Management Attitudes
Wrong question:
“How do I get the most out of my people?”
Better question:
“How do we create the conditions for our people to get to where they’re heading?”
Good-boss friendly
I have had some good bosses and a bunch of bad ones. I tried to be a good boss, but I bet there are some people who worked “for” me that would dispute that. As a soccer referee assigner, I try hard to be fair while also putting officials on the games where they would be most likely to succeed.
From Seth Godin, who talked about being the type of person that a good boss will appreciate. Hopefully you have one of those. If not, I wish you luck in leaving and finding a good one.
He compiled a list of attributes. I would suggest not looking at this like a check list. It’s more of a description of a type of person.
Are you now, or can you develop into, this type of person? I try…
- Ask useful questions
- Show up before you’re expected
- Make big promises and keep them
- Identify errors and flaws and self-correct
- Default to optimism
- Do work worth doing
- Build a useful network worth outsourcing work to
- Show your work
- Develop good taste
- Generously invite feedback
- Make productive decisions
- Communicate with precision
- It’s easy to claim these skills, but not easy to commit to being quite good at them.
Seth concludes, “Most bosses don’t deserve this level of effort. I hope you can find one that does.”
Skills or Education
I saw an article about jobs in The New York Times (it was long enough ago that I’ve lost the link).
It started with the premise College graduates, on the other hand, often do not have the right skills to be successful on a factory floor.
I find that a completely bogus argument. Someone who truly educated themselves at university should have learned essential skills for living such as how to research, how to think, how to write coherent thoughts, how to communicate. They should have some math and science, as well as some literature and philosophy.
Speaking as someone with that above education who also worked on the factory floor in one function or another for about 20 years, the failure lies elsewhere. Probably in expectations.
Try this statement presented as one of an n=2 examples (journalism):
The country is flooded with college graduates who can’t find jobs that match their education, Mr. Hetrick said, and there are not enough skilled blue-collar workers to fill the positions that currently exist, let alone the jobs that will be created if more factories are built in the United States.
Society has spent about 50 years telling young people to a specific training at university and then get a nice, cushy white collar job leading to CEO within 15-20 years, if not sooner. Unfortunately, the markets and economy did not cooperate with these predictions.
This initiative, however, does directly address a flaw in our system.
The Business Roundtable, a lobbying group whose members are chief executives of companies, has started an initiative in which executives collaborate on strategies to attract and train a new generation of workers in skilled trades. At an event last week in Washington, executives commiserated about how hard it was to find qualified people and swapped tips onstage for overcoming the gap.
My grandfather taught me a lot about manufacturing before I was even 10 years old. He talked about being forced to drop out of high school (about 1915) and apprenticing as a machinist at the old Monarch Machine Tool Company. He had a number of jobs with increasing responsibility and opportunity. During World War II he was a production superintendent in a GM plant that was converted to the manufacture of aircraft machine gun bolts. He employed a number of strategies that I later learned were similar to Lean Manufacturing. GM sent him to take college courses while he worked for them. (OK, you win, this is n=1; adding me, the journalist n=2.)
Their ideas included combing through existing company job descriptions to prioritize relevant experience over college degrees and recruiting high school students as young as sophomores for experiences that could draw their interest in manufacturing careers.
“For every 20 job postings that we have, there is one qualified applicant right now,” said David Gitlin, the chairman and chief executive of Carrier Global, which produces air-conditioners and furnaces and services heating and cooling equipment.
By the 1960s companies had farmed out their apprenticeship programs demanding public schools to provide compliant workers. The public school skills training programs thrived to a degree, but also faltered under parental wishes for their children to become rich, college-educated people.
I believe university education (short of PhD track) even in technical training such as engineering really exists to help a willing individual learn to research, think, write clearly, and acquire a background deserving an educated person. Where they work? Well, that’s up to serendipity and drive.
Revenge of (some) CEOs
I posted a report on workplace thoughts and a survey. Some of the findings:
- More than half (57%) of professionals say they come to the office for company culture and team engagement, making it clear that strong social connections are what’s drawing employees back.
