Ernest Graves
You have to really work on fulfilling that plan. But to give you a notion of what I mean,
people would come in with cost estimates of what it would take to do something. My
attitude was, never to cut that estimate unless it was outlandish, because I knew that
it was going to cost more than that estimate. It almost always does.
If a guy comes in with an estimate and you don't cut him, and then he can't make it,
you have him. You say, "Look, I asked you for an estimate. You came in. I didn't cut
your estimate, and now you are asking for more money." That was my attitude. Let
them make their own plan. Don't interfere with them. Tell them it is their job. Make
their plan, make their estimate. Make sure they have thought it through. Then, approve
it and crucify them if they don't fulfill it.
That is the ethic that I felt toward my bosses. I wanted the freedom to make my own
plans, to submit them, to get them approved, to be left alone, and to have it be entirely
my fault if we didn't deliver.
Perhaps this was narrow minded, but since that is the way I like to operate, it seemed
to me that's the way my subordinates should operate. This is the notion of devolving
authority down to the people below you, then holding them responsible for getting the
job done.
Q:
How did they respond to that?
A:
Generally, it takes a while for them to get that idea. They have been over supervised so
much that they don't immediately grasp the notion that you are trying to give them the
ball. This isn't universally true, but there is a habit of not wanting really to take
responsibility. They complain all the time about over supervision, but psychologically
it is nice, because if the boss keeps telling you what to do, then if something goes
wrong, it is his fault.
If you have an ethic where the boss says, "All right. What are you going to do?" and
then you have to decide, that makes you responsible. I think people, once they come
to that, realize it is much better. But they haven't had the habit of making up their
minds what to do. Therefore, they don't immediately take to this.
Q:
This is the boss in you talking, of course. This is the commander and the manager.
A:
Yes.
Q:
Did the engineer in you ever want to say, "Let me do this?" Did you have to resist that?
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