The abcnews.com Working Wounded Blog is always reliable for a different take on things. The post from last night, Chaos 1, Order 0, weaves together airplane boarding procedures, elementary school and 3M in one short post. Impressive.
Bob Rosner’s point – sometimes a little bit of chaos can increase productivity and creativity. In regards to Northwest Airlines scrapping its “by row” boarding procedure and opening it up:
This announcement reminds us that sometimes a little chaos can get us all where we need to go faster. Significantly faster.
He then provides this statement:
Ironically, I’m going to accuse you the corporate people reading this blog of doing the very same thing. Stop embracing command and control at the expense of allowing pockets of chaos to thrive throughout your organization.
He closes with a reference to another Minnesota-based company:
3M, widely seen as the corporation that consistently generates the most revenue from new products, allows all of its employees time to work on their pet projects during working hours. Sure, they have to finish their regular assignments, but they are given a little bit of leash to do something outside the scope of their jobs.
Anyone who has managed salespeople for more than a day knows that it is like herding cats. The best approach is to be a coach, not a crutch (close for them) or a combatant (dictate to them). The most effective sales managers we work with are the ones who empower their team. Develop the individual and allow “pockets of chaos” for them to be creative and incorporate their own style.
I remember an old sales manager’s statement – “If you’re above quota, you’re an entrepreneur. If you’re below quota, your butt is mine.”