Comments on: Middle Managers Are All That’s Wrong With the Universe…Or At Least The British Economy http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/ Don\'t let the weasels get ya down... Tips for being a better manager and dealing with the insanity of the workplace Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:48:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: These are good things…. http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/comment-page-1/#comment-20945 These are good things…. Fri, 23 Feb 2007 08:22:21 +0000 http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/#comment-20945 [...] This rant from Cranky Middle Manager Wayne is wonderful. Here’s a slice: All those claims may be true or not… but here’s what really outrages me. My limited understanding of the usual HR process tells me that the managers who apparently are throwing spanners in the normally smooth-running machinery of Business were hired by the very directors who are griping about them- so who’s fault is THAT? [...] [...] This rant from Cranky Middle Manager Wayne is wonderful. Here’s a slice: All those claims may be true or not… but here’s what really outrages me. My limited understanding of the usual HR process tells me that the managers who apparently are throwing spanners in the normally smooth-running machinery of Business were hired by the very directors who are griping about them- so who’s fault is THAT? [...]

]]> By: Business Economy Marketing » Late breaking news http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/comment-page-1/#comment-20819 Business Economy Marketing » Late breaking news Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:01:32 +0000 http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/#comment-20819 [...] Middle Managers Are All Thats Wrong With the UniverseOr At Least The British Economy [...] [...] Middle Managers Are All Thats Wrong With the UniverseOr At Least The British Economy [...]

]]> By: Rod Adams http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/comment-page-1/#comment-20329 Rod Adams Sat, 17 Feb 2007 10:09:22 +0000 http://cmm.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/02/16/middle-managers-are-all-thats-wrong-with-the-universeor-at-least-the-british-economy/#comment-20329 Wayne: Based on my current experience, I choose numbers 2 and 3 as the more likely cause of the problem. Way too many senior executives have forgotten that their main job is to provide the tools - including adequate time - that their people need to accomplish their work. In addition, there is good reason for caution and even obstructionism when the boss's "visions" face real hurdles in implementation that CANNOT be overcome with the allowed resources. As you implied - some things take more time than the salesmen said they would and that is not the fault of the manager as much as it is the fault of the idiot - oops, did I really write that disrespectful term about senior executives - who made the purchase decision in the first place. I have been told several - make that many - times "that train has left the station; you better get on board". I am trying to come up with a pithy response - here is my most recent iteration "If you think it is hard to stop a train after it has left the station, try catching one that is going over a cliff." BTW - there might be a character in this post, perhaps the symbol for British currency, that is causing iTunes to determine that the feed is invalid. I have episode #83 in my library, but I am now getting an exclamation point that provides a popup message saying that the URL does not appear to be a valid podcast URL. I had the same message on The Atomic Show a couple of weeks ago and it turned out that I had included an ampersand symbol in the blog post that iTunes did not like. Wayne:

Based on my current experience, I choose numbers 2 and 3 as the more likely cause of the problem. Way too many senior executives have forgotten that their main job is to provide the tools – including adequate time – that their people need to accomplish their work.

In addition, there is good reason for caution and even obstructionism when the boss’s “visions” face real hurdles in implementation that CANNOT be overcome with the allowed resources. As you implied – some things take more time than the salesmen said they would and that is not the fault of the manager as much as it is the fault of the idiot – oops, did I really write that disrespectful term about senior executives – who made the purchase decision in the first place.

I have been told several – make that many – times “that train has left the station; you better get on board”. I am trying to come up with a pithy response – here is my most recent iteration “If you think it is hard to stop a train after it has left the station, try catching one that is going over a cliff.”

BTW – there might be a character in this post, perhaps the symbol for British currency, that is causing iTunes to determine that the feed is invalid. I have episode #83 in my library, but I am now getting an exclamation point that provides a popup message saying that the URL does not appear to be a valid podcast URL. I had the same message on The Atomic Show a couple of weeks ago and it turned out that I had included an ampersand symbol in the blog post that iTunes did not like.

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