Dan's List of Obstacles: Old Regime

Just to keep from getting nostalgic for the past too much, 'pulled up Dan the Hyper-Active Boss Man's "List of Obstacles" that he compiled when the New Team came in. Of course, as in everything Dan did, he overdid it: we started with "A Summary A, B. C" and ended up at item "R.R.R.R."

This part of the list, detailing the sins of the Old Regime, may explain why the late, great, gone Dan had few fans among the old-timers:

b. Absenteeism of president (70% out)
c. 2 owners, 50/50 vote/fight
d. 1 pro-Us / 1 anti-Us

h. Lack of business plan or direction
i. Lack of continual planning: seat-of-the-pants through the year, once-a-year thinking
j. Owner intimidation
k. VPs on part-time schedules
l. VPs too involved in petty issues, not enough management thinking
m. Company Culture - Longevity vs. Any Change
n. Longevity employees get away with murder
o. Inequality in Position vs. Title

t. VP conflicts of interest

v. Master Plan used as wish list, not thought out

y. Negative attitudes - say "No" first - justification required even when obvious
z. Positions without Authority

dd. Lack of mid-management accountability

ff. Lack of clear job descriptions & organizational structure

kk. Poor Production planning

oo. Lack of Marketing leadership

qq. Lack of commitment (budget) to consider new product offerings to the company

ss. Micro-management

vv. QC bottleneck - all levels
ww. Elite depts get away with anything
xx. Lack of recognition and commensurate reward among the departments

kkk. Turf issues

lll. Mid-Management weekly meetings: nothing planned

ttt. Lack of vision in existing core products

bbbb. Phone system sucks
cccc. Indeciveness on cubicles - constantly changing

ffff. Too many approval signatures required on documents
gggg. Lack of professionalism
hhhh. Failure of company to provide talent-attracting salaries

kkkk. Lengthy, frequent & aimless meetings

oooo. General decision paranoia

rrrr. Rumors spreading