Mike’s Company

“Here’s the deal,” says Mike. “When we start a business, or when we start a new department in a company, everything is very hands on. We are involved in everything, and we do all the things that need to be done.

“This is lots of fun if you’re an entrepreneurial type person. At this stage, you figure out what works and what doesn’t. And after you figure out what works, you’re pretty convinced that you know what you’re doing. After all, it works.

“Now, in the second stage of development, you do less yourself because you have other people to do things. But you’re still close enough to the ground to know what needs to be done, and how to do it. After all, you invented the ways to do it. So you instruct your folks to do things a certain way—the way that you already determined worked for you.

“This second stage is often a time of high growth, and it can be very exciting. You see your company or your department grow and prosper, and you find yourself with a great increase in power and influence. Now you’ve got a real crew of people working for you, and they’re helping to carry out your instructions and your vision. And they’re very excited about the high growth and the opportunities for them.

“The third stage is where things get dicey. Now you have too many people to watch closely every day. The hands-on management method (I’ll do it myself) and the task management method (I’ll show you exactly how I did it) that worked so well in the early stages of growth become, ironically, a serious liability. You’re simply not able to do everything yourself or even watch everyone else closely enough to ensure that they’ll do it exactly as you would.

“The symptoms of this situation manifest themselves with both managers and employees. Managers can’t understand why ‘I have to do it myself if I want it done right,’ employees can’t understand why they’re ‘being micro-managed’ at some times and ‘being expected to guess what my manager wants’ at other times.

“This can become a highly frustrating time for everyone. The demands of the growing business are relentless, and managers now find themselves in ‘crisis management mode.’ The longer this situation persists, the greater is the risk of company failure.

“But that, of course, depends upon what is done to launch the fourth phase. This is where managers really have two major choices. They can continue to try to manage things as they did in the early stages, or they can create a system that will allow employees to choose their own paths toward meeting their goals.”