In my last post, I discussed how you can find your refuge, both real and imagined, and take sanctuary in it whenever appropriate, or necessary. In this post, I consider the role vulnerability plays in your daily Middle Way Management™ walk.
Vulnerability in an Egoistic World
In our egoistic world, vulnerability is largely viewed as a weakness. Why is this? I believe it's because vulnerability is the outcome of practicing a management approach that is open, honest, candid, and, yes, compassionate. The typical American-style manager perceives him/herself as "tough but fair." Usually, they are just tough. They have no room for vulnerability because their self-identity is so wrapped up in their job title that they are operating from a position of fear at all times. Fear of looking bad before those they manage, fear of looking bad to their boss(es), fear of being perceived as weak, fear of the unknown.
Ego and fear are the enemies of vulnerability.
I recently completed the first and second phases of the Middle Way Management Assessment Instrument™ (MWM-AI™) study. The first phase was completed with the help of a panel of leadership and management experts. This group helped me define and refine a list of behavioral, leadership, and management characteristics that exemplify the Middle Way Manager™. The second phase was the development of a survey instrument for field testing. As I created the instrument items, I became keenly aware of the importance of vulnerability to the practice of Middle Way Management. A few items from the survey are
My direct manager...
...shows compassion for others at all levels of the organization.
...is sympathetic when needed.
...is not dogmatic in his/her beliefs (i.e., does not always need to be right).
...works to build and promote the team over self.
...is accountable for his/her actions to organizational stakeholders.
While these may appear to be the characteristics of any good manager, they are not always evident in the behaviors of American-style managers. These characteristics require a level of vulnerability that sidelines ego in the interest of others and the organization, and we know that the ego is always on the playing field in American-style management doing its best to look good--if it's not, it's on deck warming up.
It's Okay to be Vulnerable
The message I want to leave you with in this post is that it's okay to be vulnerable. Vulnerability does not denote weakness, it denotes honesty, candor, compassion, and empathy. When you are patient and kind, you are vulnerable. When you manage with vision and courage, you are vulnerable. When you put the interests of your team members before your own, you are vulnerable. And this is okay.
As your Middle Way Management practice matures, you will find that the outcomes you realize from your efforts overcome any perceptions of weakness. Walk your talk and embrace your vulnerability with mindfulness and purposeful intent and you will realize results that surprise even your harshest critics.
In my next post, I will discuss Middle Way Management and the role vision plays in your daily practice. It is a moral imperative of the Middle Way Manager to provide a clear, concise, achievable vision for the team. Providing vision builds trust and supplies a set of common goals that create the sort of "buy-in" money simply cannot buy.
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Middle Way Management and Finding Your Refuge
In my last post, I discussed how viewing stress from the perspective of creative tension is a great way to enhance your Middle Way Management™ practice. By morphing stress into creative tension, you increase your ability to manage with compassion, empathy, patience, kindness, and sympathy, all necessary aspects of your Middle Way Management daily walk. In this post, I present ideas about how to find and then take refuge from a sometimes chaotic organizational environment.
Finding Your Refuge
Refuge in the context of Middle Way Management can be real or metaphorical. Either way, your refuge should be a place where you go to reconnect and sort things out. Of course, you can, and probably should, have more than one refuge space upon which you rely. Your refuge can be at your place of work or somewhere outside (e.g., walking path around the office building). Your refuge can be purely imaginary--a "happy place" you go to when things are spinning around you. As a Middle Way Manager™, you will seek real or metaphorical refuge depending on immediate circumstances.
For instance, it's probably not appropriate to excuse yourself to take a walk during an important meeting because you want to exit a negative situation and feel the sun on your face. It's also imperative that you remain "here, now." I've certainly let my mind wander to more pleasant scenes during a meeting or two over the years. Invariably, someone then asks me for my opinion on a matter to which I've paid virtually no attention. Because it's one of the primary responsibilities of the Middle Way Manager to be present at all times, you should guard against this and take refuge when and where appropriate.
Taking Refuge
In an earlier post, I recommended taking time out of your busy schedule to engage in reflective thought. Hopefully, you are able to accomplish this in your own office with some privacy or in a room set aside by the organization for rest and relaxation. This is a case of real refuge, one that you can count on (remember to schedule out the time as a meeting) to recharge and rejuvenate, especially if your day has been hectic. I know that I eagerly anticipate my self-sanctioned "timeouts" as a way to collect my thoughts and plan for future events.
Other forms of real refuge can be spending quality time with sympathetic colleagues during work hours or after work. You can schedule lunches with friends or family and even skip lunch altogether in the interest of simply getting away from the workplace for a little while. I once read an article by a guy who espoused using a toilet stall as a form of refuge to take a quick nap. While I don't think lurking in the restroom is a great idea, I do believe his point that a place of refuge should include some solitary time to recharge your managerial batteries is a good one.
On the metaphorical, or imaginary, side, refuge can simply be a way to calm your mind, even briefly. In an earlier post, I suggested reflective thought and breathing exercises as ways to settle your busy mind. Bringing yourself into awareness through concentration on your breathing is a great way to keep yourself in the present and focus your energies. In fact, breathing in awareness may be the best approach because it helps you focus intently on the present, preventing the wandering of mind that is so easy to slip into when refocusing.
The Purpose of Refuge
The purpose of taking refuge is to help you calm yourself in the midst of the storm. As an active manager in an American-style organization, you will typically reside in the eye of that storm when you take refuge. Remember, though, that the storm is always moving. Eventually, it will wash over you once again and you will be right back in the thick of things. By calming yourself in the midst of the storm, you allow yourself to re-energize your daily Middle Way Management practice. Only when you are calm and composed will you be able to manage with compassion, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and kindness.
In my next post, I will consider how practicing Middle Way Management requires you to be vulnerable in the face of egoistic and aggressive forces that are part and parcel of American-style organizational management. Only by acknowledging and embracing our vulnerability can we practice the level of compassion necessary to relieve suffering at all levels of the organization.
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Finding Your Refuge
Refuge in the context of Middle Way Management can be real or metaphorical. Either way, your refuge should be a place where you go to reconnect and sort things out. Of course, you can, and probably should, have more than one refuge space upon which you rely. Your refuge can be at your place of work or somewhere outside (e.g., walking path around the office building). Your refuge can be purely imaginary--a "happy place" you go to when things are spinning around you. As a Middle Way Manager™, you will seek real or metaphorical refuge depending on immediate circumstances.
