On 21/09/11 11:04, Christopher Sawtell wrote:
you loud and clear on the issues around the business culture. There is
definitely something broken although I'm part of the problem so I
can't
put my finger on it. :-)
(Yes, I can see the emoticon, but there is always truth lurking in humour)
My take is that in the businesses I've worked in / with people tend to
be promoted to management positions based purely on the length of time
they've been with the firm or their personal relationships, not based on
any sort of competence.
Nepotism is rife throughout all levels of business in NZ with many
managers and owners thinking this is a good thing and paint it as part
of the 'Kiwi way'. The reality of 'jobs for the boys' is that it
demoralises staff and reduces confidence in management.
Kiwi's also seem to be chronically unable to recognise the difference
between leadership and management. Entrepreneurs tend to make horrid
managers. This leads to problems when a business grows past its roots
and leads to the issues Carl has mentioned around unpaid overtime and
long hours / low productivity among other issues.
I'm probably a fairly average manager, but I do know what works and all
of the management I've known to be effective and 'good' in the 23 years
I've been in IT have come from other countries later in life and don't
have the Kiwi antipodean baggage around their necks. Most notable
amongst them being South African and Middle European by birth and
confession.
The business I'm working for now is making genuine efforts to get out of
the rut, and move on from an entrepreneurial style of business to a more
corporate and organised structure. It's a painful transition though for
many people and even the external management bought into guide the
transition is going to find it a struggle I believe.
Anyway, this has gone waaaaay OT, so how about Debian 6? :-)
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