Management as an interface and an ethical dilemma

Poor management practices are largely affected by the function of management as an interface between two inherently incompatible systems; the individual and the organisation.

There is an alienness about each other. An organisation doesn’t have a mind to empathise with the individual and its decisions are often obscured by the regulations of other organisations. The individual (of which there are many and they are varied) has motivations, experiences, feelings, and other stuff going on in their lives that the organisation isn’t aware of but which can affect the individuals work.

The manager is expected to represent the interests of the organisation to ensure its success at the cost of the individual if needs be, but at the same time is expected to care about the individuals they work with in order to represent them to the organisation. Management is an ethical dilemma. I can’t think of any other situation in life where a similar interface exists, so it’s hardly surprising that management practice is not achieving what we might hope for it.

Succeeding in an organisation

I overheard a group of IT guys talking about their frustrations with how their department ran, why they had to produce documents no one was going to read, how much of a struggle it was to get anything done. What they all had in common was that they were all fairly new to the organisation. I just listened, because I knew that what I wanted to say to them would have fallen on deaf ears, but it could have gone something like this.

I get it. Sometimes it feels like you have to fight the organisation to get it to let you do the job it hired you to do. I felt the same in my earlier days. You think you’re the expert and that the organisation should listen to you. What you need to understand is that you are nobody to the organisation. You are unproven. You haven’t yet demonstrated the value you can bring.

Succeeding in an organisation requires more than just being good at your job. It requires being able to collaborate and cooperate, influence and communicate, lead through inspiration. It requires that you be humble, accept that you don’t know all the intricacies of what is going on, and look for opportunities to learn. Your job, your purpose, is to deliver value to the organisation, not just to manage projects or architect the infrastructure or keep the systems secure.

It is a struggle, and it may not be what you think you are paid to do, but in figuring out that struggle you can not only make your role successful you can also provide additional benefits to the organisation that come from everyone working together to achieve the same aim. And the organisation needs that.