Who is the manager? Responsible person. The interviewee must have looked at me doubtfully and said in his eyes, Why do you ask?
However, peter drucker's standard answer is not this. Twenty years ago, his book "Effective Managers" subverted people's general concept of "managers".
In his view, who is a manager is not divided according to whether he has hands or not, but whether he is "responsible for actions and decisions, which will help improve the efficiency of the organization"?
This is very abstract. For example. In the tropical jungle, a captain and a group of soldiers are waiting for possible enemies. At this time, every soldier was scattered and ambushed. Once he met the enemy, the captain could not know or command. So he wants to teach everyone how to deal with the enemy. It is the soldiers themselves who really play it by ear.
Every soldier here is a "manager" (according to Drucker's definition) He is responsible for decisions and actions, and his decisions and actions affect the survival and security of the whole group.
In this way, managers are no longer divided according to their positions, but according to the nature and content of their work. People who are not responsible for their own work and others' work content can only be called "bosses" of others, while those who need to decide their own work content and actions are managers, although they have no subordinates.
Drucker, the concept of manager, originated from the observation of the era of knowledge economy, because in industrial society, managers are very limited, and the work results of "manual workers" are easy to measure and can be counted by finished products. In the era of knowledge economy, the work of every knowledge worker is hard to measure, and they need to "manage" themselves.
So he classified these "self-managed" knowledge workers into the category of managers and studied their behavior and work efficiency together.
The concept of this manager is so different from people's usual understanding, especially in China's vocabulary that Drucker spent a chapter explaining it repeatedly, and I also spent a long time reading and pondering it repeatedly.
But once you figure it out, you will immediately find that this concept is so mysterious.
"Mind your own business" is a topic that my colleagues and I often talk about recently. We found that as an IT worker or an IT channel person, you must have the ability to manage yourself, because the reality is so complicated and changeable that everything is not clear to the boss. You must exert your subjective initiative and do your best under the existing conditions.
If everyone who needs self-management is a "manager", aren't all the reporters and editors of our magazine "managers"? Because they are typical knowledge workers, they need to be clear about what to write, how to write, and how to impress and inspire readers. They need high initiative and creativity to write hard, because they must touch themselves before they can touch others; They need to have a high sensitivity to change, quickly understand the truth and reach a certain level of thinking. Although someone must guide and check the content, journalists and editors are not "beads on the abacus" after all. If you want to be led in everything, don't be a reporter early, because you will never achieve Excellence.
The idea that all my colleagues are "managers" excites me. I am excited not because of the name itself, but because of Drucker's book, which carefully analyzes the behavior patterns of "knowledge workers" and how to improve their efficiency, so that we can follow rules and laws.
Drucker believes that managers, including knowledge workers, must be efficient, because it is of great significance to organizations and individuals. However, in practical work, there are many unfavorable factors that prevent them from playing an effective role. If these obstacles cannot be effectively overcome, even people with high IQ will achieve nothing-this conclusion is very thought-provoking.
Then, let's see what obstacles prevent managers, including knowledge workers, from playing their role.
First, their time does not belong to themselves, but to the organization.
Think about it. It's a common scene: the general manager of a dealer is sitting in his office, turning on his computer and thinking about his work goals and strategic direction for next year. As soon as he thought about the product plan for next year, the phone rang, and the sales manager said anxiously, "I just heard that there is a bidding in a school." Shall we bid? " Just put the phone down, the bell rang again, and the product manager was in a hurry: "Boss, what if the upstream manufacturers don't deliver the goods to us?" The downstream brothers are in a hurry, and the good days of departmental propaganda are coming to an end! "
A morning passed, and the general manager found that his time was disrupted, as if he were too busy, but he seemed to have done nothing.
Our editors and fellow journalists often feel that their time is not their own. For a while, the manufacturer invites a meeting, for a while, the sales need to know information, and for a while, it needs to follow up a major clue. . . Time soon slipped away unconsciously.
Second, they are often forced to be busy with "daily operations".
Just like the above example, as soon as the general manager goes to work, he will be overwhelmed by the things that come to him, and he has no time to think about other things. In this way, it is easy to miss or ignore important things.
Third, they are in an organization, and their work needs to be accepted and used by others to be effective.
Typical people are like marketing managers. His job is to help product managers promote products, and his ideas must be accepted by product managers. Another example is a project manager, who must persuade the providers of relevant resources to provide support for his project planning; A salesman must let his boss, technical support, and even financial personnel know his job needs before he can provide corresponding resources and support. . . . . . A "manager" often "manages" not his subordinates, but people from other departments, even his boss.
Fourth, they are in an organization and are restricted by the organization.
A "manager" is often entangled in internal affairs and cannot personally experience the changes of external things. Everything he saw was filtered by the organization, just like wearing a pair of colored glasses. However, his ultimate achievement needs to be recognized outside the organization. The larger the organization, the more difficult it is for managers to understand customer needs, and the more likely it is to produce deviations and produce products that are not accepted by customers. So is a magazine. If the editor-in-chief and editors and even journalists often sit in the office, how can they know the latest topics and cutting-edge trends, and how can they be loved by readers?
Only by effectively overcoming the above obstacles can we become an effective "manager". Drucker gave us a prescription: to be effective, we must develop the following habits:
First, know where your time is spent and make effective use of your little time.
Second, pay attention to the contribution to the outside world. They don't work for work, but work for results. They will first ask, "What do others expect me to do?"
Third, be good at using your own strengths, including yourself, colleagues, subordinates and even bosses. I won't base my work on my own shortcomings, and I won't do what I can't do.
Fourth, focus on several important areas and understand the important things first.
Fifth, we should be good at making effective decisions.
The book revolves around these five articles, each of which has very incisive discussions and suggestions. In particular, the first one about the use of time is quite useful.
If Drucker is a "master among masters" in management, then an effective manager is his "classic among classics". Whether we are managers in general or so-called knowledge workers, it is necessary to read this book to make our actions more effective.
In Drucker's view, "efficient managers" are not born, but trained.
Drucker believes that managers, including knowledge workers, must be efficient, because it is of great significance to organizations and individuals. However, in practical work, there are many unfavorable factors that prevent them from playing an effective role. If these obstacles cannot be effectively overcome, even people with high IQ will achieve nothing.
"Of all the management books, Drucker's works have the deepest influence on me." -Bill Gates, President of Microsoft
Obstacles that prevent managers, including knowledge workers, from exerting their effectiveness;
First, their time does not belong to themselves, but to the organization.
Second, they are often forced to be busy with "daily operations".
Third, they are in an organization, and their work needs to be accepted and used by others to be effective.
Fourth, they are in an organization and are restricted by the organization.
Effective managers must develop the following habits:
First, know where your time is spent and make effective use of your little time.
Second, pay attention to the contribution to the outside world. They don't work for work, but work for results.
Third, be good at using your own strengths, including yourself, colleagues, subordinates and even bosses.
Fourth, focus on several important areas and understand the important things first.
Fifth, we should be good at making effective decisions.