Despite the fear many managers have of losing their staff, attrition is not necessarily a bad thing.  Attrition means hiring new people.  New people bring new ideas and new viewpoints to problem solving.  High rates of attrition may be signs of a systemic problem, but everyone grows over time and anyone who is ambitious will eventually plateau and need a new challenge.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. If you don’t ever make mistakes, you’re not trying hard enough.

More importantly, don’t be afraid to admit those mistakes and make changes to your strategy quickly.  It’s far worse to hide a mistake and continue on a failing path.  It’s also far worse to admit a mistake and then NOT try something different.  I love the old adage “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results”.

Perfect is the enemy of good, and no plan survives contact with the customer.  Analysis paralysis delays so many great ideas, and fear of failure kills so many creative initiatives.

Unless lives are on the line, live by the tracer bullet theory.  For the uninitiated, the idea is that in the field you can set up your mortar, calculate the distance of the enemy, set the angle, adjust for wind, and by the time you fire the enemy has moved across the battlefield.  Or you can fire quickly in the general direction and make rapid adjustments/corrections as you quickly discover what is and isn’t working.  While you’ll most likely miss on the first shot, you’ll be directionally correct and with a few small adjustments you’ll be successful.

“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM” may be true, but is being the guy who didn’t get fired really what you want to be known for?  Me neither.

It’s shocking to me how many sub-par managers exist.  Sure 50% of all managers are by definition below average, but why is the average so low?

I’ve found empirically this is especially true for line-level and middle managers who oftentimes were promoted from within.  Upon reflection, I believe this is due to a few reasons:

1. Many managers receive little to no formal training before (or even after) bring promoted.
2. People often go into management because they’ve reached the end of their career ladder and it’s the only way to get promoted.  They may not want to be a manager, but they believe it’s the only way to grow their skills or increase their pay.
3. Frequently line level managers, particularly those who are experienced and often know the answer to a problem have trouble letting their employees solve the problem themselves.
4. Most managers are mentored by managers who themselves are guilty of the above!

I started this blog because of the sheer number of bad managers (especially IT managers) I’ve encountered in my career.  Although I don’t promise to turn everyone into the top 1%, my hope is that my insight and advice will help people manage just a little bit better.  More importantly, just like any good manager, I hope that you, the reader, will give me feedback in the form of comments and foster a conversation that improves everyone.

My management philosophy boil down to this:

1. Build the best team you can
2. Give them a direction and the tools they need
3. Clearly set expectations and deliverables
4. Get out of the way (and clear obstacles for the team)

I believe good managers should trust their team, encourage open and honest communication, empower the team to independently make decisions, and hold the team accountable for the results.  Good managers should not care how a problem gets solved, so long as it gets solved correctly and within the parameters defined (on-time, within budget, meeting any strategic direction).

Despite encouraging trust, I also believe good managers will step in from time to time when they see a team or an individual struggling.  Good managers don’t micro-manage, but they lead by example and should demonstrate the behavior required.