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Time Horizons: Where are you focused?
It is often assumed that executives and managers have more in common with one another than either one has with the rank and file. Executives and managers are indeed similar in some ways. Both groups manage people and resources. Both groups exercise some power in organizations. Both groups are evaluated according to the results for which they are accountable. And, after all, most executives are recruited from the ranks of management. But there are some key differences that, when overlooked, can create significant misunderstandings and disconnects.
Because these groups tend to see each other as alike, they are often confounded and sometimes annoyed by unexpected differences that crop up. Often, these differences are attributed to different personal qualities and worldviews. “That’s just (insert name here). That’s how s/he sees the world.�
In very real terms, executives and managers are very different, and not just in stereotypical status and power terms. Executives and managers devote their primary focus to very different time horizons.
There is a reason that managers seem more connected to the rank and file than do their executive counterparts. Both managers and rank & file workers focus their attention and efforts on the present. Both work more in the “NOW� than do executives, whose jobs and responsibilities require them to primarily exercise a future-focus.
As a purely practical matter, both people and organizations have to work effectively in both dimensions. But if everybody is thinking about the same issues, or focusing on the same time horizon, then somebody isn’t necessary. Somebody is redundant.
The realm of strategy – the key responsibility of an organization’s executive corps – is in the future. If a leader is making it up as she’s going along, she’s not strategic. She’s riffing on a strategic theme. And while some executives are great at turning business into jazz, the best tacticians are usually managers. Why? Managers have a lot more experience responding to the jigs and jags of the present. That’s their domain.
Talented and effective executives and managers can easily misread each others’ competencies and intentions when they don’t understand that they have different time-horizon focuses. Opportunities are lost when each doesn’t share the expertise and insights that each develops while working in their particular bailiwick. And sometimes, the problem is not just a lost opportunity; challenges morph into blaming, judgmental behavior that can tear teams and organizations apart.
It’s not uncommon that managers think that executives are “out-of-touch� and disconnected from reality. How many times have you heard a manager talk about executives as "flying at 40,000 feet," oblivious to the real-world problems that real people confront during their working day?
Likewise, executives sometimes characterize their managers as parochial and incapable of seeing the “big picture.� They complain about their managers getting “lost in the weeds,� as if paying attention to details were a shortcoming instead of a strength.
It seems obvious, but strong strategy and impeccable execution are both vitally important to creating success in organizations. While our society has tended to place and pay a premium for good strategy, more and more organizations are learning just how important execution is. The School of Hard Knocks is merciless when it comes to flunking out those who don’t manage detail well.
When we’ve worked with organizations – and have surfaced time horizon dynamics - there have been very big “aha� moments, especially when it comes to healing and re-building relationships between managers and executives.
Trust, compassion, and support are predictable by-products of clarity in organizational roles and responsibilities. Clarity is a wonderful thing.
Posted on May 31, 2006 07:30 AM | Permalink
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