Have some of your managers ended up in the zombie zone? Do they seem to just be going through the motions; following the same old processes for the last 10-20 years? Are they lacking initiative and drive? Are they having the same meetings every week? Going over the same metrics? Are they not pushing original new ideas for process improvement; pursuing only a few low risk projects and skipping over the ones that could really change the business?
Could it be burnout from the last few years of productivity increases? We have seen many layoffs in the last few years and are all working longer hours to make up for the loss of manpower. The ongoing stress levels can be causing some burnout in the management ranks. We could also be turning very risk adverse.
Perhaps top management is creating an environment in which middle managers are afraid to propose big process improvements. If my idea is viewed as against the boss’s idea, I might be next on the layoff list. Not that we shouldn’t manage risk, but taking no risk at all might not be a good long term strategy either; especially if our competitors are taking advantage of these times to prepare for the business upswing. After all… what goes down must eventually go up… right?
How do we turn around the zombies? Can we revive the “walkers”? Top management must create an environment of trust where managers and leaders in the company can feel comfortable bringing up new ideas. Perhaps have an official quarterly or semiannual meeting, beyond the regular weekly status meetings, where people are supposed to propose big strategic projects.
Top management must embrace some of the big process improvement projects and tie them to operational metrics and competitive pressures. The team must understand that the only way to stay competitive is to keep raising the competitive bar. And of course, top management must reward the “survivors”--the managers that have successfully been pushing new ideas that have yielded increased productivity and allowed the company to survive the tough times. Celebrate the successes and encourage the rest of the team to have similar initiatives.
Zombie practices can be contagious, but a culture of process improvement can be contagious too.
Share your anti zombie initiatives with the world.