In Praise of Middle Managers
by Quy Nguyen Huy
THE VERY PHRASE “MIDDLE MANAGER” evokes mediocrity: a person who stubbornly defends the status quo because he’s too unimaginative to dream up anything better—or, worse, someone who sabotages others’ attempts to change the organization for the better.
The popular press and a couple generations’ worth of change-management consultants have reinforced this stereotype. Introducing a major change initiative? Watch out for the middle managers—that’s where you’ll find the most resistance. Reengineering your business processes? Start by sweeping out the middle managers—they’re just intermediaries; they don’t add value. Until very recently, anyone who spent time reading about management practices, as opposed ...
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