Goddamn, you would hope. This research from UPenn seems to argue that the decline of middle management is arriving sooner than we think, but I’ve also brought up this stuff a few times before: the death of middle management, how middle managers cripple the economy, how bad many of them are at their job, etc. I think sometimes people keep middle managers around, even though they know said managers are doing nothing, because, well, that’s the way we’ve always done things. That’s work, right?
Looking at this UPenn stuff, I want you to consider two paragraphs:
Certain kinds of managers become superfluous as businesses increase automation, according to the study. The drop is simply an effect of modern technology, Wu said. As different tasks and processes are automated, human error is drastically reduced. So, too, is the need for close monitoring of that work by managers.
Now try this one:
“Highly-skilled professionals are very good at what they do, better than their managers. They don’t need managers to tell them how to do their jobs or make sure they arrive to work on time,” Wu said. “Managing high-skilled workers is much more like coaching or advising. Managers advise them to help them to achieve the best they can at work, and that kind of skill is very different from supervising work.”
Here’s where I netted out on those two paragraphs: a lot of managers think their job is to micromanage and check in on work and statuses and do reports and all that bullshit. Technology can already do that. If managers became advisers and “thought partners”, they’d be more relevant to their employees and the org. The thing is, it’s hard to think, and it’s hard to have bigger discussions about work and strategy. Everyone thinks they do that, but so few actually do. It’s much easier to ask for updates and put them into meaningless tracking documents and file paperwork on the back-end. That’s controllable, easy, relevance-aiming stuff that makes you think “I’m an important cog. I can’t get fired.” Talking about the big picture? That’s hard. I know people who barely talked about their life goals and now have three kids, and that’s a personal relationship. You think we do better professionally? I got a bridge, and some HR software, that I can sell you.
The end of the UPenn article is about how the “employment contract is changing!” which is hardly breaking news — the employment contract has been changing since about 1974, and in the last 10 years, it’s changed in hyperdrive. So, yea. I wouldn’t call that “the hook” for the story. I would say that if automation replaces a lot of low-skill, low-wage work AND also replaces middle managers, we’re going to arrive at a reckoning. Right now the answer to that reckoning seems to be “avoid the topic” or “talk about up-skilling” or “buy crypto” or “hope you die before this becomes a bigger issue.” None of those is actually super strategic. PS: up-skilling programs don’t actually work.
You think middle managers are headed anywhere?