- 73% of professionals believe Gen Z will push companies to ditch rigid in-office policies in favor of more flexible work options.
- Organizations are not stuck in neutral: 66% of them are already making workplace flexibility a top priority for 2025.
Today’s Axios had a story called CEOs Strike Back.
The story has an n=2 examples. Typical journalism. But it raises a point about some CEO tyrants whom I hope employees raise a digit toward.
Zoom in: AT&T CEO John Stankey and Cognition CEO Scott Wu made headlines this month for notifying employees that their corporate cultures were changing, and to get on board or exit.
“If a self-directed, virtual, or hybrid work schedule is essential for you to manage your career aspirations and life challenges, you will have a difficult time aligning your priorities with those of the company and the culture we aim to establish,” Stankey wrote in an internal memo obtained by Business Insider.
Employees at Cognition, an AI startup, were told that six days in the office and 80-hour workweeks were expected, according to The Information. “We don’t believe in work-life balance — building the future of software engineering is a mission we all care so deeply about that we couldn’t possibly separate the two,” Wu wrote.
There have been CEOs and other leaders like that in the past and there will be more in the future. If they think they are getting results, I hope they are investing their millions of pay dollars wisely for their upcoming unemployment.
For Wu, he’s way behind the times. Years ago Silicon Valley was famous for socially isolated and nerdy programmers who would code day and night if owners just kept a steady supply of pizza sliding under their doors. I think that is no longer the prevailing ethos.
We’ll see how that all goes.
State of Work Report for 2025
This State of Work Report was presented to me as a generational difference finding. You know the drill, there’s aging Baby Boomers who had certain expectations, Gen X “slackers” (I have two kids who reveal the lie about that—a mental health therapist and a commercial airline pilot), Millennial, Gen Z, and the like. This report takes a different look at the workplace from the Hexagon report I posted yesterday.
I told the publicist that I was not interested in the whole compare the generations thing. I think that is just marketing BS. People are people. Not all Boomers are alike. Not all Gen Z are alike.
She said, don’t worry, this report does not pit one generation versus another. But it sort of does, but really it’s more about youth entering the workforce and older people leaving. It’s also opinions. I’d take some of these with a grain (or spoonful) of salt. It is interesting to see what people think, even if it is mere uninformed speculation.
The company behind the research is Envoy, whose tag line is, “Connecting people, space, and data to make workplaces better.”
Generations and AI stuff aside, there are nuggets of insight within.
Key findings:
- More than half (57%) of professionals say they come to the office for company culture and team engagement, making it clear that strong social connections are what’s drawing employees back.
- 73% of professionals believe Gen Z will push companies to ditch rigid in-office policies in favor of more flexible work options.
- Organizations are not stuck in neutral: 66% of them are already making workplace flexibility a top priority for 2025.
- 76% of professionals say AI will have the biggest impact on how we work in 2025. Companies aren’t waiting around either: 65% have already increased their workplace budgets, and 69% plan to invest in AI solutions.
- It’s a real head-scratcher: 91% of business leaders claim that workplace design delivers ROI, yet only 49% are measuring how their space is being used.
Envoy partnered with Hanover Research, an independent research firm, to survey 495 U.S. executives and managers across Workplace and Facilities Management, Physical Security, IT, Finance, and HR. The study explores the key workplace trends shaping 2025, from return-to-office (RTO) policies and Gen Z’s impact to artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and workplace design.
Organizations are grappling with shifting employee expectations, emerging technology, and the challenges of hybrid work—with mixed success. The survey reveals a workplace in flux. Gen Z is challenging traditional office norms. Meanwhile, AI adoption is accelerating, completely changing how companies get work done.
Business leaders need insights into how their workplaces are being used or risk wasting resources, stifling productivity, and leaving employees feeling disconnected. Today’s office needs to be efficient, adaptable, and designed around people. For that to happen, workplace data (and the insights they provide) has to be the focal point of that process. The companies that act on complete information—not guesswork will lead the way in 2025.
