[For more context, visit the full page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter review.][Watch a video summary of this chapter.]

Rogo’s promotion leads to an interlude where he sits with his team and reflects on what he will need to do in his next job.  This chapter feels like a fantasyland in 2018 – I’ve never had this luxury between promotions.  Most promotions I watch come when the person has already been doing their next job and then get recognized with a title shift.  His reflection and wonder at the new expectations is endearing.

Highlight

“We all know that this nonsense of fact finding will continue until our committee runs out of ideas for gathering further facts.”

Or – the fact finding can continue until it is clear what to do.  In some sense, a new manager can follow a Hippocratic approach – first do no harm.  When a need for change shows up, make it.  Caution in the evaluation phase will improve execution when called for.

Page by Page

P281 – “I’m starting to see what Jonah meant when he warned you about increasing the dependency,” she replies.

P282 – And since I, frankly, don’t have the foggiest idea of how to run a division they had better put their brains to helping me.

“Basically you should do general fact finding first,” Lou answers.

P283 – “Yes, what you suggested just now is the usual line of action one takes when he is told to ‘go there and fix it.’”

P284 – “We all know that this nonsense of fact finding will continue until our committee runs out of ideas for gathering further facts.”

Or – the fact finding can continue until it is clear what to do.  In some sense, a new manager can follow a Hippocratic approach – first do no harm.  When a need for change shows up, make it.  Caution in the evaluation phase will improve execution when called for.

P285 – “This overconcern about the ‘proper way to arrange things’ manifests itself in other harmful ways.”

“Almost every big company is oscillating, every five to ten years from centralization to decentralization, and then back again.”

P286 – “If we’re just looking for some arbitrary order, and we can choose among so many possibilities, then what’s the point in putting so much effort in collecting so much data?”

Data reporting just for the sake of it is a waste – however, teams have a duty to report.  If a team cannot report, or if a team’s reports are not accurate – then there is a need to change the way data is gathered and communicated.