{"version":"https://jsonfeed.org/version/1","title":"Barbarians at Work","home_page_url":"https://barbarians.fm","feed_url":"https://barbarians.fm/json","description":"A weekly podcast about all things management and leadership.  Specifically, why are we so bad at it and what can we do as individual leaders to improve our organizations.  ","_fireside":{"subtitle":"Work, the good, the bad and the barbaric","pubdate":"2019-10-30T12:00:00.000-05:00","explicit":false,"owner":"Scaled Frameworks, LLC","image":"https://media24.fireside.fm/file/fireside-images-2024/podcasts/images/e/e29a63f5-b96f-42fc-bdad-b86f54816bb2/cover.jpg?v=4"},"items":[{"id":"c4bdb115-35dc-45be-8ae6-f579462c3020","title":"2: Headquarters, we have a problem","url":"https://barbarians.fm/2","content_text":"Headquarters, we have a problem\n\nAs promised last week I detail some of the ways you can tell if you have “midlevel tyranny” in your organization. See last weeks episode if you want to know about it.\n\nOver time I’ve seen the following five things be fairly good indicators that there is a problem. \n\n\nComplaints from multiple angles\n    Supposed Hero's singing their own praises\n    Many “prep meetings” or meetings for the meeting\n    Look out for relabeling\n    Independent Third Party Gambit\n    \n\nThe mid-level tyrant will no doubt have a defense for their behavior. This will be something along the lines of their irreplaceability or genius. They are neither irreplaceable or a genius. They may however be worth of retention if they can be guided along a path that works for the organization. This is always the first step. Any manager however must be willing to do the right thing for the organization by pushing the toxic person out.\n\nTrillion Dollar Coach - The book about Bill Campbell\n\nIndependent Third Party Gambit","content_html":"\u003ch1\u003eHeadquarters, we have a problem\u003c/h1\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs promised last week I detail some of the ways you can tell if you have “midlevel tyranny” in your organization. See last weeks episode if you want to know about it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOver time I’ve seen the following five things be fairly good indicators that there is a problem. \u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComplaints from multiple angles\u003c/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eSupposed Hero\u0026#39;s singing their own praises\u003c/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eMany “prep meetings” or meetings for the meeting\u003c/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eLook out for relabeling\u003c/li\u003e\n    \u003cli\u003eIndependent Third Party Gambit\u003c/li\u003e\n    \u003c/ol\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe mid-level tyrant will no doubt have a defense for their behavior. This will be something along the lines of their irreplaceability or genius. They are neither irreplaceable or a genius. They may however be worth of retention if they can be guided along a path that works for the organization. This is always the first step. Any manager however must be willing to do the right thing for the organization by pushing the toxic person out.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Trillion-Dollar-Coach-Leadership-Playbook/dp/0062839268/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=bill+campbell\u0026amp;qid=1572450956\u0026amp;sr=8-1\"\u003eTrillion Dollar Coach\u003c/a\u003e - The book about Bill Campbell\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/independent-third-party-gambit-david-stackleather/\"\u003eIndependent Third Party Gambit\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","summary":"Five ways to tell if you have a problem with tyrants at the mid-levels of your organization.","date_published":"2019-10-30T12:00:00.000-05:00","attachments":[{"url":"https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/e29a63f5-b96f-42fc-bdad-b86f54816bb2/c4bdb115-35dc-45be-8ae6-f579462c3020.mp3","mime_type":"audio/mpeg","size_in_bytes":60293664,"duration_in_seconds":2512}]},{"id":"415fcd47-11b0-4945-adc7-d54be97e0292","title":"1: A Midlevel Tyranny","url":"https://barbarians.fm/1","content_text":"A brief clip of a Q\u0026amp;A session at the end of a talk by the psychologist and professor Jordan Peterson caught my attention last week.  Here’s the clip of the question and Peterson’s answer.\n\nPeterson mentions a few things to look for to tell if pathological things are happening. \n\n\nBeing required to do things that make you weak or ashamed.\nSystems go terribly out of control when people don’t stop them when they are going mildly out of control.\nSo much foolishness going on in the midlevel bureaucratic world. The tyranny is there.\nIt multiplies because sensible people say nothing when they should say something.  But the thing is there are so many more sensible people; they are just not as noisy.\n\n\nHow does this happen even when we don’t intend it?\n\nAs organizations grow larger and more complex and additional hierarchies are put in place the leaders of the organization move farther and farther from the point of work. That opens an opportunity for disfunction if not activly managed by the leadership of the organization.","content_html":"\u003cp\u003eA brief clip of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKzpj0Ev8Xs\u0026feature=youtu.be\u0026t=7932\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003eQ\u0026amp;A session\u003c/a\u003e at the end of a talk by the psychologist and professor Jordan Peterson caught my attention last week.  Here’s the clip of the question and Peterson’s answer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePeterson mentions a few things to look for to tell if pathological things are happening. \u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBeing required to do things that make you weak or ashamed.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSystems go terribly out of control when people don’t stop them when they are going mildly out of control.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSo much foolishness going on in the midlevel bureaucratic world. The tyranny is there.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt multiplies because sensible people say nothing when they should say something.  But the thing is there are so many more sensible people; they are just not as noisy.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow does this happen even when we don’t intend it?\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs organizations grow larger and more complex and additional hierarchies are put in place the leaders of the organization move farther and farther from the point of work. That opens an opportunity for disfunction if not activly managed by the leadership of the organization.\u003c/p\u003e","summary":"Four ways to tell if there are pathological things happening in your organization.","date_published":"2019-10-13T17:00:00.000-05:00","attachments":[{"url":"https://aphid.fireside.fm/d/1437767933/e29a63f5-b96f-42fc-bdad-b86f54816bb2/415fcd47-11b0-4945-adc7-d54be97e0292.mp3","mime_type":"audio/mpeg","size_in_bytes":56134553,"duration_in_seconds":2338}]}]}