autodidacta tumblelog

John Chambers on Managing for the Upturn

It was hard for me, because I am very comfortable with command and control. So moving away from what was working was hard. At first it was frustrating. I’d get my team together and watch them work on an issue, and I’d usually know what the answer would be within the first 10 or 15 minutes. But over time, they [began getting to] a better decision than I would have made. It’s almost like a parent watching their children evolve. It really was exciting. And it took changing the reward systems as well. It took training and rewarding people who were collaborative, and who focused on what was good for the overall company rather than for a specific function or for their particular group.