A few days ago I posted a message about the definition of customer and
supplier. I tried to make the case that in any relationship the effort we
put into making it successful is directly related to our need to "complete
the transaction". The greater our need, the harder we work - the more
supplier-like we act. Conversely, the less we need the transaction, the
more we demand the other party do the work - the more customer-like we
act.
This is true in our relationship with "the boss" as well. The two of us
have a customer/supplier realtionship. The question is, who is acting
most supplier-like (i.e., doing the majority of the work to create a
successful relationship)? Seldom is it the supervisor, because they have
all the power. The organization of the future needs to remove some/all of
that power from supervisor and disperse it through the organization. My
value to the organization must be judged by the organization, not just by
a single individual.
When this happens, the "boss" has much less power, we are more equal and
the customer/supplier relationship between us becomes much healthier!
This does not put an end to power or politics, but it does disperse it.
Thoughts?
-- Roger E. Breisch The Webber Group, Inc. REBreisch@aol.com