y ago

I read that story as well, in the context of a review of the failed launch of the mobile.me service. The full reference: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/07/businessinsider-steve-jobs-mobileme-failure-2011-5.DTL http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/05/07/... It would be a huge challenge to work in that environment, but also hugely rewarding when you find success. Or hugely crushing when you find failure. But I really appreciate Jobs's sentiment here: you're an Apple VP, which means you can marshall resources to solve problems. If you can't fulfill the title, someone else will. Do, or do not. There is no try.

alexqgb 15y ago
"...which means you can marshall resources to solve problems." That's the critical condition. It's also the best job description I've ever seen for "Manager."
cubicle67 15y ago
it also requires authority in the same amount as responsibility - something few organisations get correct.
- jroseattle 15y ago
  So true.

larrys 15y ago

If you want to truly experience the crossing of the rubicon try starting a business with your own money where success or failure is squarely on your shoulders. Where there are no do overs and the money lost is not other people's money. And you don't get a chance to pivot to something else with a pat on the back as a great learning experience. And back to living with your parents.

ido 15y ago
Amen to that. I'm currently going through that & it's been a hell of a ride. I'm (barely) profitable and things are really looking up, but there were (and still are) some pretty dismal moments while bootstrapping with my life's savings.

mahyarm 15y ago

But remember that you will still fail, and if your not, your not pushing the limit enough. It's ok to fail, but the next answer is what can you do to solve it with the resources you have, not to stop at an excuse.