Brilliant Manager, 3rd Edition

168 brilliant manager

can do at any one time. Do not waste your, and the team’s,

efforts on issues that you cannot win or which are not genuinely

life-threatening.

As an example, when introducing ISO 9001 quality processes

into the team, my organisation mandated a very unpopular

standard format for official reports, and mandated that a par-

ticular word processor be used to produce them. The team

unanimously wanted me to fight this proposal tooth and nail.

I told them bluntly that (a) we would lose, and (b) there were

more important issues to win. There were many grumbles, but

my view was accepted.

The theory of ‘free power’

There are a number of different ways to express this theory. A senior

member of an organisation I worked for gave a definition I liked:

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission.

Most organisations do not really know how much authority they

have delegated to low-level managers. Many organisations help

you by saying fine words about empowerment. So in many cases

you can just go ahead and do things.

The main disadvantage is that most organisations default to a

blame culture, so there will be no comeback if your decision

turns out well, but you will get blamed if things go wrong. You

have to decide if you care about being blamed. If you just want

to do a good job on behalf of your team I suggest you use organi-

sational free power a lot.

A good technique, well backed up by psychology, is to be sub-

missive and apologetic when being blamed. It is really hard, and

no fun, to beat up someone when they are grovelling.

One situation when I strongly recommend the use of organi-

sational free power is when the organisation definitely does

not want to be asked to give permission. For example, if a

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Managing your organisation 169

staff member asks your permission to do something that is

not covered by the rules, then if it is a reasonable request just

say yes. In most countries your decision will legally bind your

organisation, but the organisation does not want to have to make

a decision that may set an organisation-wide precedent. In such

cases, the organisation will probably be much happier if you

assume the local responsibility for the decision.

Find the wiggle room

Within any organisational process or instruction there is nearly

always room for local ‘interpretation’. Often it will be possible

to show that your local interpretation is in the original spirit of

the process or instruction. As an example, when I oversaw the

introduction of ISO 9001 quality processes into my team, I got

a copy of the actual standard and easily showed that my local

interpretations of the corporate quality processes were directly

supported by the ISO 9001 document. As the organisation only

really cared that the independent quality accreditors would not

give me any non-compliances, they left me alone.

Few organisations will fire you for not doing things

In the last resort, rather than threatening to resign, you will

usually get away with not carrying out instructions to the letter.

Provided you do not rub your managers’ noses in the fact that

you are being insubordinate, you will usually get away with it.

I strongly recommend that you use this technique very sparingly.

Although your superiors may not fire you, they are likely to be

able to make life very difficult for you at some time in the future.

Ask for help

When dealing with other departments, such as personnel or

finance, a good tactic is to appeal to their professional vanity

by asking them how something outside the normal rules can be

done. If you seek assistance from someone who has professional

pride they will often tell you where the wiggle room is.

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