For instance, it's probably not appropriate to excuse yourself to take a walk during an important meeting because you want to exit a negative situation and feel the sun on your face. It's also imperative that you remain "here, now." I've certainly let my mind wander to more pleasant scenes during a meeting or two over the years. Invariably, someone then asks me for my opinion on a matter to which I've paid virtually no attention. Because it's one of the primary responsibilities of the Middle Way Manager to be present at all times, you should guard against this and take refuge when and where appropriate.
Taking Refuge
In an earlier post, I recommended taking time out of your busy schedule to engage in reflective thought. Hopefully, you are able to accomplish this in your own office with some privacy or in a room set aside by the organization for rest and relaxation. This is a case of real refuge, one that you can count on (remember to schedule out the time as a meeting) to recharge and rejuvenate, especially if your day has been hectic. I know that I eagerly anticipate my self-sanctioned "timeouts" as a way to collect my thoughts and plan for future events.
Other forms of real refuge can be spending quality time with sympathetic colleagues during work hours or after work. You can schedule lunches with friends or family and even skip lunch altogether in the interest of simply getting away from the workplace for a little while. I once read an article by a guy who espoused using a toilet stall as a form of refuge to take a quick nap. While I don't think lurking in the restroom is a great idea, I do believe his point that a place of refuge should include some solitary time to recharge your managerial batteries is a good one.
On the metaphorical, or imaginary, side, refuge can simply be a way to calm your mind, even briefly. In an earlier post, I suggested reflective thought and breathing exercises as ways to settle your busy mind. Bringing yourself into awareness through concentration on your breathing is a great way to keep yourself in the present and focus your energies. In fact, breathing in awareness may be the best approach because it helps you focus intently on the present, preventing the wandering of mind that is so easy to slip into when refocusing.
The Purpose of Refuge
The purpose of taking refuge is to help you calm yourself in the midst of the storm. As an active manager in an American-style organization, you will typically reside in the eye of that storm when you take refuge. Remember, though, that the storm is always moving. Eventually, it will wash over you once again and you will be right back in the thick of things. By calming yourself in the midst of the storm, you allow yourself to re-energize your daily Middle Way Management practice. Only when you are calm and composed will you be able to manage with compassion, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and kindness.
In my next post, I will consider how practicing Middle Way Management requires you to be vulnerable in the face of egoistic and aggressive forces that are part and parcel of American-style organizational management. Only by acknowledging and embracing our vulnerability can we practice the level of compassion necessary to relieve suffering at all levels of the organization.
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Middle Way Management, Stress, and Creative Tension
In my last post, I discussed how values are really at the foundation of everything you do as a Middle Way Manager™. Values color your perceptions and create biases - both positive and negative - that you use in your daily Middle Way Management™ walk. Recognizing and appreciating the values of your team members will also help you understand them better. This way, you can practice compassion, empathy, kindness, and understanding in natural, authentic ways. In this post, I will consider how you can turn a stressful situation into one where creative tension ushers you point-to-point without damaging relationships or compromising your values.
Good Stress, Bad Stress
While we've all experienced stress of some form, especially as managers, psychologists tell us that not all stress is bad. Yet, terms like "stress management" have created a buzz around stress that tells us it's something to be eradicated for the good of all. But is this really the case? Stress is indicated in our bodies in several ways. We breathe differently, we move differently, we even think differently under duress, all of which have been necessary survival tactics during our long evolution into Homo sapiens postmodernensis. What I'm suggesting here is that fight-or-flight is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be quite good.
We've all been in a situation in which flight seemed like a logical response to the energies at hand. I certainly know I have. During these times, my mind goes on a short hiatus and I'm left looking for the nearest exit. Now, this can be as immediate as potential direct harm to your person or a feeling that you need to "get out of here." And "getting out of here" can involve a quick retreat from an organizational situation or even the organization itself. Regardless, the thing to take away from these experiences is what your mind did and where it went while you were under stress.
Systems Science to the Rescue
In his book, The Fifth Discipline, Senge (2006) presents the idea of creative tension. He suggests the reader visualize a rubber band looped over the backs of both hands while pulling them apart. On, say, the left hand is your current position while the right is the place you want to eventually reach. He recommends decreasing the amount of tension between the two in creative ways so you reach your goal over time with less, well, stress. Like Senge, I consider the tension between current place and goal position to be the domain of stress.
Viewing stress this way changes it from something negative to something that offers Middle Way Managers myriad opportunities to inject creative energy into organizational pursuits. Whenever you begin to feel the telltale signs of stress, you are offered a chance to raise your awareness to respond in more positive ways to the issue(s) at hand. This consciously mindful approach lies at the heart of Middle Way Management and you should be grateful for every stressor that allows you to walk your Middle Way Management talk.
One way to do this is to categorize your potential stressors and concentrate upon a single category until you've mastered it. For instance, if you manage a large group of people, a category of focus might be "people issues" for a week. Every time someone brings you something that requires your attention (remember, stress is created by "good" and "bad" scenarios), you can raise your awareness to recognize the inherent stressor and why you feel the way you do. Once you recognize this, it's a short trip to turn the stress into creative , goal-directed tension. Will this instantly solve any problems you must address? Probably not always, yet it will expand your perspective into a solution space, rather than a problem space.
Why Does This Matter?
While this topic might seem tangential to your Middle Way Management practice, handling stress, both "good" and "bad," typically requires a new perspective. Morphing stress into creative tension matters here because the promotion of positive energy in your daily Middle Way Management walk is a fundamental aspect of managing with compassion while practicing empathy, patience, sympathy, and kindness. Each of these helps you achieve your primary goal as an active, mindful Middle Way Manager: the relief of suffering at all levels of the organization.
In my next post, I will consider Middle Way Management and finding your refuge. This is necessary in a hectic, sometimes chaotic, work environment. By taking refuge, you rejuvenate and re-energize yourself, which is good for you, for your team members, and for the organization at large.
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Broadway Business.
