Manage For The Middle
January 18th, 2012
Year-end numbers, quarter-to-quarter earnings, monthly production, week-to-week payroll. With today’s hyper-competition, today’s focus is today. Close-in focus is needed, it drives good stuff – vital few, productivity, quality, speed, and stock price. Without question, the close-in lens has value.
But there’s a downside to this lens. Like a microscope, with one eye closed and the other looking through the optics, the fine detail is clear, but the field of view is small. Sure the object can be seen, but that’s all that can be seen – a small circle of light with darkness all around. It’s great if you want to see the wings of a fly, but not so good if you want to see how the fly got there.
Millennia, centuries, grand children, children. With today’s hyper-competition, today’s focus is today. Long-range focus is needed, it drives good stuff – infrastructure, building blocks, strategic advantage. Though it’s an underused lens, without question, the far-out lens has value.
But there’s a downside to this lens. Like a telescope, with one eye closed and the other looking through the optics, the field of view is enormous, but the detail is not there. Sure the far off target can be seen, but no details – a small circle of light without resolution. It’s great if you want to see a distant landscape, but not so good if you want to know what the trees look like.
What we need is a special set of binoculars. In the left is a microscope to see close-in – the details – and zoom out for a wider view – the landscape. In the right is a telescope to see far-out – the landscape – and zoom in for a tighter view – the details.
Unfortunately the physics of business don’t allow overlap between the lenses. The microscope cannot zoom out enough and the telescope cannot zoom in enough. There’s always a gap, the middle is always out of focus, unclear. Sure, we estimate, triangulate, and speculate (some even fabricate), but the middle is fuzzy at best.
It’s easy to manage for the short-term or long-term. But the real challenge is to manage for the middle. Fuzzy, uncertain, scary – it takes judgment and guts to manage for the middle. And that’s just where the best like to earn their keep.
Posted in 7 Responses to “Manage For The Middle”
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Mike Shipulski
Mike- this is great insight. I am continually impressed at how you come up with the diverse set of material to write about, yet with a direct correlation to the world of design.
Keeping thinking, writing and sharing. This is good stuff.
DJ
Excellent article, Mike. I plan to print this, add graphics and share with my team. Great insight – now if only we can bend the laws of business physics and develop an overlap between the lenses. But first – world peace!
And I always wondered where the term “Middle Management” came from?
According to the Harvard Business Review we will soon see the end of Middle Management.
Well, maybe we can just redefine Middle Management along the lines Mike proposes.
Another gem to forward.
Thanks Mike
My last post didn’t like the link
http://hbr.org/2011/01/column-the-end-of-the-middle-manager/ar/1
Thanks, Ed. Interesting idea — to add graphics and share with your team. Please send a comment with a link to your work product. Or email me a copy. Thanks,
Mike
Thanks, Don – a big compliment. If you would, please send the post to some friends and ask them to subscribe to my blog. Please help me build critical mass – a group of thought leaders to help improve the economy.
Managing for the middle is not for the weak, so my “manage for the middle” seems far different than the stereotypical “middle manager.”
Thanks for your comment, Doug. Keep them coming. Also, please recommend to your friends that they subscribe to my blog. Please help me build critical mass.
Mike