Four realities or constrains in managerial work

Little have changed since Peter Drucker described four dimensions or "realities", in which most managers operate in his classic book "Effective Executive". Managers don’t have control over these realities, and they have no choice but to "cooperate with the inevitable" and try to be effective in an ineffective environment. Four realities or constrains in managerial work are as follows:

  • managers time belongs to everybody else,
  • managers are forced to keep "operating",
  • managers should be cooperating with others to be effective,
  • managers work within an organization.

Managers time belongs to everybody else

Any working day of any manager seems to be chaotic: e-mails, phone calls, informal talks and formal meetings, preparations for very important presentations – all activities follow one another in an unpredictable and pressuring manner and the manager can’t finish everything that was planned for a specific day. Days, months and years pass, and the manager can’t stop even for a minute.

Managers can’t change this situation - everybody can move in on their time, and everybody does.

Managers are forced to keep operating

Managers are operating in a constantly changing external and internal environment. But often, flow of events around managers doesn’t bring the information they need to take effective decisions and achieve results. If managers let the flow of events determine what they do, what they work on, and what they take seriously, they will waste their energy and time. To be effective, managers need to prioritize and to take positive action to change the reality in which they live and work. They need which enable him to work on the truly important, that is, on contributions and results, even though the criteria are not found in the flow of events.

To be effective, managers need to deliberately step out of the flow of everyday events. Not only should they have a "helicopter view" on the events, but also should concentrate on what is important.

Managers should be cooperating with others to be effective

Any organization works as a multiplying force of an individual. Each person has strengths and weaknesses and in organization, everybody should be able to se what other produce. Managers often have no direct control over people most important to their success in the organization. It could be their superior managers or people in other departments, but usually not their direct reports.

Managers often find themselves in situations where they should work as part of a network, not in hierarchical structures. And managers should communicate and work in connected and interdependent world, as well as handle a conflict.

Managers work within an organization

For every manager, what happens inside their organization is close and real. What happens outside, is seen through thick and distorting lenses. Information managers receive from outside world, often in a very abstract form. And organization itself is abstraction. But even today, where organizations are more flat and small, distortion happens. Outside world is not controlled from inside of organization. Company depends on customers who would buy its product and services. So, the decision-maker is outside rather than inside the business.

Managers should take efforts to understand, which impact have his/her actions have on the world outside. It is important not only to deliver results in short-term perspective but also to strategically develop organisation.

From high potentials to managers

The realities, in which managers operate are complicated and confusing and the main reason, why outstanding employees can be bad managers. According to Gallup research, only 10% of employees can become managers. SnapSim system was designed to work as a tool that help find and develop this vital category of your employees. How does it work? Our system tracks all actions of a user, analyzes them based on three leadership drivers:

  • learning agility
  • ambition,
  • persistence.

SNAPSIM™ system monitors analyses user’s actions during the learning process. Then, using sophisticated algorithms, the system presents findings on three drivers of leadership: learning agility, ambition and perseverance. The system analyses how learning objectives are set and executed by the user, persistence and efforts in achieving these objectives as well as how rapidly the user can grow their capabilities by acquiring and applying new knowledge and skills. SNAPSIM™ system gives managers and HR professionals the accessible and intuitive experience – all information for decision making is presented in easy-to-understand colour scheme: red/room for improvement, yellow – more consideration/observation needed, green/ likely to have high potential.