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Good Stress, Bad Stress
While we've all experienced stress of some form, especially as managers, psychologists tell us that not all stress is bad. Yet, terms like "stress management" have created a buzz around stress that tells us it's something to be eradicated for the good of all. But is this really the case? Stress is indicated in our bodies in several ways. We breathe differently, we move differently, we even think differently under duress, all of which have been necessary survival tactics during our long evolution into Homo sapiens postmodernensis. What I'm suggesting here is that fight-or-flight is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it can be quite good.
We've all been in a situation in which flight seemed like a logical response to the energies at hand. I certainly know I have. During these times, my mind goes on a short hiatus and I'm left looking for the nearest exit. Now, this can be as immediate as potential direct harm to your person or a feeling that you need to "get out of here." And "getting out of here" can involve a quick retreat from an organizational situation or even the organization itself. Regardless, the thing to take away from these experiences is what your mind did and where it went while you were under stress.
Systems Science to the Rescue
In his book, The Fifth Discipline, Senge (2006) presents the idea of creative tension. He suggests the reader visualize a rubber band looped over the backs of both hands while pulling them apart. On, say, the left hand is your current position while the right is the place you want to eventually reach. He recommends decreasing the amount of tension between the two in creative ways so you reach your goal over time with less, well, stress. Like Senge, I consider the tension between current place and goal position to be the domain of stress.
Viewing stress this way changes it from something negative to something that offers Middle Way Managers myriad opportunities to inject creative energy into organizational pursuits. Whenever you begin to feel the telltale signs of stress, you are offered a chance to raise your awareness to respond in more positive ways to the issue(s) at hand. This consciously mindful approach lies at the heart of Middle Way Management and you should be grateful for every stressor that allows you to walk your Middle Way Management talk.
One way to do this is to categorize your potential stressors and concentrate upon a single category until you've mastered it. For instance, if you manage a large group of people, a category of focus might be "people issues" for a week. Every time someone brings you something that requires your attention (remember, stress is created by "good" and "bad" scenarios), you can raise your awareness to recognize the inherent stressor and why you feel the way you do. Once you recognize this, it's a short trip to turn the stress into creative , goal-directed tension. Will this instantly solve any problems you must address? Probably not always, yet it will expand your perspective into a solution space, rather than a problem space.
Why Does This Matter?
While this topic might seem tangential to your Middle Way Management practice, handling stress, both "good" and "bad," typically requires a new perspective. Morphing stress into creative tension matters here because the promotion of positive energy in your daily Middle Way Management walk is a fundamental aspect of managing with compassion while practicing empathy, patience, sympathy, and kindness. Each of these helps you achieve your primary goal as an active, mindful Middle Way Manager: the relief of suffering at all levels of the organization.
In my next post, I will consider Middle Way Management and finding your refuge. This is necessary in a hectic, sometimes chaotic, work environment. By taking refuge, you rejuvenate and re-energize yourself, which is good for you, for your team members, and for the organization at large.
Reference
Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Broadway Business.
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Middle Way Management and Values
In my last post, I presented the "Magic Mirror"--the one in which we see ourselves reflected when we form opinions about others. While it applies to many interactions you have with organizational members during the course of practicing Middle Way Management™, it certainly does not generalize to all of them. More than anything, my purpose here is to raise topics that spur additional discussion, which the Magic Mirror post most definitely accomplished. In this post, I will discuss the role your values play in your daily Middle Way Management practice.
What Do You Value?
As a practicing Middle Way Manager™, you have already demonstrated that you value people and how they are treated in an organizational context. You value yourself or you wouldn't assume you have anything to offer the organization or the people and resources under your watch. You value the organization for which you spend your invaluable time and energy and, of course, you value all of the things in your personal life that make life worth living.
Yet, aren't values something more than simply those "things" you value in your life (imagined or real)? Like culture, values are reified objects - intellectual constructs we use throughout our day to measure and weigh every situation that arises. Values are deeply ingrained and can be quite difficult to articulate, until they are threatened. Values change over time, morphing into something that can pop up to surprise us when we least expect it. In the end, we cannot escape our values; they inform and color everything we see, hear, and do--they are at the foundation of everything.
Generating Values
A few months ago, I worked with a colleague to create the "ValuesGenerator". This Web-based application is a sorting exercise in which participants decide which values listed on virtual cards (e.g., family, honesty, integrity, etc.) to put in the "keeper" pile and which to discard. By the end of the exercise, participants are left with their top six choices--six values that rise above all others. For many, this provides a moment of surprise and clarity. For others, it just reinforces what they already know about themselves.
One feedback remark we received is that values definitions have different meanings for different people. For instance, "family" can mean one thing to a heterosexual male with no kids and entirely another to a lesbian with two children in her household. In an American-style organizational context, "candor" can be situational while in a religious organization it might be expected under any and all circumstances. Clearly, values are nuanced in ways that can make agreement upon their definitions problematic at best.
An Opportunity for Dialogue
While I understand that agreement upon values definitions can be problematic, I do not consider this a problem, especially for the Middle Way Manager. Whenever complete agreement is not reached on any topic, it is not a stopping point; rather, it's a beginning from which understanding can be created.
The ValuesGenerator is a way for organizational members to make explicit their values and then engage in respectful dialogue that works to bring organizational members closer together in unforeseen ways. As understanding is reached between people, they see that compassion and empathy, sympathy and understanding are more easily realized. They see that walking the Middle Way Management path is easier when the values that lead to motivations which result in behaviors are brought to the surface.
Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged
As a Middle Way Manager, you must seriously consider the role judgment plays in your daily walk. Like every other aspect of your Middle Way Management practice, values will lie at the heart of how you interact with others and what judgments you make about their behaviors. Judgment is a tricky thing, especially if you have not made the necessary effort to fully understand the values of your team members. Remember, one of your primary Middle Way Management objectives is the relief of suffering across all levels of the organization.
Personal values incongruence or conflict can create significant individual suffering, which you will see manifested as depressive, unproductive, or difficult team member behaviors. This is when your sensitivity about judgment and understanding the values of others will become an important part of your daily practice. How you negotiate such relationships under these circumstances will determine how effectively you walk your Middle Way Management talk.
In my next post, I will discuss Middle Way Management, stress, and creative tension. The Middle Way Manager works to move stress into a creative space where options are plentiful and solutions abound.
