Amabile, Kramer: How leaders kill meaning at work
Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer for McKinsey – How leaders kill meaning at work:
“Trap 1: Mediocrity signals
[…] Many of the other 65 Karpenter professionals in our study felt that they were doing mediocre work for a mediocre company—one for which they had previously felt fierce pride. By the end of our time collecting data at Karpenter, many of these employees were completely disengaged. Some of the very best had left. […]
Trap 2: Strategic ‘attention deficit disorder’
[…] At another company we studied, strategic ADD appeared to stem from a top team warring with itself. Corporate executives spent many months trying to nail down a new market strategy. Meanwhile, different vice presidents were pushing in different directions, rendering each of the leaders incapable of giving consistent direction to their people. […]
Trap 3: Corporate Keystone Kops
[…] When coordination and support are absent within an organization, people stop believing that they can produce something of high quality. This makes it extremely difficult to maintain a sense of purpose.”