I was having lunch with a friend who is the Assistant Deputy Director to the Deputy Assistant Director, after she came back from vacation.
In a week off, she realized that many of the offices around hers are vacant, and that while once safely in the midst of the horde, she had been exposed by years of attrition. Last woman standing.
She is paid well for middle management skills, probably earning more than 90% of the people in her vacation state. However the results that are now required for success go far beyond the capabilities of any skills either of us know.
So we started discussing Plan B. She has spent 30 years honing big company skills. Thinks she needs a cast of thousands.
“I’m concerned that by concentrating on getting results, I haven’t developed any management skills.” Don’t worry, management skills are over-rated.
I started naming the three key factors of disruptive innovation – lower price, fewer features, larger audience, and she got excited.
“That’s my college roommate! She has her own business, works with two other one-person businesses in Chicago and Atlanta, no one else like her, and she makes over a million dollars a year!”
If you’re going to strip out the moving parts, it’s good to think about the three requirements for work to have value,
- get it right the first time,
- customer has to care, and
- the thing must change physically.
Then think about what’s the minimum process and organization that will provide what someone wants.
Now my Assistant Deputy Director has a believable model. Doesn’t know what hers will be, but knows it can be done.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.