Until then...
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
What Do You Value?
As a practicing Middle Way Manager™, you have already demonstrated that you value people and how they are treated in an organizational context. You value yourself or you wouldn't assume you have anything to offer the organization or the people and resources under your watch. You value the organization for which you spend your invaluable time and energy and, of course, you value all of the things in your personal life that make life worth living.
Yet, aren't values something more than simply those "things" you value in your life (imagined or real)? Like culture, values are reified objects - intellectual constructs we use throughout our day to measure and weigh every situation that arises. Values are deeply ingrained and can be quite difficult to articulate, until they are threatened. Values change over time, morphing into something that can pop up to surprise us when we least expect it. In the end, we cannot escape our values; they inform and color everything we see, hear, and do--they are at the foundation of everything.
Generating Values
A few months ago, I worked with a colleague to create the "ValuesGenerator". This Web-based application is a sorting exercise in which participants decide which values listed on virtual cards (e.g., family, honesty, integrity, etc.) to put in the "keeper" pile and which to discard. By the end of the exercise, participants are left with their top six choices--six values that rise above all others. For many, this provides a moment of surprise and clarity. For others, it just reinforces what they already know about themselves.
One feedback remark we received is that values definitions have different meanings for different people. For instance, "family" can mean one thing to a heterosexual male with no kids and entirely another to a lesbian with two children in her household. In an American-style organizational context, "candor" can be situational while in a religious organization it might be expected under any and all circumstances. Clearly, values are nuanced in ways that can make agreement upon their definitions problematic at best.
An Opportunity for Dialogue
While I understand that agreement upon values definitions can be problematic, I do not consider this a problem, especially for the Middle Way Manager. Whenever complete agreement is not reached on any topic, it is not a stopping point; rather, it's a beginning from which understanding can be created.
The ValuesGenerator is a way for organizational members to make explicit their values and then engage in respectful dialogue that works to bring organizational members closer together in unforeseen ways. As understanding is reached between people, they see that compassion and empathy, sympathy and understanding are more easily realized. They see that walking the Middle Way Management path is easier when the values that lead to motivations which result in behaviors are brought to the surface.
Judge Not, Lest Ye Be Judged
As a Middle Way Manager, you must seriously consider the role judgment plays in your daily walk. Like every other aspect of your Middle Way Management practice, values will lie at the heart of how you interact with others and what judgments you make about their behaviors. Judgment is a tricky thing, especially if you have not made the necessary effort to fully understand the values of your team members. Remember, one of your primary Middle Way Management objectives is the relief of suffering across all levels of the organization.
Personal values incongruence or conflict can create significant individual suffering, which you will see manifested as depressive, unproductive, or difficult team member behaviors. This is when your sensitivity about judgment and understanding the values of others will become an important part of your daily practice. How you negotiate such relationships under these circumstances will determine how effectively you walk your Middle Way Management talk.
In my next post, I will discuss Middle Way Management, stress, and creative tension. The Middle Way Manager works to move stress into a creative space where options are plentiful and solutions abound.
Until then...
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Middle Way Management and the Magic Mirror
In my last post, I considered Middle Way Management™, creativity, and innovation. The discussion was centered on how you are able as a Middle Way Manager™ to relieve team member suffering by fostering creativity and encouraging innovation, even when the organizational environment doesn't necessarily promote expansive innovation. In the end, creativity and innovation are where you find them. In this post, I present the "Magic Mirror"--the one in which we see ourselves reflected when we form opinions about others.
I Hate When He Does That!
Have you ever found yourself being irritated by a team member's behaviors and you're not really sure why? Whenever this happens, an interesting phenomenon that I like to call the "Magic Mirror" is at play. In short, you are seeing in others that which you detest in yourself. Well, detest may be too strong a word, yet it can be accurate depending on your level of irritation. You are agitated in this way because you know at the subconscious level that your judgments about the team member's behaviors are a reflection of how you feel about yourself when you are at your most unflattering.
The Magic Mirror is a wonderful thing because it allows us to catch ourselves in the act of judging someone else. This is the key to mindful awareness. When you find that you are catching yourself more and more, it means your Middle Way Management sensibilities are becoming finely tuned and energized. This is a good thing. What may not be so good is the fact that when you catch yourself in this way, you have already spent valuable time and energy thinking about someone else's behaviors, behaviors you largely cannot control, in negative and non-productive ways.
Mirror, Mirror On the Wall...
The Magic Mirror is a valuable tool you can use any time during your Middle Way Management practice. I actively use this tool on a daily basis. I'm currently working a contract on which a person I regularly find extremely irritating also works. Yet, is he really that irritating? Other team members seem to enjoy his company. I mostly do not. I recently caught myself judging his behaviors and realized I was most annoyed with his "steamroller" behavior, which I interpreted as downright rude. He talks a lot and rarely listens. Very irritating. Aha! Perhaps this is something I recognize in myself that I diligently work to manage on a daily basis. Perhaps I feel, deep down, that I've not yet mastered this trait in myself. Hmm...
My way of interacting with this person has been to make a conscious effort at practicing patience, compassion, and empathy. One thing that he has stated repeatedly is that he is new in the role he has assumed within our team (project manager). His job is a tough one and I truly believe he is suffering on several levels. His antidote to relieve his own suffering is to do "something, anything" and to do it loudly. While this may not be the most effective approach, I must recognize that he is doing what he can (without using Middle Way Management principles) to choke down his own fear and panic on a minute-by-minute basis. I must honor the fact that he has not given up and is trying to do the best job he can under the circumstances.
It's a Constant, Evolving Process
Do I always act with compassion and empathy toward my fellow team member? I certainly do not. Middle Way Management is a practice and, hence, a process that does not present a clear terminal point where I can say with confidence, "Okay, I've achieved the status of Middle Way Manager--what's next?" I am always becoming a Middle Way Manager and it's in this becoming that I must find ways to practice the principles to the best of my limited abilities. I must remain mindfully aware that whenever irritation or agitation arise in me, I am seeing what I judge to be a bit of myself in others and my ego is somehow involved in the transaction. What is it about these behaviors that causes me so much suffering?
