Management is Dead
For years I've stressed to my staff, and teams across our company, that management (pure task division and assignment) is dead. The reason, I submit, is that data comes at us too quickly and moves around too quickly for all of it to be summarized and taken to a single point of decision-making. So that old model of management just doesn't work unless you're working in really slow-moving and slow-changing environments.
In it's place I have suggested the mantra. It's short. It's simple. It's tweet-able. And most importantly, it's easy to remember (which makes it effective).
My staff know what kinds of decisions I would make simply by learning a set of mantras. If you've spent time on my site, or heard me talk, then you know some of them, like “hope isn't a strategy” and “done done.” I have forty of them (which I promise I'll write more about some day).
The Three Word Mantra
There's another mantra I use, but it's not static. It changes each year. And it's only three words long. But even though it's small, it does its job.
The three world mantra is a phrase that helps me think through the trade-offs I face – it's a personal tool, not a corporate one.
Last year I used “Consistently Encourage Others” and it drove my daily blogging, my presentations, and tons of phone calls. This next year I've chosen, “Create Shared Memories.” It will drive a lot of choices I make – driven by the overall goal to live life among friends and create once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
One of my friends, Suzette, has already settled on educating and documenting more, using “Educate. Document. Delight.” and I know every one of us will benefit from all the stuff she's going to publish this next year.
What about you?
What will drive your decisions in 2014? Will you “Launch new products”? Or “Achieve bigger goals”? Will you “Help others more”? Or “Take decisive action”?
My friend Adam (and no, I won't link to his dumb blog that got over a million hits in a single day – even though that took me just over a year) took two words and turned them into three “Word hard er.”
What will you do? How will you make your decisions in 2014?
Whatever you decide, come back and post your three word mantras below in the comments. I want to know them. And I want to encourage you (even though that was last year's).
And who knows, maybe it will include “Attend Lema Parties” – which I promise will me new shared memories!
PS. Save April and August for some special “Lema & Friends” events – including a Cabo trip and a Cruise.