Shoot—Then Aim? It’s Sloppy (and Lazy) Management.

Fire, Shoot, Aim:

In all careers, we are faced with both good and bad managers; we quickly learn to spot the good ones from the bad ones. This is a skill that all employees should perfect early in their work lives, because working for poor managers will hamper anyone’s career.

So, if an employer gives you poor job performance only to ask you later to list your past accomplishments, well that’s bad management. Right?

If an employer gives you a poor performance review when you know they do not know your name, well that’s bad management.

What Do You Do Here? We Don’t Care:

ü? Last week, 1,000 full-time employees at the National Park Service were laid off. The terminations were carried out without notice, which didn’t allow park service management time to prepare. The only locksmith working in Yosemite was let go. Clearly, sloppy and harmful behavior.

ü? Nearly all the United States’ foreign aid employees (who help advance the U.S.’s national interest) were fired, only then to be asked—after firing them—to explain how their work aligns with national interests…well, ?that also must be bad management.

ü? Cutting funding to cancer research, firing scientists, and ending healthcare support to low-income people without knowing how it affects Americans who are fighting for their lives, well, that’s not just sloppy management, that’s cruel management.

This is poor management, right? Of course, anyone can see it.

If I had a client who worked for any of these organizations, I’d tell them to look for a new job, and to seek out more stable, mature leadership.

What Problem Are We Solving?:

As a consultant, one of the key questions we ask before we take any action is, ‘What problem are we solving?’ Because before any work can start to ‘improve efficiency,’ or ‘reduce waste,’ we must know what our end goal looks like:

·???????? Are we trying to reduce redundant work efforts? If so, then we need to understand the work being done and by whom to deduce if there’s redundancies…

·???????? Are we trying to improve how quickly a company can handle a call? If so, then we need to map all the steps involved and re-work the process…

·???????? Are we trying to clarify governance? If so, then we need to understand the decision-making process so we can simplify and clarify…

What we never, ever—and I mean never do—is blindly cut staff, cut programs or cut services.

What Good Management Looks like:

Good management is easy to spot, but harder to find.

Good management is surrounded by good, ethical, caring leaders. Leaders who know your name, who care about your career and how’s it progressing. Good leaders care about the work they are leading, and believe in it’s fundamental ‘goodness’ for society. Good leaders take ownership and responsibility for their actions, they do not blame others, nor do they pick on the weak.

Good managers strive for ‘goodness’ in all things:

?‘Is this good for the community?’ ‘Is this good for the client?’ ‘Is this good for the country?’ And, ‘Is this good for me, my family?’ ‘Does my work align with my morals and ethics?’

We Need Our American Workers Working For All Americans

Poor management and leadership exist in every sector. But it’s a rare thing when we see such sloppy actions affecting thousands of workers without any accountability.

We need our American workers holding our government together. We need American employees doing The American People’s Work.

To shoot first and then aim is sloppy and lazy…and extremely disrespectful to those employees being fired without cause, reason or decency.

We should fire the managers responsible for such terrible performance. And we do know their names.

America works when Americans work.

?

?