At the root of the Magic Mirror lies a bruised or insulted ego. As I observe the behaviors of the person I described above and become irritated, it is because my ego has been hurt by what I perceive to be his basic lack of decency (an unfair judgment about him). Really, it's not about him, it's about me in two ways: 1) I see someone behaving in ways that I've recognized in myself and tried diligently to change - how can he not do the same? and 2) When he does steamroll me, it hurts because my ego feels undervalued and "stepped on."
This gets back to my earlier post on Middle Way Management and the Self. The ego wants to remain vital and important at all costs. If I choose to let my colleague's behaviors slide with an understanding and compassionate response, the ego loses power. And that's not in the game plan of the ego. No, the ego wants me to judge and be reactive, even in negative ways. The ego doesn't care what kind of attention is drawn to me because any attention is good attention. As a Middle Way Manager, I must reject this approach to attention and conduct myself with all the humility and grace my colleague deserves.
It's Not Easy
Is all of this easy to accomplish? Like most Middle Way Management characteristics, it is not. All I can do is my best on a daily, hourly, even minute-by-minute basis to make myself a better Middle Way Manager, a better team member, and a better person. In doing this, I've helped relieve my colleague's suffering and I've relieved suffering at the organizational level because I've had a hand in creating a positive Ripple Effect that is sure to radiate out into the organization and the world at large.
Next time you catch yourself being irritated with someone, stop and question why it is happening. Then, congratulate yourself for practicing the kind of mindful awareness that is the foundation of your Middle Way Management practice. Heck, if you want, you can even say to yourself, "Today, I am a Middle Way Manager!"
In my next post, I will consider the crucial role your values play in your daily walk down the Middle Way Management path.
Until then...
Onward! Darin
MWM Practice Point, 7/22/2009:
As an addendum to this post, I thought I'd follow up on how I applied this topic in the workplace today. The person I mentioned above showed up characteristically 15 minutes late and interrupted me mid-sentence, talking loudly about something completely unrelated to what I was explaining to the group. My response was to stop talking and wait patiently for the conversation to return to my topic. It never did - and that was okay.
During the course of the meeting, I took the effort to ask clarifying questions of this person. I find that these sorts of questions - non-confrontational, seeking information only - are the best way to honor what the person is saying by showing interest and seeking clarity with the intent of precise communication. This also helps me to understand the real point and motivation behind what someone is saying. In the case today, this tactic settled things down and brought out fine points and details that might otherwise have remained hidden.
Toward the end of the meeting, he stated that "someone here has a trust issue and feels he needs to do everything himself." Well, this person was me. I work in a highly technical position and my technical co-worker on this contract has gone out to have a little monkey. Unfortunately, I am the only person who has the expertise in the group at this time to handle the extraordinary technical demands of the project. So, rather than take it personally and let ego take over the interaction, I simply asked for clarification by saying, "What are you perceiving in my behavior that you interpret as a lack of trust?" In every instance he mentioned, I was able to ask, "Who in this group has the technical expertise to help me out? I WANT help, I NEED help!" It became clear that my non-trust was actually a non-issue. Concern resolved.
In the end, I found myself being thankful for having had the opportunity to practice what I preach today. Walking the Middle Way Management talk is the only way to go!
DRM
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
I Hate When He Does That!
Have you ever found yourself being irritated by a team member's behaviors and you're not really sure why? Whenever this happens, an interesting phenomenon that I like to call the "Magic Mirror" is at play. In short, you are seeing in others that which you detest in yourself. Well, detest may be too strong a word, yet it can be accurate depending on your level of irritation. You are agitated in this way because you know at the subconscious level that your judgments about the team member's behaviors are a reflection of how you feel about yourself when you are at your most unflattering.
The Magic Mirror is a wonderful thing because it allows us to catch ourselves in the act of judging someone else. This is the key to mindful awareness. When you find that you are catching yourself more and more, it means your Middle Way Management sensibilities are becoming finely tuned and energized. This is a good thing. What may not be so good is the fact that when you catch yourself in this way, you have already spent valuable time and energy thinking about someone else's behaviors, behaviors you largely cannot control, in negative and non-productive ways.
Mirror, Mirror On the Wall...
The Magic Mirror is a valuable tool you can use any time during your Middle Way Management practice. I actively use this tool on a daily basis. I'm currently working a contract on which a person I regularly find extremely irritating also works. Yet, is he really that irritating? Other team members seem to enjoy his company. I mostly do not. I recently caught myself judging his behaviors and realized I was most annoyed with his "steamroller" behavior, which I interpreted as downright rude. He talks a lot and rarely listens. Very irritating. Aha! Perhaps this is something I recognize in myself that I diligently work to manage on a daily basis. Perhaps I feel, deep down, that I've not yet mastered this trait in myself. Hmm...
My way of interacting with this person has been to make a conscious effort at practicing patience, compassion, and empathy. One thing that he has stated repeatedly is that he is new in the role he has assumed within our team (project manager). His job is a tough one and I truly believe he is suffering on several levels. His antidote to relieve his own suffering is to do "something, anything" and to do it loudly. While this may not be the most effective approach, I must recognize that he is doing what he can (without using Middle Way Management principles) to choke down his own fear and panic on a minute-by-minute basis. I must honor the fact that he has not given up and is trying to do the best job he can under the circumstances.
It's a Constant, Evolving Process
Do I always act with compassion and empathy toward my fellow team member? I certainly do not. Middle Way Management is a practice and, hence, a process that does not present a clear terminal point where I can say with confidence, "Okay, I've achieved the status of Middle Way Manager--what's next?" I am always becoming a Middle Way Manager and it's in this becoming that I must find ways to practice the principles to the best of my limited abilities. I must remain mindfully aware that whenever irritation or agitation arise in me, I am seeing what I judge to be a bit of myself in others and my ego is somehow involved in the transaction. What is it about these behaviors that causes me so much suffering?
At the root of the Magic Mirror lies a bruised or insulted ego. As I observe the behaviors of the person I described above and become irritated, it is because my ego has been hurt by what I perceive to be his basic lack of decency (an unfair judgment about him). Really, it's not about him, it's about me in two ways: 1) I see someone behaving in ways that I've recognized in myself and tried diligently to change - how can he not do the same? and 2) When he does steamroll me, it hurts because my ego feels undervalued and "stepped on."
