Why Managers Make Odd Choices

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had been making the "a" choice in points 1,2,4, and 5 with regularity, the organization would not be "in trouble". The crisis is not when good managers START making good decisions. OF COURSE they sink into paralysis if they have been ducking the right choices all along.

Muser of NM 10:44PM January 04, 2010

Thumbs up!
GM management sat on the hands so long, as Toyota just trounced them, that even if GM actually turned things around quickly, it would take at least an entire decade to shake the public perception that they're just not that great anymore.
Disclosure: Toyota driver (hence, the obvious bias).
But that's the point. Why don't some people still trust GM to turn it all around? Perception! Takes a while to build up brand equity, and once lost, takes a while to regain it again.
Bad GM managers. Bad.
One cannot sit on hands hoping no one will notice that your competitor is just trouncing you in terms of efficiency and quality.
Final point: Toyota kicks you know what! Go Toyota. Engine turns over even in zero degree weather. : )

Toyota Driver of IL 10:41PM January 04, 2010

Upto now all personnel are selected primarily on their academic record IQ, whereas good judgement rests on one's emotional maturity EQ.
Until all firms and recruitment agencies focus on EQ, bad choices will always be the norm, to the detriment of business and society.

Joseph I D'Souza 5:06PM January 04, 2010

Sounds like the old senior management at General Motors.

Braddock of TN 1:38PM January 04, 2010

Former Employee of SC,
Your post reminded me of a factory I visited where you could almost smell the bad relationships between the departments, the management, and the employees.

Michael Wade of AZ 11:10AM January 03, 2010

I was employed with a German owned company for 10+ years.
As the customer orders decreased in 2008-2009, the company continue to produce heavy duty diesel gears (on consignment) for a new customer. The orders never materialized. The company is still sitting on millions of dollars of inventory. The sales manager was not held responsible.
The other Managers treated highly productive, knowledgeable employees as adversaries instead of team members.
The company reduced its workforce by 75%. No reductions were made in the Management team making 6+ figures. Today, all of the remaining employees (most of them salaried) including senior management, took the German mandated 40% salary reduction.
I do not think they will survive in 2010.

Former Employee of SC 6:11AM January 03, 2010

Thanks, James.
And that can be one of the saddest situations: when people are knocking themselves out in terms of effort but are still not effective.

Michael Wade of AZ 9:56PM January 02, 2010

Good post, Michael. I think that #8 in particular is underrated - many people who are working hard truly believe that such hard work equates precisely with doing all they could and should be doing.

James of AZ 8:42PM January 02, 2010