Building Up…the Body of Management

12/16/13…I continue to find the Bible full of TOIL truths if I keep my mind open. Today in a discussion with a colleague, numerous thoughts finally came together regarding the SILO effect in management. In today’s manufacturing environment, as I am sure in other sector environments, there are leadership job functions with specific job titles. In ours, there is a Supply Chain Manager, a Continuous Improvement/Quality Manager, an Office Manager, a Human Resources Manager, a Compliance Manager, an Employee Performance Specialist, a Technical Manager and a Production Manager. Within each of these job functions, there are job duties. The problem is every duty each of these manager’s performs is not a strength and yet these duties are a requirement of the job. As an example every manager probably has some administrative duties, some training duties, some oversight duties, some strategic duties, etc. Each manager is in their role because they show an aptitude for certain functions within the role. Unfortunately this is short sighted. Not every manager is a good administrative person. Not every manager is a good trainer. Not every manager is a good strategist and on and on.

 

In tying back to a post I did on Strengthsfinder, I am aware I am made in the image of God and in His wisdom, he has built certain strengths into my DNA. The journey in my maturity is embracing my strengths, and not dwelling on my weaknesses. Using the 80/20 rule, I can spend 20% of my effort on strengths and accomplish 80% or I can futilely spend 80% of my effort on my weaknesses and accomplish only 20%. And this is where I think we are missing the boat in our thinking of management. Most management functions in SILO’s. There has to be another way. I think to a Bible passage where Paul conveys each of us has a gift and when all of use our gifts, it builds up the body of Christ. Indeed, something beautiful happens.

 

I once involved myself in a community group through Grace Fellowship church. I experienced first-hand what Paul conveyed to us. Karen’s gift of hospitality, Jen’s gift of friendship, Jeff and Denise’s gift of wisdom, David and Pam’s gift of discernment, and others in our group all came together and built up the body of Christ. This group individually were special, but when they all came together, something beautiful occurred. We served others at a whole different level because each of us optimized our gifts.

 

So why can this not be applied in management. For example, I wonder if a Plant Manager could bring in a group of eight leaders with nothing more than a job title of Leader. That is it. Leader. Maybe add some marketing and call the position a Performance Leader. The Plant Manager hires aptitudes, not job functions. Strategic objectives are developed. Then the Plant Manager lets go, sits back, and patiently sees what happens. Indeed, I wonder if each person gravitates towards their strengths. Let’s use administration as an example. Now instead of everyone focusing on administrative duties within their SILO, the person whose strength is administration focuses their effort in helping everyone else. Same thing for training, planning, leading Six Sigma projects, etc. Using the example of Christ as the body, everyone uses their strengths and builds up the body of a Leader.

 

So I wonder. If we really dig into God’s Word, and keep our minds open, I wonder if paradigm shifts can occur within the TOIL.