Impact Seminars, Inc. - The Tacky Manager

The Tacky Manager

Written in 1991, The Tacky Manager has become a classic to many. It shows up on desks of unexpecting managers who do not realize how they are perceived by their associates.

The Tacky Manager can play a role in bridging the gap between employees (associates) and management.

Organizational changes carried out without proper consideration of human values and without clear explanations to employees can turn employee loyalty and confidence to uncertainty, antagonism, and fear about the future. Success requires cooperating to achieve corporate/staff goals.

Winning back the loyalty and commitment of employees and gaining their cooperation is the greatest challenge facing management today.

The key is a basic change in management attitudes. Management must see communication not as a bothersome chore, but as a fundamental means of helping to release the creative genius of associates that have been bottled up in organizations by authoritarian management styles. An effective beginning to greater success is referring to employees as associates rather than subordinates, sharing information, and scheduling The Tacky Manager Seminar.

Order your copy of The Tacky Manager today for only $9.95 plus shipping and handling.

_{Deming's Fourteen Points}

Modified by The Tacky Manager

1. Subordinates do not need to know or understand the purpose of your business. It is important to frequently remind them about whose business it is.

2. Management must accept the responsibility for decisions.You didn't get this position by not being smart. You will need to hire others for extra hands to get your work done, but remember they do not care about anything but the money.

3. Inspection means it will not go out until it is right. If you have enough inspectors you can catch employees messing up and ship products that are good enough.

4. Continue to look for vendors willing to bid on materials and take the lowest bid. Treating vendors like expendable suppliers will keep them sharp and you will save money.

5. If it's not broken, don't fix it. If there were better ways of doing things you would be doing them. If things get tight you can always save money by laying people off.

6. Throw new employees into their work immediately. The better ones will figure it out.

7. Institute tight control through the use of power and intimidation.

8. Use fear as a motivator. People who are afraid of losing their jobs will pay careful attention and not make mistakes. Managers can do the innovating.

9. Keep departments separate. Institute competition for your limited resources between departments. Only management needs to have the big picture.

10. Use slogans, exhortations, and set targets of zero defects. Don't spend time training.

11. Establish quotas on the factory floor as well as marketing. Use management by numbers and numerical goals to control your subordinates. Remember: Where there's a whip there's a way.

12. Maintain control with annual reviews. Stress numbers rather than system improvement and emphasize good enough.

13. Education is an expense. Certainly, any self-improvement training is not the
organization's concern.

14. If something must change, it is the business of management - the thinkers.

15. If you are ever tempted to allow your subordinates to participate in decision making - ask yourself this question, "If they are so smart, why aren't they the boss"?

John's response to tacky management...

Contrary to the tacky manager's methods, John explains that "Management's job is to facilitate change in its attitudesand actions--a tough assignment! Since changing established patterns of human behavior is not easy. Leading an empowered workforce begins with giving up the trappings of the tacky manager."