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Subject:Radical managers, take II From:Geoffrey Hart <Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> Date:Wed, 10 Mar 1999 15:07:48 -0500
Jim Aikens observed that my "radical thought for the day"
was <<Hardly radical, but maybe only part of the picture... I
think a good manager also has to have a "macro" view that
encompasses more than the current product or project.>>
An excellent point. I was focusing on one specific (and small)
part of the overall management equation, which was the
relationship downwards (to the employees being supervised),
and that neglects the fact that you have to keep your wits
about you and look around too.
<<Maybe all this is implicit in your comments, but I have seen so
many narrowly project/product-focussed managers (hands on or
hands off) that I think it needs to be made explicit.>>
Agreed. And it also depends on where you sit in the
management hierarchy. The higher up, the broader or more
diverse your focus must be; the nearer you are to the bottom,
the more likely your focus will be project-specific.