There's Being Connected, and There's Being Addicted

Writing in ComputerWorld, Paul Glen, the author of Leading Geeks: How to Manage and Lead the People Who Deliver Technology, asks if managers who are constantly tied to their e-mail or mobile device are staying connected or are addicted to being in touch. There are several reasons that managers become fixated on being in touch, Glen says, among them: mistrust of staff, sense of importance, and ego. But another reason Glen suggests is that managers have lost track of what it means to manage; specifically, what it means to manage in today's tech world.

Too many managers have adopted the mentality of the preindustrial foreman. They think that the role of the manager in the age of knowledge work is the same as that of the overseer on the plantation: to stand watch over the workers and make sure that they're productive.

And that's bad for the manager, the staff, and the organization. Thanks to Shared Spaces for the link.