Perhaps if managers didn’t make decisions at all but rather facilitated the process amongst the organisation, they’d source the maximum diversity of ideas from those who know the work best.
I’m at a loss to see how managers the better at strategy than anyone else. Their only advantages:
– they have more time to think about it
– they get opportunities to talk about it and grow that thinking
Their disadvantages:
– companies mostly suck at promoting diversity. Managers tend to be a less diverse group.
– they are in less contact with customers, suppliers, the coalface.
– they work behind closed doors, creating groupthink
– making them accountable for decisions makes them more conservative
The advantages of management setting strategy are easily transferred to workers. They can do the same things if they’re allowed to, facilitated by management. When we do collaborative decision making, managers are not excluded, they’re part of the mix, adding their thoughts, knowledge, and insights.