GROWING PAINS

I recently spent a day with the management team of a small banking software house. Nice guys, young, driven and successful...

Just one little problem - the management culture that's got them to where they are today, will keep them there for ever and a day.

The charismatic founder and CEO is able enough to dive into and fix problems across the business very effectively.

And in doing so undermines and demeans the responsibility of his management team. Lo and behold, they do the same, thus unwittingly cascading the corrosive management style throughout the business.

The result: a disgruntled workforce unwilling to take ownership of issues - and a business that will attract people that need to be told what to do at every turn... and how to do it.

So, as Alice said, "If everybody minded their own business, the world would go around a great deal faster than it does."