MAKE MANAGEMENT GREAT AGAIN! DO THE DRAFT

We still draft a new CEO every second month. And we still recommend it to other companies. Our new CEO is Sarah, one of our graphic designers. Her name was in the hat along with all other employees. It’s mandatory. For some it’s a pain, for a few it’s a welcome opportunity. We’re 40 people and for the last couple of years when we have done this exercise - being a manager and leader has been a part of all my colleagues' focus and consciousness. Regardless of whether they want it or not. This means that the duties and roles of management are more present to the minds of all who work at the company. It’s easier to talk about. It’s not a black box anymore. I honestly think this is a very meaningful exercise. 

But still, there is an obvious critique lurking in the background somewhere. A critique saying that it is all just a game. What can Sarah actually do as a CEO? Can she hire or fire people? No. Can she make fundamental changes to the company? No. She cannot. She has a relatively small budget at her disposal, to do as she pleases - but that's it.

Fire and hire

So, is Sarah now the real CEO or is it just a title? It’s definitely just a title. The only thing I would add is that it is true for me as well (the other CEO). I too am primarily a CEO in name. I also do not have the ability to fundamentally change things. I nominally have the ability to hire and fire people, but in reality, I cannot simply do that. Hiring people is something I can only do with the help of the other people at the company. I need them to agree with my decision, otherwise at best they will have bad collaboration - at worst they will be in open conflict. Nominally, I can fire people, but in reality, that power is very limited. If I fire someone at our company today, that merely means that there is some important task that will not get done, or that I will have to do it myself - most likely it is a task I have no idea of how to do. 

Fear of what

My point with all of this is that being the CEO is a team effort. We tend to think in terms of hierarchy when we think of the organization of our workplaces. But all hierarchies are fraught with instability - Of course I could try to enforce a strict hierarchical order at our workplace. I could rule by exercising power and ultimately instilling fear in our employees. I am sure that that image of the organization of power at a workplace is present in the minds of many, if not most, of those of you who have read this far (thanks btw). But honestly: Fear of what? That I could fire them? That is not really something I can do, just like that (see above). And even if they did get fired, in the present economy with an unemployment rate of less-than-I-don’t-know, they would have no trouble finding new opportunities. In other words: even the power of fear is rather limited. 

My point is that the power we imagine belonging to a CEO, is mostly a mirage. It is a cultural image that we tend to love indulging in. We fetishize hierarchies. We fantasize a lot about the Jeff Bezos of the world (both in order to celebrate and to criticize them), but I would argue that management in practical reality is much more of a communal effort than the exercise of power of some hierarchical front figure. 

Our CEO draft is just a way to give expression to that underlying reality. 

I’m here for questions or advice if anybody out there wants to try it out. Make management great again! Do the draft.