Across industries, business leaders and employees alike are redefining what the workplace means to them. It’s no longer just a place where people clock in and out—it’s an asset, a collaboration hub, and a key driver of business success. With the high cost of real estate, companies can’t afford to assume their office spaces serve a single, narrow purpose. Instead, they’re getting creative: hosting large-scale events, repurposing underutilized spaces, and setting up satellite offices to better support a distributed workforce.
While organizations experiment with how to maximize their real estate investments, many are still struggling to implement return-to-office policies that actually work. Even enterprise giants like Amazon and AT&T have had to delay their RTO plans in multiple cities because their workplaces simply weren’t prepared. The problem? Not enough desks, not enough data, and not enough planning to accommodate a full-scale return. Could this have been avoided? Absolutely. But in a rapidly shifting landscape, planning ahead without complete information is easier said than done.
The only way forward is through flexibility, insights, and reliability.
Companies that embrace flexibility can adapt to challenges, expected or not. Those who prioritize data-rich workplace insights will make smarter decisions that drive efficiency and engagement. And without reliable tools, processes, and infrastructure, even the best strategies may fall short. The workplace is evolving—and the organizations that anticipate, adjust, and act will stay ahead. Nobody has a crystal ball, but in uncertain times, a little due diligence can go a long way.
But this rigidity isn’t always intentional. It’s often the result of unreliable (or nonexistent) workplace data that forces business leaders to create policies based purely on gut feelings. Without data, any change, even incremental, feels risky, and rigid policies become the default.
No data? No visibility. No visibility? No real way to adapt the workplace to what the moment requires.
Hexagon Research Finds 72% of U.S. Manufacturers Say Outdated Technology Is Hurting Hiring as Reshoring Ramps Up
I attended some sessions in June at Hexagon’s conference where surveys about manufacturing executives attitudes and concerns were voiced. Later, this report from Hexagon was released specifically regarding hiring. This survey reinforces everything I’m hearing about workforce challenges in the US.
- Workforce development is lagging: Only 8% feel confident in their reskilling efforts, despite a looming 2M+ talent gap.
- Outdated tech is costing talent: 72% say their current systems are a deterrent to recruiting and retaining employees, especially younger talent.
- Reshoring is hitting a labor wall: Nearly 1 in 3 say staffing issues could delay or derail reshoring altogether.
- AI and automation aren’t optional anymore: 53% are increasing investments here, not just for efficiency, but as a workaround for hiring constraints.
From the release:
While 31% of manufacturers plan to boost reshoring due to tariffs, 28% believe talent shortages could slow or significantly delay those efforts, and only 8% believe they are doing enough to reskill the workforce
The 2025 America’s State of Manufacturing Report, commissioned by Hexagon and conducted by Dynata, surveyed professionals of all levels across the U.S. manufacturing workforce. The research found that 60% believe their companies are doing enough to improve the manufacturing industry’s image with new talent, even with predicted shortages. Half are very confident the U.S. workforce can meet the demands of the next five years, yet 28% believe workforce challenges will slow or significantly limit reshoring efforts. Further, they are running up against a critical barrier: 72% say outdated technology is preventing them from attracting and retaining workers.
“Manufacturers are making bold moves to modernize, but our data shows they must move faster on tech adoption and workforce development, to meet a moment defined by economic uncertainty, labor shortages, and reshoring,” said Paul Rogers, President, Americas and Asia Pacific, Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division. “Outdated technology isn’t just an operational hurdle; it reinforces the perception that manufacturing isn’t a forward-looking, modern career choice. Tools like AI and digital twins can help democratize manufacturing and give more workers a new perspective, but lasting change requires more than innovation. It demands reskilling, breaking old stigmas, and rebranding the industry as one built for America’s future.”
At the same time, uncertainty is top of mind—56% cite tariffs as their biggest business pressure, even ahead of inflation and supply chain disruptions. Despite this, 31% plan to increase reshoring investments in response to shifting trade policy.
Nearly all manufacturers (92%) have already begun investing in AI. Contrary to popular belief, nearly two-thirds (65%) say AI will help them either maintain (43%) or grow (22%) their workforce. Just 18% believe it will lead to headcount reductions.
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