Nailed it

I don’t talk about work (like paid work) and management much. I never really did on this blog. But here’s something I’d like everyone to see and share with anyone they know who is a manager. It’s the best thing I’ve read on management in years, and it’s one sentence.

Best practices — and micromanaged processes — tend to wring the life out of employee behavior.

If Jeff Hayden never writes another worthwhile thing in his life, it’s cool, because he’s earned his place in the Management Hall of Fame.

Every time I heard the phrase “best practices”-especially if I uttered it-I would cringe. And while I’m a huge believer in processes, every manager needs to understand that The Book can’t cover every possible situation. To quote Gunny Highway, “…you improvise, you overcome, you adapt.”

Yep.