Hire,  promote, retain and empower the smart people who are self-motivated to improve themselves and the company.  One person can make a difference.

Most managers would rather focus on lofty policy matters. But when the details are ignored, the project fails. No infusion of policy or lofty ideals can then correct the situation.

The culture of an organization is set by the daily habits and actions of its leaders.  Embody the culture you want to see in your organization every day.

Expect excellence at all times but anticipate mistakes that could occur.  Ensure multiple lines of defense are in place for processes that cannot fail.

No management system can substitute for hard work. A manager who does not work hard or devote extra effort cannot expect their people to do so. They must set an example. The manager may not be the smartest or the most knowledgeable person, but if they dedicate themselves to the job and devote the required effort,  people will follow their lead.

Understand the strengths and weaknesses in your people and ensure they do too.  Expect plans to take into account these strengths and mitigate any weaknesses.

Let your people act with a minimum of supervision, but keep a close enough watch to make sure they don’t commit a fatal error. 

If you hired the right employees, their lack of success is likely leadership’s fault:

• • 1. • Lack of proper training

       • Lack of clear guidance & expectations

       • Lack of sufficient continuous feedback

       • Not addressing known weaknesses

Take care of your people’s personal and professional interests:

• • 1. • Ensure they are trained and capable

       • Stayed attuned to morale

       • Give credit for successes, accept blame when things go wrong

Don’t forget to keep a sense of humor to lighten stressful times.

Unless the individual truly responsible can be identified when something goes wrong, no one has really been responsible.

When doing a job—any job—one must feel that they own it, and act as though they will remain in the job forever.

In accepting responsibility for a job, a person must get directly involved. Every manager has a personal responsibility not only to find problems but to correct them. This responsibility comes before all other obligations, before personal ambition or comfort.

Ensure everyone, from leaders to brand new workers, learns from their mistakes,  Be intolerant of repeat errors.

Whenever possible, make one person responsible with all aspects of a job, - scope, schedule, cost, execution.

Members of integration teams are representatives of their organizations.  An integration team can never be responsible for getting a job done.  Be clear within the integration team who is responsible for each aspect of the job.  

There are many ways of doing this; all involve constant, sometimes tedious, auditing. 

Require frequent reports, both oral and written.  Insist that problems get reported.

Get first hand experience wherever possible.

Those in charge often create “management information systems” designed to extract from the operation the details a busy executive needs to know. Often the process is carried too far. The top official then loses touch with their people and with the work that is actually going on.

Think strategically, get into details, but don’t micromanage.  These are not mutually exclusive.  The best managers can do all of these things.

All work should be checked through an independent and impartial review.

Trust your instincts.  If you sense something is off track, it probably is worse than you think.

Even the most dedicated individual makes mistakes—and many workers are less than dedicated. I have seen much poor work and sheer nonsense generated in government and in industry because it was not checked properly.

Encourage dissent that makes for a better product, process, or plan. Diversity of thought comes from many backgrounds and will help avoid blindspots.

Meetings should neither be too large or too small

• 1. 1. • This includes virtual meetings.

        • Ensure all the right peoples’ views are represented.

If you don’t understand it, you can’t effectively manage it.

Ensure people are trained for what they need to do and are preparing for what they need to do in the future.

Managers and supervisors need to be in the details and know how things are going but also be able to assimilate that and think strategically.

Don’t let zeal to be the expert result in being closed off to advice or input from other experts.  Seek out those who disagree, understand the basis of their disagreement, and change position if warranted.

Be constantly on the lookout for better ways to do business. Challenge the status quo if it improves the way things are done. 

Be willing to kill your own “good ideas” if a better idea is suggested.

Use good engineering judgment to force the termination of bad work.  Bad work will limit the good work you can get done.

Do not abdicate responsibility to effectively manage risk in your area of expertise.

If you are presenting, know the details behind what you are saying.  If you use charts, understand the details of the data presented.

Make brisk clean-cut decisions promptly and as early as essential facts are available

Face facts brutally and quickly.  Problems usually do not get better with time.

Address contentious issues directly rather than side-stepping them.

Establish a balance between facts being available and making a prompt decision.

Once a decision has been made, establish a culture where decisions aren’t changed unless there is a compelling reason.

Cultivate the habit of “boiling matters down” to their simplest terms.

Capable people will not work for long where they cannot get prompt decisions and actions from their superiors.

Make decisions at the lowest level possible, but ensure everyone knows when to elevate and escalate.

Document decisions & their rationale.  Anticipate and mitigate risks.

DO NOT let management by powerpoint presentations occur.

Consider the communication aspect as part of making  a decision.  Can I explain the rationale for this decision to my team, my leadership  and a common person on the street?

Stay informed on technological advances.

Encourage investigating new technology.

Ensure return on investment is clear and followed up on through implementation.

Leadership needs a strong working knowledge of the new technologies.

You must thoroughly understand your processes if a digital transformation is to be successful. 

Recognize that implementing associated process changes will need sustained support and leadership conviction.

Despite the power of technology, insist on simple metrics to track progress.

Do what you say you will do, when you say, and at the cost you say.

Put in place scope, schedule, and cost controls and metrics to measure progress against stated goals.

When facing challenges, don’t just ignore or accept them, reassess and find a way

Set priorities - Too many people let their “in” basket set the priorities. On any given day, unimportant but interesting trivia pass through an office; one must not permit these to monopolize their time. The human tendency is to waste time with unimportant matters that do not require mental effort or energy.   Since they can be easily resolved, they give a false sense of accomplishment. The manager must exert self-discipline to ensure that their energy is focused where it is truly needed.

Constantly question your priorities.  Challenge the rules and paradigms you see limiting possibilities in yourself and others.

Establish a reputation for getting the job done right.

• 1. 1. • Know who the real customer is and design for them

        • Design with the cost of quality in mind

        • Don’t underestimate the disruptive cost of poor quality

        • But don’t overpay to avoid inconsequential or easy to correct problems

Plan your work and work your plan:

• 1. 1. • Know what your objective is and have a plan to get there

        • Start with the end in mind — think right to left.

        • Address scope, cost, and schedule.

Don’t avoid addressing the elephants in the room.  Too often, only the easy aspects are addressed.

Be cautious when deviating from a well-thought out plan.