More Ideas on the Role of a Manager

Let's talk about one of the important roles of a manager. The ideas presented here are not original to me. Again, there is no news in that. I've been learning from others all of my life. I'm just smart enough to listen and try to apply these ideas. I first heard these concepts from Mike Vance. I pass them along to you now. These ideas have circulated in one form or another for many years. Mike's take is the best and most complete I've found.

It is the role of a manager to take employees from incompetence to competence as rapidly as possible. Once a level of proficiency is reached the manager must stir things up and repeat the process. It is essential that this happen.

How is this accomplished?

With great difficulty. For one thing, most managers don't even consider this question. But here is a good way to give this discussion context. These are the levels of competence.

Unconscious Incompetence - You don't know. And you don't know that you don't know.

Conscious Incompetence - You don't know. But at least you know that you don't know.

Conscious Competence - You know. And you are aware that you know. You have to think about what you do and consciously think about what you are doing.

Unconscious Competence - You know. But you don't have to think about it. It becomes a natural part of what you do.

The best illustration for understanding these ideas is to think about when you learned to drive. That first time behind the wheel was weird. Put the foot on the break. Blinker. Put the car in drive. Look over your shoulder. All while the instructor and two of your peers looked on in something akin to indifferent terror. You didn't know what to do and you didn't know what you didn't know. Unconscious Incompetence.

Over the next few days and weeks you were shown a series of films. These taught lessons on how to be a good driver. Keep a bubble between you and traffic. Signal. Drive the speed limit, etc. You also saw movies about what happened to those who didn't obey the rules. Scenes of death and carnage. You become aware of what you didn't know. Consciously Incompetent.

A few months go by and you spend a good deal of time behind the wheel. Maybe you are involved in a fender-bender or two. Nothing too serious. You no longer have to think through each action. Putting your foot on the break is coming naturally. Perhaps there are still some moments that you don't put it all together but for the most part you are a pretty good driver. Conscious Competence.

Then a few years go by. You never think about how to drive or even about traffic. You spend time listening to the radio, talking on the phone or doing other things. You never even think about the act of driving. Unconscious Competence.

Wouldn't it be nice if everything we did was that measurable. And that easily understood. It's not. That's why we are managers. We must spend time thinking about our competence and the competence of our staff. We must also guard against our own incompetence. This is done by not kidding ourselves. By honestly assessing our abilities, what we know, what we don't know. And doing something about it.

Barry Bryson has been my own personal guard against incompetence for many years. He seems to have the knack of seeing trends in technology years in advance. And he is very good at pushing his insights onto me. Sometimes he seems to be way out there and at times it is frustrating to realize just how right he's been. Mostly he keeps me aware of areas where I fall short and it helps me to push myself to learn and grow. Make sure you surround yourself with people who challenge and inspire you.

Also, never sanction incompetence. There must be a certain amount of incompetence in any organization. In fact, based on information presented here I've made a case for managers introducing incompetence as an essential role we play.

So what does it mean to not sanction incompetence?

It means that when you observe incompetence you don't walk away. You confront, challenge and find ways to rid the organization of it. If all you do is introduce incompetence then you will be/are a pretty sad manager. It is not enough to know of the incompetence. Honestly facing incompetence is essential.

Good luck. Management is a tough job. Especially if you want to be good at it. It takes a certain amount of courage to tackle the issues surrounding competence.

That's all for now...........
8:16:56 PM    comment []