Incompetent management is where the leadership sees management as a line of business vs a role. Places that operate that way tend to latch on to micromanage finance and accounting. When organizations operations or development teams are run by the CFO, only bad things can happen because the CFO’s incentives are not aligned.
I ran a large line of business for a big government agency during the pandemic and faced a similar issue. Government bureaucracy is not typically associated with visionary leadership. However, faced with this conundrum, I called the CEO equivalent and said “We need this.” (In so many words), and later that afternoon we were moving along with critical procurements.
Competent management has tight process controls to prevent waste. But the leadership is the head and the process the tail. If a VP (or whatever) is slave to some bean counter in accounting, that VP cannot achieve her mission. Leadership means we follow the process, but have the ability to act.
In smaller orgs, much less formality and lighter process makes more sense. You don’t want to be running romper room, but the processes required to run a global company like Exxon or JPMC is
inappropriate for a startup.
Incompetent management is where the leadership sees management as a line of business vs a role. Places that operate that way tend to latch on to micromanage finance and accounting. When organizations operations or development teams are run by the CFO, only bad things can happen because the CFO’s incentives are not aligned.
I ran a large line of business for a big government agency during the pandemic and faced a similar issue. Government bureaucracy is not typically associated with visionary leadership. However, faced with this conundrum, I called the CEO equivalent and said “We need this.” (In so many words), and later that afternoon we were moving along with critical procurements.
Competent management has tight process controls to prevent waste. But the leadership is the head and the process the tail. If a VP (or whatever) is slave to some bean counter in accounting, that VP cannot achieve her mission. Leadership means we follow the process, but have the ability to act.
In smaller orgs, much less formality and lighter process makes more sense. You don’t want to be running romper room, but the processes required to run a global company like Exxon or JPMC is inappropriate for a startup.