There is such a thing as....too big to manage. Let me give you a couple stories, somewhat related. A few years back, I was living out in Latrobe, PA. It was about 6pm, I went into the Best Buy. Parking lot was nearly empty, figured Id gotten away with it. I walked in the door and it had to be 95 degrees in there. I started sweating instantly, looked at the manager, I said, nope and turned around and walked out. As it turns out, I had a friend who worked there who informed me that ... it was now policy to turn the air conditioners off in the evening. In the dead of summer. This from the board of directors trying to save money....in Minnesota. The Houston store was so hot, they had to close. This is what happens when you are managing from afar, a corporation so big that you have no clue whats going on downstairs in the trenches. It is the responsibility then of the employees to inform accurately of the situation and get it resolved. But this doesnt always work, and i will give you an example.... I was working C&P Maryland at the phone company in the central offices of western Baltimore. It was January when the management announced that the board...once again....had decided to save money....by increasing the temperatures in the central offices by 10 degrees. Now, you are talking buildings loaded with electronic equipment circa 1950s, putting off a tremendous amount of heat. Within said buildings are electronic switches, without which is no telephone communication. Each of these switches, when installed, was burnt in, by covering them with heavy cloth and letting them run until the weak electronics died, and were replaced. That said, the equipment is cooled....by the AC. And nothing else. I immediately sent a letter to the board telling them, that to increase the temperatures by any amount would result in electronics failures that would end up being very costly, including the switches. They informed me that your comfort is not our concern. I kid you not. Backtracking a little, to lose a switch is what is known as an FCC Outage. It must be reported with explanations of why it occurred, and what steps are being taken to resolve the error, and so forth. To lose one of these in a year is bad. To lose 14 of them in the first 3 months of the year is disastrous. And this is exactly what happened. 14 FCC outages in 3 months. What was done about it? The technicians were blamed, and their bonuses cancelled. Another story. While touring the Baltimore City main offices, I noticed a fellow sleeping on his desk. I asked the lady with me about it, she said, He lost his unit 20 years ago when we got rid of the equipment they worked on. He gets paid $70,000 per year now to do nothing at all. And this was not uncommon. Big Management....is not always stupid like this. They often make exactly the right decision, based upon all the wrong information. Example - management needs to make a decision to resolve an issue. So...whats the problem? First order of business. They go to a store where the problem exists, reports are sent up blaming somebody else. That person blames somebody else, and by the time the data reaches the top....its corrupted beyond recognition as to anything associated with the truth. Obligated to make a decision, they make the right decision based on the wrong information. How about another example. In 1942, the German Army went after Stalingrad. At the time, they seemed unbeatable. Unfortunately for them, a couple situations occurred that changed EVERYTHING. As the war was progressing, German commanders in the field had the final say. Being right there in the fight, their decisions were accurate, and based upon accurate information with immediate results coming from those decisions that could be viewed in real time. At the time of Stalingrad, a non-combat general was put in charge of the operation. Von Paulus, an excellent administrative general, had no clue how to conduct a modern fight. This was the first mistake, as Hitler was trying to replace generals he felt were not on board with his policies. Von Paulus immediately ordered 6th Panzer Armee into Stalingrad proper, a place where tanks had no business. The fight went on for many months. As time passed, Hitler made policy that essentially said, no commander in the field could make a final decision without his approval. Backtracking a little...the Russians were getting their butts kicked. Stalin had absolute power over his commanders in the field, enforced by elements of the NKVD (military KGB basically) in every unit. By the time the Battle of Stalingrad was taking place, Stalin did not want to be held responsible for the Soviet collapse should the Germans win that fight, so he put all the responsibility of the fight on his commanders. Marshal Zhukov then formulated a plan that annihilated the German Army Group South and, inevitably, lost the war for Germany. So, very efficient German commanders and troops were being tied down to orders from a leader 1500 miles away from the fight, while the Russians simultaneously were getting their freedom at the operational level. AND the tide turned. Very simple concept really - its TOO BIG TO MANAGE. It goes for the military, religion, and government. Even business. The more you control the Church, the more it is hamstrung in delivering the message. The more you control the army, the less effective it becomes in the field. The more you control a business, the less money you make. The more you control the economy, the less it is capable of producing. It is not too big to fail. It is too big to manage. Even when you have some really smart people managing it. This is why freedom wins the day. Left to their own devices, a family knows their needs. They do not require a far away politician to inform them what their needs are today.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:15:17 +0000
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