The Physics Of Leadership

The second law of physics states: that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

(And this is as far as my knowledge goes in regards to physics.)

It’s the same in organizational structures.

No two people can occupy the same authority over the same people, task or thing at the same time… and avoid catastrophe.

Yet, despite (what might seem like basic) commons sense, managers everywhere, everyday attempt to defy this basic law and both do their direct reports jobs as well as manage their direct reports.

One of two things happens when a manager takes the place of their direct report:

1. Either their is a collision that stops all movement forward.

2. Or one object is propelled away from the other by force sending it off course.

There are a ton of excuses for why a manager might feel the need to do their underlings job for them, and some of them are really good reasonable reasons and very compelling arguments.

Most of the time the reason why a manager is intervening has to do with a motivation to get the thing (whatever that might be) completed or done to a standard they have set.

The most inefficient practice in the workplace is the pursuit of efficiency as an end in itself.

The pursuit of efficiency as an end in itself will have managers eventually treating employees as mere cogs in a machine, (a means to an end) rather than thinking, reasoning individuals with individual dreams and aspirations and motivations. Humans are motivated by a myriad or factors and not taking this into consideration because of our pursuit of efficiency would cause anyone to experience a drop in motivation. A drop in motivation means a drop in productivity and efficiency . When their is a drop in motivation there is often a drop in quality as well.

A manager might then feel this sudden drop of efficiency and quality among their team and with a fast approaching deadline might feel the weight of their responsibilities pressing down on them and step in to help. But this act of helping can be very problematic.

When a manager feels the need to ‘intervene’ this is almost always interpreted by employees as ‘micromanagement’.

Often employees sensing this intervention will simply just step out of the way of the manager. After all a manager has greater authority then them and it would only be natural.

Sometimes an employee, frustrated at the move, might stand up for themselves and then a collision occurs.

There is a ton more that can be written on this phenomenon but I think it’s safe to say that this happens a lot in the workplace. As a manager you feel compelled to do something when your team seems to be failing, as a direct report it might be aggravating when your boss keeps stepping into help.

Good communication can solve many of these problems, the first step is to recognize it as a problem and what is causing the problem.