3 ms·

> This nonsense about "measuring outcomes rather than focusing on how the work is performed" is cope for incompetent leadership. So your assertion is that ever

by jt2190 3y ago

> This nonsense about "measuring outcomes rather than focusing on how the work is performed" is cope for incompetent leadership. So your assertion is that every leader who is not expert in literally every function performed in their organization is “incompetent”. And measuring outcomes is “cope”. So, say, if I need to consult a physician I’m incompetent because I should be an expert at managing my health. If I feel better after visiting a physician that’s “cope”. This seems unnecessarily limiting. There are so many things I’m not an expert in yet I’m responsible for. I can’t just resign from having my house repaired because I’m “incompetent”.

philwelch 3y ago
> So, say, if I need to consult a physician I’m incompetent because I should be an expert at managing my health. I’m talking about leadership here, not living your own life. Obviously you aren’t going to have the same expertise as your doctor. That’s why you shouldn’t be running a medical practice. In reality, much of the health care system is managed by incompetent bean counting administrators rather than actual experts, and that’s a huge problem. The other side of the equation is that, at least in my experience, the best doctors are the ones who encourage and enable me to become an expert in my own health. If a doctor isn’t able to explain things to my satisfaction, I’m reluctant to trust their judgment. > I can’t just resign from having my house repaired because I’m “incompetent”. Nor do you want to be the guy who takes his car in for an oil change and gets billed an extra $100 for “replacing the headlight fluid.” When it comes to house stuff, the professionals are going to be better equipped and able to do the work faster than you are, but the basic principles behind how your house works shouldn’t be total mysteries to you, and if you pretend that you never have to bother learning about that stuff, you’re going to get taken for a ride. What I stated at the outset is that the best managers “develop expertise in everything they have to manage”. You’re obviously not going to start off with all that expertise, but that doesn’t mean there’s a substitute for developing it. The idea that you can come into a field you know nothing about with zero expertise and be an effective leader by “measuring outcomes” is a fantasy. If we want to measure outcomes, let’s measure the outcomes of that philosophy. How many manufacturing or tech companies that used to be run by engineers continued to be successful after they were taken over by non-technical MBA’s? How many astronauts have died because NASA management lacked the expertise to understand and appropriately respond to the objections of the engineers who reported to them? Are American universities more cost-effective now that they’re run by administrators than they were when they were still run by academics? Is medicine better when treatment decisions are made by physicians or by HMO bureaucrats and government regulators?

by jt2190 3y ago

philwelch 3y ago

> So, say, if I need to consult a physician I’m incompetent because I should be an expert at managing my health. I’m talking about leadership here, not living your own life. Obviously you aren’t going to have the same expertise as your doctor. That’s why you shouldn’t be running a medical practice. In reality, much of the health care system is managed by incompetent bean counting administrators rather than actual experts, and that’s a huge problem. The other side of the equation is that, at least in my experience, the best doctors are the ones who encourage and enable me to become an expert in my own health. If a doctor isn’t able to explain things to my satisfaction, I’m reluctant to trust their judgment. > I can’t just resign from having my house repaired because I’m “incompetent”. Nor do you want to be the guy who takes his car in for an oil change and gets billed an extra $100 for “replacing the headlight fluid.” When it comes to house stuff, the professionals are going to be better equipped and able to do the work faster than you are, but the basic principles behind how your house works shouldn’t be total mysteries to you, and if you pretend that you never have to bother learning about that stuff, you’re going to get taken for a ride. What I stated at the outset is that the best managers “develop expertise in everything they have to manage”. You’re obviously not going to start off with all that expertise, but that doesn’t mean there’s a substitute for developing it. The idea that you can come into a field you know nothing about with zero expertise and be an effective leader by “measuring outcomes” is a fantasy. If we want to measure outcomes, let’s measure the outcomes of that philosophy. How many manufacturing or tech companies that used to be run by engineers continued to be successful after they were taken over by non-technical MBA’s? How many astronauts have died because NASA management lacked the expertise to understand and appropriately respond to the objections of the engineers who reported to them? Are American universities more cost-effective now that they’re run by administrators than they were when they were still run by academics? Is medicine better when treatment decisions are made by physicians or by HMO bureaucrats and government regulators?