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Why 'Lazy' Management Styles Might be More Successful

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

While some practices are better than others for leadership, there is no clearly defined archetype of a “good manager.” This will vary from person to person, employee to employee, depending on their role, their needs, and their personality. What makes a good manager for one employee may make that same manager the worst boss imaginable for another. That’s why one expert, Matt Casey, author of The Management Delusion: What if We're Doing It All Wrong? , sought to remove much of what he saw as superfluous authority and responsibility from the management structure. The first of his responsibilities to go were evaluating performance and assigning bonuses. Then, he took pay raises and approving vacation time off his plate. Instead, these responsibilities were put in the hands of the employees themselves. If they thought they deserved a raise, they came to him and told him why. If they needed time off, they took it if they thought they could still manage their workload. And the results were impressive. “There is an expectation that some people might take advantage and see this as an opportunity to do little as possible and exploit the freedom,” Casey says. “But no one did. It’s almost as if being treated like an adult encourages you to act in a more adult way. When there were more boundaries, people pushed against them. When they were taken away, they didn’t have anything to push against, so they did their job.”

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