Relentless Innovation: What Works, What Doesn’t--And What That Means For Your Business

Chapter 8What Happens to the Middle Managers?

Sometimes it seems that middle managers receive all the blame for the failings of an organization, while never receiving accolades for the many successes they create. Middle managers have traditionally defended the organization from large threats such as market disruptions and new entrants, and small ones such as unhappy customers or inefficient processes. They manage large organizations with little authority and lots of indirect power, aided by robust corporate cultures that seek to keep people and ideas in line. Middle managers translate the big picture visions and ideas of executives and create action plans for front line workers, filtering the feedback from customers and front line employees to ...