In a 1995 article by A.E. Carlisle entitled simply, \u201cMacGregor,\u201d Carlisle tells the story of the title character who is a plant manager with a remarkable management style.\u00a0 At the core of MacGregor\u2019s style is his refusal to make any operating decisions.\u00a0 Sounds a little odd, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Yet his plant (even though it\u2019s the oldest with the oldest equipment) turns out more product at a lower cost than any of his company\u2019s other plants.\u00a0 And when other plant manager jobs open, MacGregor\u2019s managers are usually tapped to fill them.\u00a0 So by refusing to make operating decisions, his plant and his people are the envy of the company?\u00a0 How\u2019s that work?\u00a0 To learn how, please continue reading below.<\/p>\n
To be clear, MacGregor does make decisions, but only the long-term, strategic ones.\u00a0 Making daily operational decisions he believes is the responsibility of his managers . . . that, in his view, is what they were hired to do, and he\u2019s not going to do their jobs for them.\u00a0 So, when a manager says, \u201cI\u2019ve got a problem . . ., \u201c\u00a0 MacGregor offers a curt reply.\u00a0 \u201cGood!\u00a0 Let me know how you decide to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And what if one of his managers is poised to make a bad decision that will cost the company money?\u00a0 He lets him or her go ahead with the bad decision assuming the cost to the company will not be catastrophic and that it will not materially affect the plant\u2019s overall numbers.\u00a0 We learn by doing, we learn by our mistakes, and MacGregor wants his plant to be a learning place where new thinking and experimentation are encouraged.<\/p>\n
Even when a mistake is too significant to be allowed to go forward, MacGregor doesn\u2019t take over the decision.\u00a0 He will suggest that the manager involved take the problem to one or several of the other managers for their help and input, and then report back their conclusions and recommendations.<\/p>\n
Note that MacGregor doesn\u2019t take himself entirely out of the loop.\u00a0 He does want to know what decisions are being made and how they are being implemented, but he keeps himself in an oversight position, not a hands-on position.<\/p>\n
One other interesting wrinkle to MacGregor\u2019s management system.\u00a0 At their weekly management meetings, each manager reports his or her financial and production targets for the week with the action steps they intend to take to correct any shortfalls.\u00a0 They also (and this is the interesting part) report on decisions they have made during the week and are required to give credit to other managers who may have helped them.\u00a0\u00a0 That gives credit where credit is due, fosters team spirit and cooperation, and also gives MacGregor a peek at leadership on his team . . . who does everyone else run to when they\u2019ve got a problem to solve.<\/p>\n
So what does MacGregor\u2019s \u201cno decision\u201d management style do for him?
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It frees up his time to work on high level, strategic activities.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It teaches self-reliance, responsibility, and accountability to his managers.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It promotes good communication between his managers and himself, but also amongst the managers themselves.
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It infuses the company\u2019s culture with team spirit and cooperation.
\nNot bad for a simple little exercise in leadership.<\/p>\n
The MacGregor article really is a good one . . . it\u2019s well-written, an easy read, and offers lots of good leadership tips.\u00a0 You can read it in its entirety at:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.cs.unc.edu\/~quigg\/fall08\/MacGregor.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a 1995 article by A.E. Carlisle entitled simply, \u201cMacGregor,\u201d Carlisle tells the story of the title character who is a plant manager with a remarkable management style.\u00a0 At the core of MacGregor\u2019s style is his refusal to make any operating decisions.\u00a0 Sounds a little odd, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Yet his plant (even though it\u2019s the<\/p>\n