Management Rocks
Bancalero or Bricklayer?
Spanish Olive Groves on Majorcan terraced hillsides – held in place by stone walls of ancient design. No mortar in sight, these weathered walls (also seen on buildings and homes in the towns) serve to contain groves, lives and businesses behind uniquely patterned curtains of stone which quietly endure the centuries.
“Bancalero,” the men who “work the walls” employ nothing but a small hammer and a pile of rocks. They stare at the empty space and then the rocks – eventually selecting a particular stone, knocking off a small piece, smoothing a corner then rotating it to display the favored side; the imperfect is forever hidden in the wall.
Layer by layer, new stones “settle in,” ballasted by “brothers” on either side, resting on the back of a solid “parent,” leaning on a “cousin” with tiny, nearly invisible stone shims to keep them steady.
Each wall is a one-of-a-kind work of art, designed to a vision, held in place with pure intention; it will remain for a lifetime – or many.
A different approach – Bricks. Each one the same, manufactured by the millions and assembled to meet pre-planned specs, held neatly together with mortar. Truck in the supplies, the plans and the tools and put the bricklayers and the hod carriers to work.
When complete, the edifice is plumb, square and built entirely with interchangeable parts! Each course of stone equally distributes the weight of additional stories. Struck with a hammer, a brick will shatter, yet all sides are the same. A “Bricklayer” may not possess the vision of a “Bancalero.”
Is there a lesson here about approaches to Management? People and Rocks – each one unique. “Positioned” correctly by a thoughtful manager, the strong side is what the world sees, with the weaknesses and imperfections hidden inside the wall.
A Bancalero doesn’t criticize a rock – it’s a rock OK? He simply decides how to put it to best use. What role can it play just as it is? Then he finds a neighbor or two, and some shims – and lays a course of stone – or was that a department?
The manager, skilled with rocks as he is, positions each of his people so as to complement the others and present a strong facade. Sometimes you need a “weak player” to balance and “shim” a strong player who desperately needs a safe and non-threatening associate – someone to manage the pesky details and appointments as the “leader performs and woos” the client.
In any department, on any team, in any wall, there are those who bear the weight, those who keep things balanced and those who look good. Together, they give the assemblage an appearance, a coherence and a strength that it would not have had without the sticky rough edges and the countless little shims that hold the creation together. Such a wall/team is not only functional, but uniquely beautiful and satisfying to be around.
Walls/Teams do not assemble themselves, they require the vision, the skill and the intention of a “Bancalero Manager” to see their possibilities and coax them into place. Bancalero Managers do not disapprove of their people – they are people OK? The question is how best they each can serve.
Much of “Management” as we know it has been influenced by the industrial age and the mass production mentality – reducing people to prearranged skills, functions and roles – criticizing and grinding off the rough edges and putting them into their appointed cubicles. Efficient, but maybe not optimal.
I wonder if, in spite of our best efforts to machine off the rough edges and educate them into perfect rectangular shapes, we fail to discern that people may have more in common with stone than brick? Perhaps this is not an “Either/Or” question. Maybe the point is to understand the differences and advantages of both approaches.
We’ve seen few happy people experiencing beautiful moments inside cubicles. We think the future will unfold for those who cannot only plan a big undertaking with an eye to efficiency and profit, but can also intuit how to turn people’s imperfections to the wall and put each to the best use in service of a lofty vision.
We begin our move into management as bricklayers, but we must graduate to being Bancaleros. Some questions and advice for old and new managers:
Does this post require the skills of a Bricklayer or a Bancalero? Or Both?
What/Who have I got here? Do these people resemble stones or bricks? Are they well-trained and awaiting orders? What can they tell me? Can these bricks evolve into polished cornerstones?
Wishful or critical thinking won’t change them. They’re people OK? You might shape them a little, but how will you make the best use of them?
A Bancalero knows that the stones at hand determine the ultimate shape and character of the wall. What can you build with the material at hand?
Bricks with their predictability and uniformity seem to suggest that everything can be ordered and perfect. In architecture perhaps, but not with people!
Bricks are “assembled per plan.” Stones are “coaxed to a vision.”
Your choice: Bricklayer, Bancalero or both?
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