The fate of the heroes

There is a summary at the end.



Heroes are such employees. You've probably seen them. Perhaps you are a hero too.



Unique. Super productive. Lovers in their business. Not just capable, but really doing what is different only in dreams, and in such a way that one can only envy. Able to replace a dozen others.



Or in another way. Uncontrollable. Breaking every conceivable and inconceivable rule. Not meeting deadlines. Requiring special treatment for themselves. Upstarts. Incomprehensible, frightening, infuriating.



The attitude to the heroes within the company is always different and depends, first of all, on the point of view. The heroes have one thing in common - the tragic fate in the company. There are few examples of a long and successful career, and there are a lot of cases of squeezing out of the company by any means.

Constructor, which are few

Roman was a design engineer that I have never seen before or since. I've seen them in films, but not in real life.



He had three key features: he saw a need, did it from start to finish, and thought outside the box.



The ability to see the need now is probably attributed to the necessary skills of the product owner. An ordinary programmer, like a designer, does not need to delve into the problems of the end client - it is enough to solve problems formulated by someone based on an identified or indicated need. The success of development in this case, among other things, depends on a well-understood need and its translation into the language of tasks - that is, decomposition. In simple terms, developer success can be either ensured or leveled out by the product owner, architect, designer, or even sales manager.



So, Roman did not want to depend on these guys, and communicated with the customer himself, directly. Moreover, not with faces in high offices, but with men in the field. With workers, engineers, small management. And he understood the need exactly as it is. It sounds like presumptuous, but his correct understanding of life was confirmed, because he turned the need into a product and money.



Here the second feature of Roman came into play - the ability to work from start to finish. In general, I sincerely believed that all designers work this way - having understood the need, they develop a solution, control the production of prototypes, participate in tests, make adjustments, work with technologists on purely practical production parameters, including the cost price, carry out field supervision for some time.



But no, only Roman worked that way. Formally, in the life cycle of any product, all the listed stages are present, only they are distributed between different people, sometimes they are not connected with each other at all. The result of such a crowd of people is not difficult to predict: many times extended periods, exponentially increasing cost, and most importantly - not a single person responsible for the whole project.



Roman led the product from idea to serial production and sales. Only when he himself, the customer and the management of the company were convinced that the process was in place, Roman stepped aside, handing over the product for support to "ordinary" designers.



And finally, thinking outside the box. It seems that for a design engineer, as well as for a programmer, a mandatory item in the requirements - but alas. Most of the designers who worked for the company were word-of-mouth creators. Long history has shown that they only accompanied Roman's products, making minor corrections, or were engaged in reverse engineering, as it is now fashionable to call copying of other people's products.



It may seem that Roman simply crushed the rest of the designers with his authority, took over the development of all new products, preventing new talent from sprouting. But no, alas.

Firstly, he was highly isolated - he was sitting in a separate office, he had his own small team, and almost never crossed paths with other designers.



Secondly, there were several attempts to develop new products by the main team of designers. Usually everything ended at the stage "eh, damn it, what is it, do you have to go to the fields?" or "I understand everything, but give me a sample that needs to be measured and redrawn."



How did you feel about Roman? Don't go to the fortuneteller here either.



He understood its value, supported with all his strength and resources, and was protected from ill-wishers by one person - the owner. Because his business started, in fact, with Roman and his ideas.



The rest of the designers were divided into two camps. Half, ordinary hard workers without special ambitions, Roman was respected and appreciated, because he gave them bread - the routine job of accompanying the products. The second half of Roman was quietly or loudly hated.



About a quarter of the ill-wishers were active. They screwed in filth at every opportunity. Any found joint was put on display - "Akella missed." They were always whining that all the problems of the customers go to Roman, and they, the unfortunate ones, are simply not given access to real business.



