My First Lesson on Management

Otto Chan was a grey-haired Chinese  immigrant programmer whom I met decades ago  in Los Angles . And I never  imagined that I would learn one of my life-long cherished  Management Lessons  over a casual water cooler conversation with him.

I was myself a developer working on  a small-scale ‘not-so-important’ project for a Mid-size organization. And Otto is part of the large ‘strategic’ project that was aimed to change the shape of the  business– remember the ‘re-engineering bug’ of Nineties!

So one day when I queried Otto on his project, his answer was : “Perhaps you do not know of Chinese Cultural Revolution”. Well – fortunately – having grown up in an Indian city with strong leftist link, I did happen to read about it –  the ill-fated top-leadership enforced high-handed ideological movement that caused major disaster and devastation to the society and economy during early seventies.

“Our project is just like that; everyone is producing status what our bosses want to hear” was Otto’s one-liner. In short: CEO had given a mandate; every layer  is ‘conforming’ to the mandate. And people like Otto – who can tell the real story – are awfully silent. So you can safely predict the fate of the engagement – Green, Green, Green – then suddenly Red and Collapse. Surely Otto’s project – after couple of years of burning millions of dollars – met the same fate.

So the golden-rule: when you hear the status of something as exactly what you like to hear, be worried– perhaps you are sitting on top the Chinese Cultural revolution and enjoying a short-lived lull before the big storm.