Decentralization has saved many organizations from the "Management by Best Seller" syndrome that can infect head offices. Management can huff and puff about the latest corporate fad but the departments serve as the ultimate check and balance.
Battle-scarred department directors and managers nod and salute and then do just enough of the latest idea to get management off their backs. They know that time will reveal if management is serious and hope that, if the fad is truly wacko, upper management's traditionally short attention span will surface and the program will be tossed into a black hole.
Decentralization's virtues are self-evident. What is surprising is the extent to which organizations do not encourage the exchange of success stories. Far too often, lessons from superstar departments remain within their boundaries and other executives and managers can only speculate about what lies behind the success of their peers.
One way to mix motivation with education is to publish the success stories of executives, managers, and supervisors in a book that can be periodically updated and distributed throughout the organization. Similar steps can be taken with sales, professional, and other positions in which tips can be reasonably transferred. Stories of successful employees at all levels should be considered. Leadership is not a caste system.
This exercise can help to identify the practices that should be uniform as opposed to those that can be open to experiment and differentiation. It also recognizes the extent to which departments can be management laboratories and each team member can be an inventor.
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