This gets back to my earlier post on Middle Way Management and the Self. The ego wants to remain vital and important at all costs. If I choose to let my colleague's behaviors slide with an understanding and compassionate response, the ego loses power. And that's not in the game plan of the ego. No, the ego wants me to judge and be reactive, even in negative ways. The ego doesn't care what kind of attention is drawn to me because any attention is good attention. As a Middle Way Manager, I must reject this approach to attention and conduct myself with all the humility and grace my colleague deserves.
It's Not Easy
Is all of this easy to accomplish? Like most Middle Way Management characteristics, it is not. All I can do is my best on a daily, hourly, even minute-by-minute basis to make myself a better Middle Way Manager, a better team member, and a better person. In doing this, I've helped relieve my colleague's suffering and I've relieved suffering at the organizational level because I've had a hand in creating a positive Ripple Effect that is sure to radiate out into the organization and the world at large.
Next time you catch yourself being irritated with someone, stop and question why it is happening. Then, congratulate yourself for practicing the kind of mindful awareness that is the foundation of your Middle Way Management practice. Heck, if you want, you can even say to yourself, "Today, I am a Middle Way Manager!"
In my next post, I will consider the crucial role your values play in your daily walk down the Middle Way Management path.
Until then...
Onward! Darin
MWM Practice Point, 7/22/2009:
As an addendum to this post, I thought I'd follow up on how I applied this topic in the workplace today. The person I mentioned above showed up characteristically 15 minutes late and interrupted me mid-sentence, talking loudly about something completely unrelated to what I was explaining to the group. My response was to stop talking and wait patiently for the conversation to return to my topic. It never did - and that was okay.
During the course of the meeting, I took the effort to ask clarifying questions of this person. I find that these sorts of questions - non-confrontational, seeking information only - are the best way to honor what the person is saying by showing interest and seeking clarity with the intent of precise communication. This also helps me to understand the real point and motivation behind what someone is saying. In the case today, this tactic settled things down and brought out fine points and details that might otherwise have remained hidden.
Toward the end of the meeting, he stated that "someone here has a trust issue and feels he needs to do everything himself." Well, this person was me. I work in a highly technical position and my technical co-worker on this contract has gone out to have a little monkey. Unfortunately, I am the only person who has the expertise in the group at this time to handle the extraordinary technical demands of the project. So, rather than take it personally and let ego take over the interaction, I simply asked for clarification by saying, "What are you perceiving in my behavior that you interpret as a lack of trust?" In every instance he mentioned, I was able to ask, "Who in this group has the technical expertise to help me out? I WANT help, I NEED help!" It became clear that my non-trust was actually a non-issue. Concern resolved.
In the end, I found myself being thankful for having had the opportunity to practice what I preach today. Walking the Middle Way Management talk is the only way to go!
DRM
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Middle Way Management, Creativity and Innovation
In my last post, I considered Middle Way Management™ and active decision making. Not only is this an expectation of managers in American-style organizations, it's the starting point of the moral imperative at the heart of creating the vision so necessary for developing motivation and promoting teamwork. In this post, I will be looking at how creativity and innovation are crucial aspects of your Middle Way Management practice.
All Organizations Great and Small, the Lord God Made Them All
I've held management positions in organizations of all sizes. While my experiences working for small, entrepreneurial organizations have been, um, interesting, they were at least dynamic and innovative, which required me to be creative in my approach. It has been my observation that the larger the organization, the more conservative the approach--to everything. From fiscal policies to marketing efforts, IT strategies to sales tactics, larger organizations move slower and take vastly more time to accomplish just about everything.
I once worked for a large organization that experienced several critical database failures during one of the busiest (i.e., revenue producing) business cycles of the year. These failures were putting the entire organization at risk. My team quickly came up with three solutions that would solve the problem and move the organization forward. Until my peer managers began calling meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting to "address the issue."
While I believe collaboration and inclusion are fundamental aspects of Middle Way Management, we were holding meetings to discuss when the next meetings would be held. The result? After three days of nearly catastrophic failures, thirty-nine, that's right - thirty-nine (39) - options for solving the problem were proposed. In the end, we implemented the original three proposed by my team, thereby preventing the organization from refunding $10 million in booked revenue.
My point here is that some organizational members (typically managers) often confuse doing "something, anything" with creativity and/or innovation. Being busy does not mean you are being productive, it just means you're busy. Both creativity and innovation come with preparation, reflective thought, patience, and vision, hallmarks one and all of the true Middle Way Manager™.
Creativity is Risky, Innovation Expensive
I say that creativity is risky because it takes special effort, effort that is not always completely aligned with standard organizational processes and procedures, to develop and exercise solutions "outside the box." Most American-style organizations are risk-averse and would prefer cash to flow in the general direction of stockholders (not necessarily stakeholders), rather than into innovative programs and projects. Of course, without creativity, innovation is simply not possible.
Many organizations prefer to acquire innovation that has already been proven, thereby absorbing creativity with less risk and innovating without the enormous cost of development, test marketing, and hopeful rollout. Yet, this approach is not without its own set of risks, including product or service stagnation and eventual (inevitable?) market share decline. The decision to encourage creativity and innovation is mostly determined by the organization's culture and its collective attitude toward both. If innovation through acquisition is the preferred method, then the Middle Way Manager will find ways to foster creativity and encourage innovation at a smaller scale within, for instance, project boundaries.
Fostering Creativity, Encouraging Innovation
The Middle Way Manager knows that people are at their best when they are working creatively to innovate. This can be something as small as the refinement of a particular business process or as large as the specification of a new product or service. When people are allowed the freedom to be creative and are encouraged to innovate, they develop a sense of accomplishment that keeps them excited about the vision you have created. This develops the holy grail of team member "buy-in," which, of course, is something that can't be bought--at any price. This sort of commitment alleviates suffering among your team members because they become emotionally involved and link their personal progress with the organization's.
As a practicing Middle Way Manager, you know by now that supplying vision for your team is not only a management obligation, it's a moral imperative. And vision requires creativity, even if your organization is conservative in its approach to innovation. Exercising creativity will help you tailor your vision to the organization's goals and objectives while presenting scenarios that excite and motivate your team.
