Power tends to Corrupt


Work is done by those who understand what they do not manage and dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
-- Putt's Law



The American ethos is realistic about human corruptibility. The Constitution codifies a system of checks and balances based on the principle that unconstrained power tends to be abused. Puritan notions and the framers knowledge of history went into the separation of powers that is now considered to be integral to sound governance. Neglect of both the premises and the principle of constraint in corporate management has made business entities into hierarchies of self-serving ambition in an environment of intimidation and counterproductive, networked incompetence. Business has become the domain of an aristocracy. Nearly every working person contends with the resulting dysfunction on a daily basis. Working dangerously is to acknowledge the pervasiveness of bad management while trying to remain employed.

Turn the other cheek and read this blog for perspective. It's cheaper than a psychiatrist.


Friday, November 18, 2011

It's Never too Late to do the Right Thing

The right thing is crucial to trust on a team, even if the right thing is difficult.  Everyone is presented with choices that have questionable moral consequences. The right thing is almost always something to be wrestled with. One of the most profound moments in Darth Vader’s career came when he took responsibility for all the morally wrong things he had done, and decided to do the right thing. He never thought it could atone, but he did the right thing anyway. Project managers will make thousands of choices in the course of a project, some of which may be questionable morally, including the omissions of details, avoided conversations, hiding pieces of data to make a better picture of the project. Good project managers take the time to reflect on their choices, and re-make some choices.
Darth Vadar, Project Manager
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1 comment:

  1. GlynnNovember 18, 2011 at 9:06 AM

    it was a kind of death-bed conversion, but it was a conversion. Good advice, Michael.

    ReplyDelete

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