Playing Binocular Soccer
By Peter LloydThere's nothing more ridiculous to watch than managers mired in day-to-day details. Well at least I thought there was nothing more ridiculous until I watched Binocular Soccer.
Before you watch, consider this. In an attempt to ridicule micromanagers, nitpickers, and the messes they leave behind, inventors, innovators, and creative people have come up with amusing analogies to describe supervisors getting in the way of work.
We accuse them of not seeing the forest for the trees, of tripping over dollars while picking up dimes, of separating the pepper from the fly droppings.
Over-zealous accountants are called "bean counters." The word "nitpicking" describes the tedious process of finding lice eggs.
Now we have Binocular Soccer, an incredibly accurate visual analogy, to add to our arsenal.
If by some chance, you're not able to view the video, allow me to describe: A dozen or so men, all dressed in wide-striped suits and fitted with binoculars over their eyes, attempt to play a game of soccer.
It reminds me of a dozen or so executives, all dressed in pin-striped suits and fitted with the long-range view, attempting to do what their rank and file do so much better.
Executives, whose job it is to focus on long-range strategy, should never try to manage day-to-day details. If you're responsible for long-range strategy, keep your eye on the horizon. Let people responsible for day-to-day execution and implementation play ball.
If you're responsible for real work, use the term "binocular soccer" from now on to describe your meddling manager. Books and seminars don't seem to work. Maybe this new term of derision will help keep high-level nitpickers out of your hair.
Peter Lloyd is co-creator with Stephen Grossman of Animal Crackers, the breakthrough problem-solving tool designed to crack your toughest problems.