I once managed a team of programmers tasked with creating a Web-based wizard that was the front-end of a new product. I knew my team and I knew my organization, so I set the challenge before the team and let them work through the specification process without my initial involvement. In the end, they came up with some great ideas that later became the foundation of the wizard for a suite of online products that produced solid revenues for the company. They were allowed to exercise their creative muscles and they introduced an innovative product that was their "baby". It was a win-win-win all the way around.
I've just scratched the surface here regarding Middle Way Management, creativity and innovation. The most important lesson in all of this is how you are able as a Middle Way Manager to relieve team member suffering by fostering creativity and encouraging innovation, even when the organizational environment doesn't necessarily promote expansive innovation. In the end, creativity and innovation are where you find them. Fortunately, your Middle Way Management practice will help you find them just about everywhere.
In my next post, I will consider Middle Way Management and the "Magic Mirror". How we see others is often a reflection of how we see ourselves.
Until then...
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
All Organizations Great and Small, the Lord God Made Them All
I've held management positions in organizations of all sizes. While my experiences working for small, entrepreneurial organizations have been, um, interesting, they were at least dynamic and innovative, which required me to be creative in my approach. It has been my observation that the larger the organization, the more conservative the approach--to everything. From fiscal policies to marketing efforts, IT strategies to sales tactics, larger organizations move slower and take vastly more time to accomplish just about everything.
I once worked for a large organization that experienced several critical database failures during one of the busiest (i.e., revenue producing) business cycles of the year. These failures were putting the entire organization at risk. My team quickly came up with three solutions that would solve the problem and move the organization forward. Until my peer managers began calling meeting after meeting after meeting after meeting to "address the issue."
While I believe collaboration and inclusion are fundamental aspects of Middle Way Management, we were holding meetings to discuss when the next meetings would be held. The result? After three days of nearly catastrophic failures, thirty-nine, that's right - thirty-nine (39) - options for solving the problem were proposed. In the end, we implemented the original three proposed by my team, thereby preventing the organization from refunding $10 million in booked revenue.
My point here is that some organizational members (typically managers) often confuse doing "something, anything" with creativity and/or innovation. Being busy does not mean you are being productive, it just means you're busy. Both creativity and innovation come with preparation, reflective thought, patience, and vision, hallmarks one and all of the true Middle Way Manager™.
Creativity is Risky, Innovation Expensive
I say that creativity is risky because it takes special effort, effort that is not always completely aligned with standard organizational processes and procedures, to develop and exercise solutions "outside the box." Most American-style organizations are risk-averse and would prefer cash to flow in the general direction of stockholders (not necessarily stakeholders), rather than into innovative programs and projects. Of course, without creativity, innovation is simply not possible.
Many organizations prefer to acquire innovation that has already been proven, thereby absorbing creativity with less risk and innovating without the enormous cost of development, test marketing, and hopeful rollout. Yet, this approach is not without its own set of risks, including product or service stagnation and eventual (inevitable?) market share decline. The decision to encourage creativity and innovation is mostly determined by the organization's culture and its collective attitude toward both. If innovation through acquisition is the preferred method, then the Middle Way Manager will find ways to foster creativity and encourage innovation at a smaller scale within, for instance, project boundaries.
Fostering Creativity, Encouraging Innovation
The Middle Way Manager knows that people are at their best when they are working creatively to innovate. This can be something as small as the refinement of a particular business process or as large as the specification of a new product or service. When people are allowed the freedom to be creative and are encouraged to innovate, they develop a sense of accomplishment that keeps them excited about the vision you have created. This develops the holy grail of team member "buy-in," which, of course, is something that can't be bought--at any price. This sort of commitment alleviates suffering among your team members because they become emotionally involved and link their personal progress with the organization's.
As a practicing Middle Way Manager, you know by now that supplying vision for your team is not only a management obligation, it's a moral imperative. And vision requires creativity, even if your organization is conservative in its approach to innovation. Exercising creativity will help you tailor your vision to the organization's goals and objectives while presenting scenarios that excite and motivate your team.
I once managed a team of programmers tasked with creating a Web-based wizard that was the front-end of a new product. I knew my team and I knew my organization, so I set the challenge before the team and let them work through the specification process without my initial involvement. In the end, they came up with some great ideas that later became the foundation of the wizard for a suite of online products that produced solid revenues for the company. They were allowed to exercise their creative muscles and they introduced an innovative product that was their "baby". It was a win-win-win all the way around.
I've just scratched the surface here regarding Middle Way Management, creativity and innovation. The most important lesson in all of this is how you are able as a Middle Way Manager to relieve team member suffering by fostering creativity and encouraging innovation, even when the organizational environment doesn't necessarily promote expansive innovation. In the end, creativity and innovation are where you find them. Fortunately, your Middle Way Management practice will help you find them just about everywhere.
In my next post, I will consider Middle Way Management and the "Magic Mirror". How we see others is often a reflection of how we see ourselves.
Until then...
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Middle Way Management and Active Decision Making
In my last post, I discussed how equanimity is one of the most valuable characteristics of a Middle Way Manager™. Maintaining your composure under every circumstance and modeling the best characteristics of a leader under pressure are great ways to promote Middle Way Management™. In this post, I consider the importance of active decision making to your daily Middle Way Management walk.
An Organizational Expectation
As a manager in an American-style organization, it's an organizational expectation that you engage in active decision-making unilaterally, with your team, or as part of a larger management structure. As you morph your management approach into a Middle Way Management practice, this expectation does not decline in importance. In fact, its import increases because you will have beefed up your decision-making toolkit with new sensibilities--compassion, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and kindness. The decisions you make in your daily practice will determine your success as a Middle Way Manager.
What does Middle Way Management decision-making look like? It looks like any other decision-making process, the differences being the practice influences under which you make decisions and the terminal effects of the expected outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. By this, I mean the Middle Way Manager characteristics of compassion, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and kindness will act to inform both the ways in which you make decisions, as well as the outcomes of those decisions. As long as your decision-making process is aligned with organizational goals and objectives, your methodology will be considered organizationally sound, especially when you produce spectacular results.
Forty Per Cent Turnover? Are You Kidding Me?!?
