If you have heard or read a little about management/administration theories, then you must have heard about “Management by Exception” (MBE). This simply means that the managers or bosses intervene in the work of their subordinates only when there is a deviation from the set goals/standards/parameters. Until and unless, the subordinates are achieving the set goals, the higher management does not, in theory, intervene in their day-to-day functioning. By corollary, there intervene only in “exceptional” circumstances, hence the name – “Management by Exception”.
For example, if the CEO of a company has set the target of production of 1000 units of a product in 24 hours, then if the workers are achieving the daily target with desired quality standards, the CEO does not ask them on day-to-day basis what and how they are doing to achieve the target. He/she knows that they are working sincerely, so there is no need to poke the nose in their work. This has a big benefit for the CEO. First, he/she doesn’t have to bother about small tasks of each and every worker, which gives the CEO enough time to focus on big things for the company- like R&D for new products, entering new markets, expansion of the company, etc. Second, it also gives the CEO peace of mind by giving respite from the burden of micro-managing small things.
So far, so good. MBE is an accepted technique of management used by many of the successful CEOs/bosses in an organization. Now, as per my experience, I have seen one different and unique management strategy in working, which I call as “Management by Inaction” (MBI). In some organizations, due to the complexity of the work and stakeholders involved in the process, the management is too overburdened by work, so they cannot even pay attention to the important matters. At times, they are also apprehensive about the complex laws, rules and regulations, that they think that the best action in this scenario is “inaction”. And at times, they are incompetent/lazy/negative in their attitude towards work, so they choose “inaction” over action. So, when there is “inaction” on the part of management to take decisions by any reason, it is called “Management by Inaction” (MBI).
In MBI, the subordinates are left to fend for themselves. When they look up to the senior management for guidance, they are rebuked and sent back. Even if the subordinates write letters/emails to the seniors for guidance and further course of action, their plea will fall on deaf ears and they will not receive any response. There is only “inaction” on the part of seniors. Now, the poor subordinate has two options- either to wait for guidance or to take action as per his/her own knowledge and understanding of the situation. If the subordinate takes the first route, then there will be delay in the achievement of goal, and he/she may face rebuke in the future for not doing anything (in case, the management is too lethargic to even monitor his/her progress, then the subordinate can enjoy like bosses and do nothing, but that rarely happens in reality). So, the subordinate is forced to take the second route- take action as per his/her own knowledge and understanding of the situation. Now, he/she is in catch-22 situation. Because, if he/she commits any mistake in the process, the management will be furious and can punish him/reduce his salary/fire from job. And if/she still achieves the target without any guidance, then the management will not give any credit to him/her, because they think that the subordinate is trying to overshadow them.
There are some organizations in which MBI works absolutely fine, when both the management and the subordinates are laggard, and performance measurement metric is outdated and non-scientific. But, in many organizations in today’s competitive work, MBI cannot survive for long if everyone in the organization starts practicing the same, otherwise they run the risk of losses/closure of company.
So, which category do you belong to- MBE or MBI 😀
Till next time….
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