Horstman's
Law of Real Life Management - Part 1
You don't have to have
all the
answers. There it is in all it's simplicity, Horstman's Real Life Law
of Management, Part 1: you
don't have to have all the answers.
Why we as managers beat ourselves up about our lack of knowledge is
something
Mark thinks about a lot. Manager Tools is surely founded in part in the
knowledge that there is almost no good management training in the
world. If Mark were an academic he could spend the rest of his lifetime
cataloguing and excusing the reasons why there is a lack of management
training and why it doesn't exist. (We've said before, the reason is
nobody knows, and everybody's afraid to be wrong).
It's
ok not to know. We
understand you don't know. There's no sense in beating yourself up that
you don't know. Mark and Wendii agree that it's ok to make a mistake in
an interview. The first mistake is a 'gimme', and it's fine to let it
go. What happens though is the interviewee makes a second mistake: they
are
so fixated on the mistake they made, and beating themselves up about
it, they lose their entire concentration. An interviewer can see it
happen. Really good interviewers change the subject to help the
candidate get out of their death spiral.
That same concept,
making a
second mistake whilst stressing about making the first, is often what
kills us as managers. It's ok
not to know. Stop beating
yourself up.
Nobody else knows either! (Ok, we do ;-) ) Your boss didn't know when
she was in your job. Your CEO didn't know when he did your job, or its
equivalent. Nobody knew back then. Frankly, no-one can remember what
they didn't know and mistakenly believe they did!
So what do we recommend
you do?
When asked a question to which you don't know the answer?
It's easy, say: I don't know. Don't be worried, don't be upset. Don't
think your telegraphing your lack of knowledge. You are, but
it's only you which believes your lack of knowledge is some
terrible strike against you. Practice saying 'I don't
know' this week. In the back of your mind think that you're going to
take
some time to decide. That will take the presure off you to make
decisions you'll regret later.
So let yourself off the
hook,
don't beat yourself up. Be at peace with not knowing. You can be at
peace with not knowing and still want to know. One way to
make the next
choice is simply try something, knowing you're in the job and that most
of your instincts will be right. But whatever you do, don't do nothing.
Participation
We mentioned in the
last
newsletter a particular forum thread we'd like you to contribute to. We
had a lot of response to that fun item, and enjoyed reading about your
experiences and laughing with you. THANK YOU!
If you haven't ever
checked out
the forums, please do. There's a wealth of information there, including
solutions to common and not so common management problems. All the
Manager Tools team stop by and contribute to the discussion and it's
something we really enjoy. Every newsletter has a digest of interesting
threads, so if you're short of time, start there. You don't have to
have all the answers, like our conferences, the questions you ask are
essential to keeping the discussion going.
We're also
experimenting with
GoogleWave. There are a number of waves set up for Manager Tools, and
though we haven't quite worked out the best use of this technology,
we're having fun playing with it. There are a number of members still
with invites so if you don't have one, post on the forums and
collectively we'll see if we can get you one,
or if you are already on GoogleWave, and you'd like to be invited to
the Manager Tools waves,
email Wendii at wendii@manager-tools.com and she'll add you.
Distribution
Those of you who have
premium
content know that use of that content is only for that particular
member. This newsletter is not premium content, and we'd love for you
to forward it to anyone who would find it interesting and useful.
If someone forwarded it
to you,
and you'd like your own copy in future, become a Manager Tools member here.
It's free!
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