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Remember the phrase "Atomic Age?" Sounded so modern and zippy at the time -- and sounds so hopelessly retro now. With the workplace becoming more global and more virtual by the femtosecond, atoms are out and electrons are in. As every working person knows, we can create more value electronically in a few minutes now than our grandparents' generation of workers could do in a week. But organizations haven't caught up to the knowledge-worker reality. Way too many employers still manage their troops as though it's 1945. Is your organization clinging to any of these leftover Atomic Age leadership mechanisms? Ditch them now. They're slowing you down, and you won't get access to your most talented team members' gray matter by managing them like old-fashioned worker bees.
Atomic Age Vacation Rules It made perfect sense in 1950, when my dad was hired straight out of Georgetown, to give each newbie two weeks of vacation and let him work his way up to three and four weeks' vacation. But today, when the War for Talent is in full swing, how can a hiring manager offer a talented midcareer pro two weeks of vacation with a straight face? We should key vacation allotments to years in the workforce, not to years spent within our walls.
When I think about Atomic Age vacation rules, I think of those electric fences people plant in the ground to keep their dogs in the yard. Here's the problem: When Fido jumps the fence and gets a shock, the last thing he wants to do is jump back into the yard and get another one. So he runs away. When we offer prospective team members with 10 or 15 years of experience a measly two-week vacation package, we're making it mighty unappealing for them to jump over the fence into our yard.
Chain-of-Command Mentality
The chain of command -- the notion that you report to your boss, she reports to her boss, and so on -- is the basis of military leadership, the Catholic Church, and most other hierarchies we know. And for sure, if you're asking for a raise or announcing that you're expecting twins, your boss is the go-to person. But for questions about work requirements, how-to inquiries, information on a customer's history, or a million other topics, it's ineffective and slow to be bound to a system where the boss must be consulted. Surveys say most workers get 70% to 80% of their on-the-job instruction from other workers. Thank goodness! How could a manager manage if he had to answer questions all day? Save the chain-of-command mentality for administrative and career-development topics and empower employees to help one another get the work done.
Management by Policy
Supposedly, when Moses walked down the Mount with those two tablets, it was the first incidence of written law. Today, we're drowning in it -- from ISO 9000 documentation to elaborate do's and don'ts on everything from business travel to escorting a visitor to the Customer Briefing Center. Enough, already. Companies that manage by policy slow their knowledge workers down by requiring them to check the book before making a move too many times a day. The rule, "use your good judgment, and ask if you're not sure," could eliminate half the policies in Corporate America today.
Classroom Training
If you're conducting CPR training, I'll concede that you have to have people in the room. But the millions of person-hours spent in classroom training cost our organizations a bundle while limiting our learning to what's on the class agenda. And then there's the question of how does that know-ledge get integrated into our daily lives back at the desk. Peer-to-peer mentoring is faster, stickier, and more customizable than traditional classroom instruction. Plus, it keeps people on the job, where we want them.
Face-Time Addiction
Possibly the most pervasive and destructive artifact of Atomic Age business management is the fixation with hours in the office, when much if not most of our work could be done from the car, the playground, or Starbucks (NasdaqGS:SBUX - News). Smart companies are establishing core hours -- say, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. -- when everyone's expected to be in the office so meetings and face-to-face check-in can happen. Apart from that, the mantra is "do your job."
Too many managers can't identify their own staff members' deliverables, leaving only the face-time metric as a way to evaluate whatever they value, be it performance or docility. Companies that persist in exalting face time will bleed talent as their brightest stars go to organizations where knowledge is the operative word, leaving the worker bees behind.