I once worked for a non-profit organization with a phenomenal track record as one of the premier K-12 testing and assessment organizations in the United States, maybe even the world. I learned shortly after starting there as an IT manager that the turnover rate in the department was at least 40 per cent. Of course, this is one of those little gems you never hear about from the recruiter or the 25 people who interview you before you start the job. I was stumped at the figure because my boss (VP, Information Technology) was such a caring, concerned, generous, kind man. I knew this because he had told me so--repeatedly. If you're not seeing red flags and hearing alarm bells by now, you should be.
My boss' initial interest in me was predicated upon my study of and publications about servant leadership, a leadership and management approach philosophically close to Middle Way Management. It turned out my interest was as close as the organization intended to get to servant leadership. Two weeks after I started, I began noticing that people were quitting in groups of three or more. They were, for lack of a better term, dropping like flies.
As I investigated the reasons for this by interviewing several vocal, disgruntled team members, it became clear the attitude prevalent among IT managers was the typical American-style, humans-as-a-resource approach that forced people to work long hours and weekends to accomplish development goals set by those at the very top of the hierarchy. The trickle-down effect was the highest turnover rate I've ever seen in an organization.
How would a Middle Way Management approach have made this any different? First of all, software and system development goals would have been set with team member input. This sends the message that all team members are valued for their insights and expertise. Next, development planning would have taken family and outside obligations into account. Working people to death because children need testing and assessment tools is no way to create team member buy-in. Finally, extraordinary effort would have been rewarded in a variety of ways, all of which could be decided upon by team members.
Through my interviews, I learned that people simply wanted three things: (1) Not to be worked to death, (2) More time off to spend with their families, and (3) Thanks for a job well done. That was it. They didn't want more money or even recognition before their peers. All they wanted was to be treated decently, which is a primary responsibility of the Middle Way Manager.
Anything But Mediocre
The "Middle" of Middle Way Management is about finding the middle ground between management behavioral extremes. Compassion, empathy, composure, resilience, creativity, kindness; these are the "Middle Way" of the approach. When it comes to decision-making, the actions taken by Middle Way Managers are extraordinary because they are made with the precision and intent that only come from walking the true Middle Way Management path of compassion, accountability, and excellence, of honesty, candor, and empathy. Middle Way Managers are active decision-makers because it's their duty as organizational managers and it's their moral obligation to make the decisions that provide vision for the team. Middle Way Managers, and their decisions, are anything but mediocre.
I hope this has clarified questions you might have had about the nature of Middle Way Management and how Middle Way Managers engage in active decision making. In my next post, I will address the tightly coupled roles of creativity and innovation in Middle Way Management.
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
An Organizational Expectation
As a manager in an American-style organization, it's an organizational expectation that you engage in active decision-making unilaterally, with your team, or as part of a larger management structure. As you morph your management approach into a Middle Way Management practice, this expectation does not decline in importance. In fact, its import increases because you will have beefed up your decision-making toolkit with new sensibilities--compassion, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and kindness. The decisions you make in your daily practice will determine your success as a Middle Way Manager.
What does Middle Way Management decision-making look like? It looks like any other decision-making process, the differences being the practice influences under which you make decisions and the terminal effects of the expected outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. By this, I mean the Middle Way Manager characteristics of compassion, empathy, sympathy, understanding, and kindness will act to inform both the ways in which you make decisions, as well as the outcomes of those decisions. As long as your decision-making process is aligned with organizational goals and objectives, your methodology will be considered organizationally sound, especially when you produce spectacular results.
Forty Per Cent Turnover? Are You Kidding Me?!?
I once worked for a non-profit organization with a phenomenal track record as one of the premier K-12 testing and assessment organizations in the United States, maybe even the world. I learned shortly after starting there as an IT manager that the turnover rate in the department was at least 40 per cent. Of course, this is one of those little gems you never hear about from the recruiter or the 25 people who interview you before you start the job. I was stumped at the figure because my boss (VP, Information Technology) was such a caring, concerned, generous, kind man. I knew this because he had told me so--repeatedly. If you're not seeing red flags and hearing alarm bells by now, you should be.
My boss' initial interest in me was predicated upon my study of and publications about servant leadership, a leadership and management approach philosophically close to Middle Way Management. It turned out my interest was as close as the organization intended to get to servant leadership. Two weeks after I started, I began noticing that people were quitting in groups of three or more. They were, for lack of a better term, dropping like flies.
As I investigated the reasons for this by interviewing several vocal, disgruntled team members, it became clear the attitude prevalent among IT managers was the typical American-style, humans-as-a-resource approach that forced people to work long hours and weekends to accomplish development goals set by those at the very top of the hierarchy. The trickle-down effect was the highest turnover rate I've ever seen in an organization.
How would a Middle Way Management approach have made this any different? First of all, software and system development goals would have been set with team member input. This sends the message that all team members are valued for their insights and expertise. Next, development planning would have taken family and outside obligations into account. Working people to death because children need testing and assessment tools is no way to create team member buy-in. Finally, extraordinary effort would have been rewarded in a variety of ways, all of which could be decided upon by team members.
Through my interviews, I learned that people simply wanted three things: (1) Not to be worked to death, (2) More time off to spend with their families, and (3) Thanks for a job well done. That was it. They didn't want more money or even recognition before their peers. All they wanted was to be treated decently, which is a primary responsibility of the Middle Way Manager.
Anything But Mediocre
The "Middle" of Middle Way Management is about finding the middle ground between management behavioral extremes. Compassion, empathy, composure, resilience, creativity, kindness; these are the "Middle Way" of the approach. When it comes to decision-making, the actions taken by Middle Way Managers are extraordinary because they are made with the precision and intent that only come from walking the true Middle Way Management path of compassion, accountability, and excellence, of honesty, candor, and empathy. Middle Way Managers are active decision-makers because it's their duty as organizational managers and it's their moral obligation to make the decisions that provide vision for the team. Middle Way Managers, and their decisions, are anything but mediocre.
I hope this has clarified questions you might have had about the nature of Middle Way Management and how Middle Way Managers engage in active decision making. In my next post, I will address the tightly coupled roles of creativity and innovation in Middle Way Management.
Onward! Darin
Copyright © 2009, Darin R. Molnar, PhD. All rights reserved.
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