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Problem Solving | Idea Generation | Training and Education | News and Information
| Courage and Autonomy | |
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Nothing sells like success. Creativity consultants, innovation proponents, and the Cowardly Lion have pitched the idea of bottom-up management forever. But here it is again from one of the architects of a success story that shook the world. “Let people make their own decisions and they’ll work twice as hard.” That was Howard Dean, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, shortly after his party’s 2008 victory. Every manager who wants better results should print, frame, and hang those words where they will always see it.
When you’re autonomous, when you’re making the decisions, you know that your name, reputation, and credibility are on the line. And when all that is on the line, you find what it takes to do what needs to be done. You find the courage. And when the job is done, the rewards of success are magnified. Why do some employees drag themselves through their day jobs, then throw themselves into their hobbies? Why do people who work fifty and sixty hours a week work even harder for their churches, communities, and other volunteer organizations?
Sure, Courage is part of it but Courage gets its gusto from the present and future rewards of Autonomy. See also: Let Your People Go Play Don’t Fence Me In by Peter Lloyd and Cole Porter
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I heard Dean speak as part of a Smithsonian Associates “Presidential Campaign Analysis” panel. Describing how he managed his successful 50-state strategy, he attributed success to allowing the state campaign people to run their own show. “Some will screw up,” he admitted, “but most will do a great job.”
What makes a king out of a slave?