from peopleware, Tom DeMarco:
Management
is a complex enough thing to defy simple definition, but that nuance was lost
on one senior manager we encountered at a professional society meeting in
London. He summed up his entire view of the subject with this statement:
"Management is kicking ass."
This
equates to the view that managers provide all the thinking and the people
underneath them just carry out their bidding. Again, that might be workable for
cheeseburger production, but not for any effort for which people do the work
with their heads rather than their hands. Everyone in such an environment has
got to have the brain in gear. You may be able to kick people to make them
active, but not to make them creative, inventive, and thoughtful.
Even
if kicking people in the backside did boost their short-term productivity, it
might not be useful in the long run: There is nothing more discouraging to any
worker than the sense that his own motivation is inadequate and has to be
"supplemented" by that of the boss.
The
saddest thing about this management approach is that it's almost always
superfluous. You seldom need to take Draconian measures to keep your people
working; most of them love their work. You may even have to take steps
sometimes to make them work less, and thus get more meaningful work done.