Art Petty on Management

Ironically, Mid-Level Managers May Save Your Business

Ever since terms like reengineering, right sizing and downsizing became part of the corporate lexicon; midlevel managers have been taking it on the chin.  This once populous class has been synergized and right-sized almost to extinction.  Those that remain often struggle with spans of control as wide as the Golden Gate Bridge and limited authority that is constantly challenged from above and below.  I find it just a bit ironic (and appropriate) that this much-abused class of leader may just hold the key to surviving and prospering in tough times.

In a great article in the July 7. 2008 Wall Street Journal, entitled: In Search of Growth Leaders, authors Carr, Liedtka, Rosen and Wiltbank offer the results of their multi-year study of the role that midlevel managers play in fueling organic growth.  Their conclusion: "most companies have managers who can turbo charge results.  The trick is finding—and nurturing—them.  Read the article for some great insights on finding and developing these critical midlevel leaders. (And read my post: Management By Jane: Leading Effectively from the Middle for some additional thoughts.)

The Power of Great Managers in the Middle:

• Appropriately trained and armed, midlevel managers are directly focusing on strategy execution—they lead the teams that do the work that drives performance. If your organization is failing to execute on strategic objectives, look to the middle, not to place blame, but to identify what you can do better to help your managers succeed.

• As the article authors highlight, a tremendous amount of innovation comes from the middle.  In my own experience, the managers that fuel innovation are the ones that are relentless about creating the right conditions for their associates to succeed.   Breaking down barriers and taking the heat for bending the rules are common and comfortable tasks of the innovative midlevel manager.

• The most important talent scouts and developers are often found in the middle of organizations.  The savvy manager recognizes the import of identifying and developing emerging leaders, competent role players and potentially brilliant individual contributors. While top management might want the organization to become good at this talent scouting and development, like strategy execution, the majority of the heavy lifting takes place in the middle.

Five Ideas to Strengthen Your Support and Success In the Middle:

1. Change your perspective on the midlevel management layer.  Instead of looking
at the organization chart and seeing cost to be minimized or taken out, look at this group as resources to enable strategy execution, fuel innovation and scout and develop talent.  Quit broadening spans of control to the point of ridiculousness, and begin setting goals around strategy, innovation and development, and suddenly the cost perspective starts melting away.

2. Involve midlevel managers in strategy formulation...not just in rubber-stamping the strategy formulated by executives.  Remember, the people in the middle likely understand your customers and your organization's capabilities at a much more detailed level than those of you with V's or C's in your title.

3. Create systems to help midlevel managers experiment with and implement new ideas.  Provide key managers and manager groups with executive sponsors charged with cutting through corporate clutter to help get things done.

4. Reward successes, provide visibility and learn from misfires.  Easy words to write and speak, but realizing this environment takes discipline. 

5. Recognize the fact that new classes of virtual leaders...Project Managers and Product Managers have emerged over the past two decades to replace the former middle level.  These critical positions often carry tremendous responsibility burdens with little real authority across functional boundaries.  If these positions exist in your organizations, strive to create the sponsors, systems and infrastructure to allow them to perform.

6. As an executive, get over yourself.  No one said that you are required to have all of the answers.  It's a sign of strength, not weakness if you are emotionally secure and intelligent enough to recognize that your strength comes from your ability to get the best from willing contributors. Take the time to invest in reinventing your leadership style.

The Bottom-Line for Now:

The article referenced above is must reading for every executive looking to solve the challenges of how to fuel organic growth.  Innovation doesn't occur on command, and while good accidents happen (e.g. think 3M and Post-Its), hope as we all know is a lousy strategy. 

I teach, train and support midlevel managers in all forms of organizations and by and large, I find them generally miserable about their tasks and their ability to positively impact their organization.  The majority of their frustration stems from working for leaders that succeed in stifling the conditions required for innovation and execution to flourish.  The opportunity is in the middle...not the problem.  For the source of the problem, take a long, hard look in the mirror. 

Preventing Product Launch Failure: Watch Out for the Pitfalls!

G. Michael Maddock and Raphael Viton writing in the Innovation Engine column at  BusinessWeek online, offer a sobering look at the Ten Reasons Your Next Launch Will Fail.   From the propensity of companies to create solutions for unknown problems (Science Run Amok) to the recurring theme of teams convincing themselves that they can't miss (Death by Consensus), this insightful and witty column offers some priceless guidance for marketers, product and project managers and executives everywhere. 

Having been on the winning side of some great launches and the losing side of a few spectacular failures in the B2B tech world, I can relate to the problems that Michael and Raphael describe all too well.  Some thoughts based on my own experience:

• The Swiss Army Knife or Requirements Run Amok Product: This one finds erstwhile Product Managers (usually unseasoned) working hard to pack every possible feature into an offering in the naive believe that this Swiss Army Knife approach will create a stronger offering.  They did not understand their buyer's problems/challenges sufficiently, and they over-specified to compensate.

• The Offering Just Slightly Ahead of Its Time:  Yep, I made this mistake.  As Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much."  Followed by, "Sorry about that Chief."  By now, drinks were supposed to be poured by a Drink Tower robot in Quick Service Restaurants everywhere, saving a veritable fortune in labor and improving time efficiency.  My Drink Tower interface from the Point-Of-Sale system burned a lot of time and money.  It was really cool in the one site that actually tested a drink tower in 1996.  I hear that there are a few more sites now.