还记得“原子时代”这种说法吗？它在以前那个时代听起来倒是既时髦又带劲，但时过境迁，如今已是老掉牙了。随着工作地点以惊人的速度日益全球化，虚拟化，原子时代早已过去，电子时代已经到来。每个工人都知道，我们利用电子技术在几分钟里创造的价值比祖辈们一周创造的价值都要多。但很多公司或组织对于工人已经知识化这一现实情况还没转过弯来。许多雇主还在以1945年的模式管理他们的“员工部队”。你所在的单位是不是也沿袭着原子时代残留的领导机制呢？赶快把它们扔到吧。这些东西会降低效率。如果你用管理一群工蜂的旧方式管理你的天才团队，那么你永远也别想把他们的才能发挥到极致。
原子时代的假期制度
在1950年，也就是我父亲从乔治城大学毕业后参加了工作那会儿，公司会先给一个新手两周的假期，然后让他好好干，以后再加到三到四周。这种做法在当时可谓合情合理。但在人才之争如火如荼的今天，人事部门的经理怎么能板着脸去给一个正值事业顶峰的干才仅仅两周的假期呢?我们应该侧重于依据员工从事工作的年限给假，而不是把他们在本公司所待的年限作为给假的关键依据。
说到原子时代的假期制度，让我想起了人们为了把狗圈在院子里，在地上竖起带电栅栏的做法。其中的问题在于：当狗跳过栅栏被电着后，它决不会想跳回院子再被电一下，所以只好一走了之。当我们用两周可怜巴巴的假期打发有10－15年从业经验的应聘者时，正是在让他们觉得跳回我们的院子毫无吸引力。
指挥链式管理心态
你向你的上司汇报，然后你的上司又向他的上级报告，这样依次下去，就是所谓的指挥链。它是军事领导机制，天主教，和我们所知的一切等级机构的基础。当然，你要是想升职或宣布要有孩子了，你的上司就是该找的人。但遇到有关工作要求，工作方法咨询，客户历史信息等许多其他的问题时，机械的因循上报制度不仅慢，而且效果不佳。调查显示多数工人从同事那里获得了70%到 80%与工作相关的指导。这真是要感谢上苍啊！要是一个经理一天到晚忙着回答各种各样的问题，他又怎么做好管理工作呢？指挥链式管理只能适用于行政机构和事业发展方面，我们要做的是让员工相互帮助，从而使工作得以完成。
通过律条管理
想想看，当先知摩西从西奈山上带着两块刻有”十戒”的石碑下来时，书面的律法便产生了。如今，我们却淹没在各种各样的律条中，大到ISO 9000质量标准管理文件，小到针对商务旅行或护送访客到客户简报中心等一切事物的细致规定，真可谓浩如烟海，已到了多余的地步。通过条条框框进行管理的公司会降低知识工作者的效率，因为每次有什么动作之前他们都得多次查看公司的各种条例。“先独立判断，如不明白再去询问”这个做法可以减少美国公司中一半的规章制度。
课堂式的训练
若是你要做心脏复苏培训，我得承认把人召集到一个房间里很有必要。但课堂式训练花费掉数百万人力小时，却把学习内容仅仅限于课程表，这种做法让我们的企业付出了昂贵的代价。同行一帮一比传统的课堂式教学来得更快，更能对症下药，更容易让学习者接受。另外，这种方法还能让员工不离开工作岗位，这也正是我们想要的。
热衷于强调办公室上班时间
原子时代留下的公司管理方法中影响最广泛，破坏力最大的或许是硬性规定办公室上班的时间。然而，我们的工作中很多一部分，是可以在车里，操场上，或是星巴克（纳斯达克：SBUX-个股新闻）咖啡厅里完成的。明智的公司只规定必要的核心上班时间，比如上午10点到下午三点。这期间，大家都应呆在办公室里以便于开会和面对面交流。在这段时间之外，唯一的规定就是“干活！”
太多的经理们弄不清他们的下属有多大的产能，不得不用上班时间这把尺子来衡量他们所看重的方面，不管是业绩还是遵守纪律。特别强调固定上班时间的公司会让人才伤痕累累，他们最耀眼的明星不得不另择信奉知识第一的明主，留下的只是些工蜂一样的工人。
