Munchausen at Work: HBR
You know when you get one of those ah-ha moments because a person brings a problem into specific relief? Today’s one of those days. This article about Munchausen at Work is a brilliant diagnosis of a real workplace issue. Siobhan Ford at Harvard Business Review wrote this to me (emphasis is mine):
Georgia Tech professor Nate Bennett studied team performance in over 30 companies and was struck by cases of employees creating fictitious organizational problems in order to solve them and receive praise for it. He calls the phenomenon “Munchausen at work”—a workplace version of the psychological disorder Munchausen by proxy—and explains how managers can diagnose it.
You can read the article for free at HBR during the month of November 2007 by clicking here. (You really should subscribe to HBR — it’s loaded with great information every month.)
I’ve seen plenty of Munchausen at Work in my career. I think Professor Bennett is being conservative when he says it’s infrequent. After all, isn’t that what half of all meetings are about — some problem created so that someone can swoop down and fix it? It’d be interesting to call people on their Munchausen at Work-iness. It could be the new “Can I give you some feedback?”, only this time it would be, “Is this a real problem or is this Munchausen at Work?” That would stop the disrupters in their tracks.
HR Idea for the Day: Call Professor Bennett. Get him to come to your shop and present his Munchausen at Work findings. Print up some buttons and t-shirts that say “Wipe Out Munchausen at Work in Our Lifetime.” Get some wristbands made that say “No MAW.”
Just Brilliant: Pay Kill Fees for Bad Projects
Bob Sutton is always interesting, but today he’s plain brilliant. Prof. Sutton writes about how high performing and creative people “fail quickly” and proposes a way for companies to have more success: Pay kill fees for bad projects. Brilliant.
Rather than having people get invested in failure on a project that they know won’t work, just pay to kill it. This is about rewarding success instead of rewarding project management. Wow.
A Brilliant Turn of a Management Phrase
Jay Shepherd’s Gruntled Employees is one of my favorite reads. Jay’s the CEO of an employment-law firm and writes about what he calls, “How to keep employees gruntled.” That makes me chuckle every time I read it.
Yesterday, he wrote my favorite phrase of the year:
Ept managers lead to gruntled employees, which in turn lead to minishing profits.
Click on over and see what that means. He’s on his way to the Universal Theory of People Management.
All Work and No Play Makes Jack Welch a Dull Boy
One-third of CEOs play online games while at work.
That’s according to an online games report published in Online Media Daily. Their summary: All work and no play makes Jack Welch a dull boy.
While playing puzzle, word or other casual online games at work could be categorized as a distraction, the effects actually seemed to be beneficial to productivity, according to the survey. Some 84% of white-collar workers who admitted to playing at the office said they felt “more relaxed and less stressed out” after a short game break, and 52% reported feeling more confident, more energetic, more productive and/or more mentally focused.
So, enough with the IT and HR Gestapo who think that game play is all bad. (They’re the same ones who think napping is a bad idea). Your CEO is doing it. Maybe it’s time learn to let go. Live a little. You can always press “New Game.”
A CEO Who Listens — Steve Jobs and the iPhone
I griped a bunch yesterday when Apple announced they were dropping the price of the iPhone by $200. I got my iPhone during the first land rush, and have had it for nine weeks. Too bad, so sad for me. No price protection coverage on my $599 purchase. But wait.
Steve Jobs listened to customers. And did what a real leader does — he made a business decision. Everyone who bought an iPhone and isn’t covered by a price protection plan is getting a $100 gift certificate to use at an Apple store. Apple fanboys call Steve Jobs “Uncle Steve” because he’s always turning up with cool presents. This one is more than a present — it shows that he listens to what customers say and makes hard business decisions. Fast.
Isn’t that what we all want from a leaders and managers? To listen. Make firm decisions. Have guts.
Do we have the guts to say these kinds of things to managers during their HR training? If so, Steve Jobs’ iPhone decision could be a great case study. WWSD?
Technorati Tags: Steve Jobs, Apple, iPhone, CEO, management
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