Management Theory is Completely Useless

The Bullfeathers Chronicles

You know about Intels Andy Grove but do you know Andy Graves?
Probably not.
This Andy is a retired USAF master sergeant, a natural leader, and a born (intuitive) manager
who currently works for the U.S. Department of State. Andy Graves has worked in three
embassies and a consulate in Eastern Europe and Russia, and is still at work out there, taking raw
talent and turning it into professional precision, just as he did on A-10 Warthog flight lines.
This is a record of a recent conversation.
Woody: What do you mean? You cant say categorically that management theory is useless. For
the last 100 years.

Andy Graves
Andy: No, thats exactly what I mean! For the last 100 years, weve been capturing people and
putting them in work groups they didnt choose. As often as not with people they dont like and
wouldnt choose to be with. What managers and wanna-be managers need to know is how to mix
with those people and help them find the common points of interest that will let them work together
effectively. And hanging onto their salaries is a good place to start getting their attention.
Woody: I thought goals, objectives, and targets and team building did that kind of thing.
Andy: I love that story about Frederick Taylor designing a new coal scoop 100 years ago you
know, when scientific management was born? As far as working people think, managements
been redesigning the coal scoop ever since, trying to find new ways to make them work harder,
faster, cheaper. Most people believe in program goals like they believe in bull feathers.
Woody: So how would you train managers?
Andy: That woman you quoted in your book said it but no guy ever would that you have to
love your people enough to listen to them. People who cant do that cant be managers just
people pushers. When managers dont listen, they send a clear signal that they dont care about
their people. Even so, they think their people are dumb enough to do extra work for them, to
make them look good in front of their bosses. Man, I dont think so!
Woody: People pushers? I like that term. Never heard it before.
Andy: Thats the alternative to having your people working with you. If a manager cant get in
with his or her staff and lead them to see the points of common interest among them, then the
only choice is to threaten, push, and behave in ways that are basically abusive and push people
further away. Those are the nasty guys everyone knows and hates.
Woody: Yeah, Ive known a lot of those guys, and some women, too. But back to the question
what do you recommend for manager training? Or, better, the great theorist Douglas McGregor
the Theories X and Y guy said that every managerial act begins with a theory. Whats your
theory of management, the ideas that guide you?
Andy: Empowerment! Responsibility! Collaboration! These words dont have meaning outside
the context of a specific group doing specific tasks in a specific place and time. Otherwise, those
words are just more bull feathers. I guess I push too hard sometimes, but I want people to make
decisions, to act as if the work was their own, to make sure it gets done to support the mission.
But for that to work, everyone has to be held accountable and be responsible for doing
professional work that meets the expectations of others whose work must be integrated into a
service or product.
Woody: Does everyone get it? Do they appreciate your approach?
Andy: I wish it, but no. There are always some hardheads whove got their egos and heads up
their as. But the majority get used to me and find that they are doing more work
independently, slipping into leadership roles, and taking initiatives they never imagined before.
You have to remember that most of the people I work with are locally-employed staff, and in this
part of the world (Eastern Europe), their culture tells them not to stand out, not to be noticed, not
to outperform their colleagues. But this tends to chill down when the rewards and recognition
starts coming not only from me, but from the Ambassador, the Deputy Chief of Mission, and
from Washington and regional bureaus. As for the hardheads, they are a benchmark for how far
weve come.
Woody: So there really is a theory behind management success?
Andy: If its a personal theory. But real people at work dont want theory. They want to know in
specific terms how to be successful. They want to perform well, they want to please their
managers, and they want to be appreciated when they make extra effort. Anything else is just
pure bull feathers. Ive been sent to a lot of so-called management training, and its at least 50
percent bull feathers and has no connection to working with untrained staff on tight deadlines
and inadequate budgets Thats where the can do spirit kicks in, and I think you have to live it,
at least once, to know it..
Woody: I wish I knew how to bottle what you know. We could change the world.