• The "We'll Release No Product Before It's Time, Except This One" Launch: This launch failure usually involves a management team that built their budget around a new product launch, only to see schedule delays cut into their nicely developed sales dream.  Pressured by the urgency of the situation and the upcoming Board meeting, a watered-down version of the product is launched and you can guess what ensues. 

• The Product that Won't Be Born: OK, maybe this is a cheap shot, but it's my column, and I get to offer at least one gripe to a development team or two that couldn't get its act together.  It's not always the Product Manager's fault!

The bottom-line for now:

Like the forward pass in football, there are a lot of things that can go wrong and only one thing that can go right: the pass is caught and the product launch is successful.   Successfully launching products requires the organization to be Tuned In to their buyers.  Solving a vexing problem in a unique way for a distinct group is a great starting point.  Creating the culture, systems and approaches requisite for a successful launch requires committed, focused leadership at all levels of the organization.  Establishing a high level of competence in product launch is table stakes for success in a world where opportunities are fleeting and  and product life cycles shrinking daily. 

Hmmm, now, if 5,000 locations save .2 people due to the automatic drink tower, the savings will be worth millions.  I wonder if it's time to re-launch that puppy?  I suspect that Michael and Raphael would advise against it.

Product Manager does not Mean Product Emperor (and other helpful suggestions for success as a Product Manager)

It's long been my opinion that the Product Manager has one of the tougher jobs in an organization (see my post: In Support of the Product Manager as MVP).  This position is one of those "all of the responsibility with none of the power" roles that grind up and spit out mere mortals with alarming frequency. 

There are a number of common mistakes that I've observed both new and experienced Product Managers make, that if understood and avoided, might increase the survival and success rate of this endangered species.  In no particular order, these common mistakes and hopefully, helpful hints, include:

Read Any Good Cultures Lately? Honing an Essential Career Skill.

Every organization has a distinct culture defined by its history, norms, values, and behaviors, and every team in an organization develops its own subculture.  Learning to read a culture and adapt your style to fit (or at least complement it) is essential to success regardless of your level or role.  It's also something that can be honed as a skill through increased awareness and consistent application of a few basic approaches.

How do Ideas Turn Into Actions in Your Firm? Hint: Check Your Leadership Culture

Seriously.  If you are at or near the top of the food chain in your organization, this is one of those perplexing questions that can have you staring at the ceiling at two in the morning, asking yourself, "Yeah, how do insights and ideas turn into actions in our business?"  and "Who is really responsible for new ideas here?" 

This is a particularly bothersome issue if you are thinking in terms of strategy and wanting to make certain that profound insights and ideas gained in the market are turned into actions that create value for your stakeholders. 

The Meeting is Never for Decision-Making: A Product Management Lesson I Learned at Matsushita

I will be posting from airport lounges this week, but before I head out, I wanted to relate a lesson about decision-making that I learned (the hard way) a number of years ago.  This was prompted by a discussion with a promising early career product management professional, "Bob," that had expressed frustration at the way decisions were reached in his company. I think that the lesson still holds today.

Towards an Independent Product Management Organization

Product Management's position in the organization is a topic that invites vigorous debate, usually around whether marketing or development should own the function. (Follow the posts, links and comment threads starting at On Product Management for some other perspectives.) While any debate about optimal organization structure can sound a lot like the radio and television sports shows where people argue fiercely over the greatest running back or quarterback of all time (there is no one right answer!), the PM issue merits some consideration.  Of course, the right answer may be, "It depends."

The Best Product Managers are in Seat 12C

A post by Steve Johnson at Pragmatic Marketing raises the issue of Product Managers/Marketers spending quality time in front of customers rather than hiding behind other less personal forms of information gathering. 

Surveys and phone interviews can be helpful, but nothing replaces the experience of entering your customer's environment and spending a few moments gaining critical context for the impact that your product has on a business and its people. A sales colleague of mine was always quick to quip to me as his marketing counterpart, "the truth is in the field."  Both Steve and my sales colleague are right. 

The Product Manager's Questions for Success

Thanks to a good friend and the person I credit with the creation of the "Why is a Product Manager Like the Office Photocopier?" joke, I recently unearthed a listing of questions that we had established with the PM team to help teach and remind everyone of the True Role of a Product Manager. 

Rather than develop these on high, I recall a fair number of iterations across functions and through the PM ranks to refine the questions down to a list that we believed captured the essence of the role and its priorities.  Of course, we dutifully passed these out as laminated, wallet or desk-drawer size cards.  I think the questions still hold value and provide much needed context for the Product Manager in pursuit of his or her very challenging role.  They are reprinted here for your use, adaptation or disagreement, in their original, unaltered format:

The Indomitable Spirit of the True Product Manager

Q: Why is a Product Manager like the Office Photocopy Machine?

A: Because when it works no one notices and when something goes wrong, everyone wants to kick it.

My sincere thanks to Mike for that PM joke told to me during a particularly challenging day in the world of software Product Management a few years ago.  Also, my sincere apologies to anyone I’ve just offended, along with my encouragement to lighten up!

Unfortunately, that joke rings a little too close to home to make it completely comfortable... .