Where the Action Is

There is no question that a large , complex organization needs formal procedures and standards. But it is precisely because it needs them that it needs to guard against their unrestrained proliferation. Even more, it needs to guard against their becoming a crutch of management and a substitute for the executive getting his hands dirty.

For example  there is tendency in many large organizations to operate almost exclusively through written reports and to make judgments almost exclusively on the basis variances between budgets and actually  on the basis of the difference between formal standards and hoped for estimates. As a resit  often not enough attention is paid to the character, the methods, and the spirit of the men whose performance and promise are being evaluated in the process. There is , in short, not enough of a premium put on direct face to face evaluation of and "feel for," the man.