Middle managers get a bad rap; some say they add overhead, create uneeded bureaucracy, slow down organizations and add expense. Some so called “lean and mean” corporations are even eliminating middle mangers. Scary thought isn’t it. What would a world without middle management look like? No weekly status meetings, no yearly reviews, no empire building. No job for you. Scary indeed.
But fear not. The corner office will be vacant long before the middle managers are all fired. Why? Let’s jump in the Way-Back machine and discover the answer.
Imagine yourself standing on a dry sandy desert next to a large river. There is a heated discussion going on. Apparently the last supply of building materials didn’t arrive meeting specifications. The two foremen, Bird-boat-sky (Bird for short) and Corn-tree-watering hole (Cornhole to his friends) are speaking heatedly about a delivery of building supplies.
Bird: Did you hear about the last four blocks?
Cornhole: LOL, yeah. 14 cubits too small, right? Measure once cut twice I always say.
Bird: Laugh all you want. Remember that “blood of the first born” thing?
Cornhole: (Gulp) People are going to be talking about that for a thousand years, at least.
Bird: Pharoh was just a little cranky that day. This time he is going to be pissed. Blood of the first born? More like blood of everyone this side of the Sinai.
Cornhole: (Gulp)
While there is evidence the ancient Egyptians didn’t create the middle manager they certainly elevated him (back when being elevated really meant something) to a new level. They understood that middle management serves a vital purpose: simultaneously motivating workers and laying blame on an individual level thereby avoiding unnecessary, and expensive, plagues of locusts and frogs. And who needs that?!
It is often incorrectly believed that the Great Pyramids of Giza were constructed by slaves. In reality, vast legions of workers at all levels were organized, scheduled, tracked, paid, hired, fired, ranked, demoted, promoted and motivated by middle managers. Without middle managers the pyramids wouldn’t exist at all. Recent archeological discoveries have unearthed evidence that each manager responsible for a team of stone masons maintained a set of measuring tools. Every day, during a team meeting, each mason’s measuring tools would be verified against the manager’s. Any mason with tools that did not agree with the standard would be executed in front of the rest of the team. We’ll return to this lesson in a bit.
Imagine the same desert scene, but this time a middle manager (Dust-dog-eye or Dusty) is involved.
Bird: Did you hear about the last four blocks?
Cornhole: LOL, yeah. 14 cubits too small, right? Measure once cut twice I always say.
Dusty: Ha! The masons responsible have already been executed. New stonemasons have been hired, tools checked and the stone is in production. A tiger team is cutting the too small blocks for a course further up. So we are actually slightly ahead of schedule. And because the new masons get the dead mason’s huts and wives they are working for less so we are under budget!
Just like that a middle manager saved the entire pyramid, and probably several villages, simply by killing failing employees. That one act motivated the remaining employees enough that the blocks will be delivered on time, to spec, and because there is now a smaller payroll, under budget. The middle manager cares. He cares so much he’s willing to micro-manage his direct reports and kill them when needed. Caring like that yields results!
Blocks, budgets, buildings. Pharaoh gets his pyramid and is happy. As we all know, a happy Pharaoh is a less murdery Pharaoh. Nothing but wins all around. Except maybe for the mason, but he should have kept his tools in check!
How do we apply these lessons in the modern business climate where publicly murdering an employee is legally frowned upon? By leveraging contemporary understanding of the stress-cortisol response. Humans evolved facing near constant threats from predators, starvation, and war. That stress allowed early humans to run faster, survive lean times and fight harder. You need to duplicate those conditions.
Follow historical precedent and hold weekly, daily, or even hourly staff meetings to ensure that all your employees can see how much you care. Somehow “micro-managing” has gotten a bad rap, but at times it is the only way to ensure employees are doing what’s required. Managers who care watch their employees with the eye of Horus! Micro-managing also establishes a base line of stress to build upon.
Check their progress often, both on a schedule and with surprise visits. It doesn’t matter if you are measuring lines of code written by a group of programmers, tires mounted in an auto shop or livers removed by a surgeon. Find a metric, measure it and make it public. No secrets here! Everyone needs to know exactly who is the weak link. The adrenaline jolt from being called out as the slacker will kick anyone into high gear.
Yes, the Ancient Egyptians had it figured out. It’s time to apply the lessons learned over 4000 years ago and start building your own pyramid!
Side note regarding the lesson about managers executing masons: if a manager was found with tools that didn’t match his manager’s do you think he was promoted? Hardly. If you guessed gruesome public execution, you guessed correctly. That’s why it’s important to meet with your own manager frequently. With a careful approach you can get your manager to adopt your measuring stick! Then see who gets the metaphorical ax the next time the wrong block is delivered.