and the ability to delegate to others is the main difference between the role of
manager and independent producer, I am approaching delegation from the
standpoint of your personal managerial skills.
A producer does whatever is necessary to accomplish desired results, to get
the golden eggs. A parent who washes the dishes, an architect who draws up
blueprints, or a secretary who types correspondence is a producer.
But when a person sets up and works with and through people and systems to
produce golden eggs, that person becomes a manager in the interdependent
sense. A parent who delegates washing the dishes to a child is a manager. An
architect who heads a team of other architects is a manager. A secretary who
supervises other secretaries and office personnel is an office manager.
A producer can invest one hour of effort and produce one unit of results,
assuming no loss of efficiency. A manager, on the other hand, can invest one
hour of effort and produce 10 or 50 or 100 units through effective delegation.
Management is essentially moving the fulcrum over, and the key to effective
management is delegation.
Gofer Delegation
There are basically two kinds of delegation: “gofer delegation” and
“stewardship delegation.” Gofer delegation means “Go for this, go for that, do
this, do that, and tell me when it's done.” Most people who are producers have a
gofer delegation paradigm. Remember the machete wielders in the jungle? They
are the producers. They roll up their sleeves and get the job done. If they are
given a position of supervision or management, they still think like producers.
They don't know how to set up a full delegation so that another person is
committed to achieve results. Because they are focused on methods, they
become responsible for the results.
I was involved in a gofer delegation once when our family went water skiing.
My son, who is an excellent skier, was in the water being pulled and I was
driving the boat. I handed the camera to Sandra and asked her to take some
pictures.
At first, I told her to be selective in her picture taking because we didn't have
much film left. Then I realized she was unfamiliar with the camera, so I became
a little more specific. I told her to be sure to wait until the sun was ahead of the
boat and until our son was jumping the wake or making a turn and touching his
elbow.
But the more I thought about our limited footage and her inexperience with
the camera, the more concerned I became. I finally said, “Look, Sandra, just
push the button when I tell you. Okay? And I spent the next few minutes yelling,
”Take it! -- Take it! -- Don't take it! -- Don't take it!" I was afraid that if I didn't
joyce
(Joyce)
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