Scratch the surface of any successful company and you'll find a good manager who knows how to inspire employees to reach their full potential. Management guru Scott Berkun explains how self-awareness and treating employees like people separates good managers from bad.
Take a hard look at any successful business and you'll find good management. But what is it that makes a good manager? bMighty turned to management guru Scott Berkun for the answer. Berkun worked as a manager at Microsoft for nine years until 2003 and has since devoted himself -- on his blog, through his lectures and essays, and in his books, The Myths of Innovation and Making Things Happen -- to developing theories of good management. According to Berkun, a good manager knows how to not only manage their employees but also inspire them to reach the heights of their creative potential. To do that, managers need to remember that all projects are made of people, people need to be understood, and, above all, managers need to be sure they practice what they preach.
bMighty: How does creative thinking happen and why is it important?
Scott Berkun: A better, and simpler, question is how does thinking happen at all. Most people don't like to think -- it's much less work to borrow or buy thoughts someone has already thought up for you. Thinking is rare -- and sadly that's one of the main reason's it's important: Most of us depend on minority of people patient enough to get to the core of a problem or question before they pick a side. Good thinking trumps creative thinking -- they're both rare, but find me a good thinker, a good problem solver, and it'd be very hard to convince me how she's not creative, too.
bMighty: How can managers encourage creative thinking?
Berkun: Trusting people, allowing them to make mistakes as long as they learn from them. It's really quite simple when you see it done, but it's so rare, and against the punitive, perfection-obsessed mindset we're taught in America to put out faith in. Easy trick: take 4% of your annual budget. Every quarter, give 1% of your budget to the person with the most creative idea, as chosen by your team, to make a prototype. Can't afford 4%? Then do it with time. Give the winner a week, or a day off, to make that prototype. Can't afford a day a quarter? Then you can not afford creativity -- it is out of your managerial price range and it's time for you to change your budget, or stop pretending you care about creativity.
Don't Miss: Retaining IT Talent Takes More Than Money
bMighty: How would you define a "bad" manager?
Berkun: Two criteria: 1) he fails and 2) people hate working for him. A mediocre manager meets one of these criteria. A good manager, none.
bMighty: What are the secrets of a good manager?
Berkun: Shhhh. Don't tell anyone. There are no secrets: if you actually follow any of the zillions of books out there on management, and do what they say instead of just thinking about it, you'll be an above average manager. We don't need secrets: We need self-aware managers who practice what they preach.
Next Page: Tools Don't Fix Problems, Managers Do
