Mintzberg: what managers actually do
The day ended and nothing in the big plan moved. That is what the job actually looks like — and once you see it written down you stop blaming yourself for it.
Mintzberg sat beside five managers for a week each and wrote down every episode; the textbook 'forecast, organise, coordinate, control' was barely visible on those pages.
- Calm, reflective planningShort, constantly interrupted episodes
- Working through documentsA conversation, a call, a corridor meeting
- Four functionsTen roles in three groups
For one day, write down every episode of work: what it was, how many minutes, who interrupted. In the evening look at where the time went, and turn one recurring fire into a named task for a named person next month.
The full biography is on the public version →
No freely licensed likeness of this person exists, so this is a generated emblem. It is not a portrait.
These screens carry out this specific work. Every published work in the library also has at least an exercise — it is at the foot of this page.
Loading…
These works are related to the one you just read — and not by accident:
shared competencies: Self-command, Rhetoric, Judgement
shared competencies: Self-command, Rhetoric
shared competencies: Self-command, Judgement
shared competencies: Self-command, Rhetoric
Opens in the member workspace — you need to be signed in.
The same work written at length: what it claims and what its evidence is worth.
Links to publishers and libraries. There are no links to unauthorised copies here, and there will not be.
Links open in a new window.