Smart Lemming Diary: Theory of Special Relativity of Management

February 14, 2006

When you’re in the rank and file in a company, sometimes you wonder why it takes so long for Management to act.

Over the past six months, now that I’m in that upper Management structure, I’ve learned that travel schedules, conflicting Management deadlines, and other random things delay things from happening.

The Special Relativity of Management

It’s kind of like the Theory of Special Relativity as defined on Wikipedia with my notes:

Relativity of simultaneity: Two events, simultaneous for some observer (Management), may not be simultaneous for another observer (Workers) if the observers are in relative motion.
Time dilation: Moving clocks (worn by Management) are measured to tick more slowly than an observer’s “stationary” clock (worn by Workers).
Length contraction: Objects are measured to be shortened in the direction that they are moving with respect to the observer.

I don’t pretend to be an expert in physics, but Theory of Special Relativity describes how I experienced Management delays when I was a Worker.

Time passes quickly at the Management level (one work week can feel like two days) if you’re a manager, while that same time period feels like a standard work week or even longer when you’re the Worker, waiting Management to act.

Preparing for Lead Investor Meeting: Asking for More Funding

Now that I’m in Management, I’m fine with the Theory of Special Relativity of Management. My CEO was slammed yesterday, so we never had a chance to meet to discuss what he wants to discuss-what I want to be when I grow up.

He’s kind of like Woodstock, missing a landing as he bounces from one task to another. Every time we run into each other, I calmly look at him as he apologizes for not meeting with me.

He’s on the road today and back in the office on Wednesday. I was left in charge of getting the PowerPoint together across the Management Team for his review. That gives me all day tomorrow to do the Marketing and Sales slides, help our Controller with his Finance slides, add the COO’s Operations slides, and get the CTO’s Development ones in there too.

I’m the Lead?

We’re pitching a “get big fast” option for additional funding from our primary investor in our Thursday meeting with him. While I thought I would be meeting with the investor to discuss his thoughts on this option and brainstorm with him, I’ll actually be the one to determine what that looks like, working with the Controller to update a budget scenario for the meeting.

How did that happen? How did I get left in charge of determining our “get big fast budget?” Not only am I preparing the Monthly Report for the lead investor, but also the justification for our funding option.

Sales Continues to Disappoint CEO

I’m bummed about this. A member on our Sales team fails to conform to my CEO’s standards. She’s had some performance problems in recent demos to prospective clients. My CEO finally had to tell her that a condition of her employment is to conform to his standards, so now that’s hanging out there.

I’m not sure how the day-to-day Sales Management role will unfold. The Controller brought up the option of me managing the Sales Operations, saying, “It was brilliant…” I’m hoping the Sales team will be open to potential changes in the day-to-day management of their activities.

Management’s Perception of Time is Different than Worker’s

On a career management note, normally I would be impatient to discuss the new job responsibility of Sales Operations. I now understand why things take time in a company. With managers pulled in multiple directions, people traveling, and emerging top priorities converging at once, managers have to stop and start or pause and change direction.

They eventually get to the thing they’re supposed to do, but only when it’s the right time to get to it. I’ve learned that the extra time or delay is valuable because you can reflect on the correct course of action, rather than being too reactive in decision making.

The next two days will be fun, but long. Fortunately, I don’t see any talks with my CEO on the horizon until Friday.

The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company. For previous entries in this series, click here. For the first diary entry, click here. For the highlighted Smart Lemming Diary entries, click here.

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