Why Was: US Military Dead during Iraq War 1808

I think it was Colonel Forbin who

rpl

THOSE WORDS have been terribly abused by books and consultants who have made the problems worse rather than better, so it is understandable that you are wary of them. To me, they are still good words when they are spoken in the proper spirit and context.

To me, true "empowerment" means to create an environment where frank naming of issues is encouraged and conflict avoidance and brownnosing are eradicated. Along with looking for what it is that is holding back the team (lack of specific equipment or tools; conflicting requirements pushed by rivaling groups in the organization representing "customers") and finding ways to take the roadblocks away so that the team members can apply their energy to doing the job instead of fighting "the system" or each other.

To me "support" means (a) shielding the team from the noise of management politics, so that their world is sane even if their boss' is not (b) knowing what they are steamed up about and either taking blame-responsibility for it or helping them get it resolved (or both).

Information hoarding is sick. It is either a symptom that the environment is contagioned in ways that cause a perception that it is necessary for self defense, or it is a sign that something is broken in the hiring process, and the team is staffed with people who don't want to be a team. In the first case, the environment has to get fixed (see support above) and in the second case the staffing errors must be corrected.

Lars Poulsen