The Management Chain

Or: You Can’t Spell Hierarchy without an I

The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided. —Casey Stengel

Above: Can I speak with the manager?

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Those who can’t lead, manage.

Those who can’t manage management, manage money.

Those who can’t manage money, manage people.

Those who can’t manage people, manage programs.

Those who can’t manage programs, manage products.

Those who can’t manage products, manage deadlines.

Those who can’t manage deadlines, manage expectations.

Those who can’t manage expectations, manage complaints.

Those who can’t manage complaints, manage feedback.

Those who can’t manage feedback, manage to make matters worse.

Those who manage to make matters worse, manage burnout.

Those who can’t manage burnout, manage their decline.

Those who can’t manage their decline, manage their demise

Those who can’t manage their demise, manage their way out.

Those who manage their way out are somehow elected to Congress.

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Per my about page, White Noise is a work of experimentation. I view it as a sort of thinking aloud, a stress testing of my nascent ideas. Through it, I hope to sharpen my opinions against the whetstone of other people’s feedback, commentary, and input.

If you want to discuss any of the ideas or musings mentioned above or have any books, papers, or links that you think would be interesting to share on a future edition of White Noise, please reach out to me by replying to this email or following me on Twitter X.

With sincere gratitude,

Tom