For many years, the owner skillfully managed the situation. The isolation of Roman and his team helped a lot - he was simply spared from the office plankton war, was not tied to document circulation and even, fear God, did not have an account in 1C. All the upstarts who wanted to create something new, but without Roman's participation, the owner supported - he paid the costs of visiting customers (it was very far, even in South America), did not rush with the results, waited for ideas. But there were no ideas, but the shouts continued, and they had to get rid of some of the upstarts.



As a result, the company was left without Roman. Who do you think tried?

Really effective manager

The plant was in a protracted crisis. It seemed to work well, with high production and sales volumes, but there were two troubles - low profitability and high debt load.



Why was the low profitability - no one really understood. Or he pretended not to understand. But with very decent revenues, the company almost always posted negative earnings. They were saved only by loans.



Almost everything was pledged and re-pledged. It happened that the employees were borrowed - they were stupidly missing 10 tr. to pay urgent invoices from suppliers. The salary was delayed. It got to the point of constantly working with microfinance organizations in order to somehow eliminate cash gaps.



They sinned on too much investment - the whole workshop was recently built with credit funds. Well, for the loans themselves - they say, we should take a hundred millionaires somewhere in order to reduce the debt load and breathe. Only where to get them - again, a loan must be taken.



This is where an effective manager named Alexey appeared. Effective without quotes - this was confirmed by the practice of working in previous places, where almost legends were written about him. The owner of the plant met him by chance and hunted him for big money. Or maybe Alexei just liked the challenge.



The main feature of Alexei can be called the ability to turn knowledge into action. It sounds corny, but in practice this is rare.



Alexey was very educated. I read a lot, studied (naturally) for an MBA, constantly improved my qualifications. But many do this, and Alexey applied all this in practice. Not "tried" or "experimented", but applied. With constant monitoring of the result.



The difference can only be understood by comparison. Unfortunately, most managers have very different knowledge and actions. Stop any of them, at any time - routine or crisis, take it out of context, and ask - based on the current situation, knowing the plans and strategy, what should you do? He will smartly list the goals, objectives, strategy and tactics.



Put it back in context - it will do something completely different. Pull it back and ask why words and deeds diverge - he will name a bunch of excuses, and "so accepted" and "not accepted", and "must be coordinated", and "now is not the right time," etc., ad infinitum. Like a taxi driver who should be in the Kremlin, if you believe his stories, but for some reason he sits in the parking lot at Sheremetyevo and is waiting for another client.



So, Alexey did exactly what he said. It was amazing to watch this from the outside - as if he were from another planet. He just looked at the problem from different angles, listened to everyone, but never left without a solution. And when you made a decision, just try not to implement it or start dynamism.



Well, miracles began. All calculations of the planned and actual cost, which had been built for several years, were rewritten in a few weeks according to his rules - and they found and managed to highlight the previously hidden losses rooted in shop accounting. Immediately, a project was born to reorganize the accounting in the workshop in order to reduce losses and eliminate the possibility of theft (and the product was popular), and it was implemented in a few months (although they would not even have contacted before). The production planning system, which had been expected from programmers for two years, was ready in two weeks. Moreover, it was written from scratch. Alexey rejected the past as methodically incorrect.



Having received new data on the cost price, Alexey uncovered a number of almost fraudulent schemes, when sellers entered into contracts with customers on the verge of loss, or stupidly in the red. In fact, of course, everything was clear here and in the old calculation, but only Aleksey was able to implement the decision “to sell only as a plus”. Although it was officially believed that the matter was in the new settlement system.



The only thing that Alexey could not do was to fire employees who did not suit him. This was a restriction set by the owner - he appreciated the "weather in the house" above everything else.



Two years later, the plant was unrecognizable. They not only paid off the loan for the construction of the workshop, but built another one. Wage delays have stopped as a phenomenon. The plant was in a stable plus. Many foreign customers have appeared. Beauty and harmony.



But, in the end, the plant was left without Alexei. Who do you think tried?

Modest Vova

Vova showed himself at the institute. He was an Engineer with a capital letter. Of course, he did not receive a red diploma, because he did not pass the Russian language, history and physical education. But all the subjects related to engineering, especially those oriented to practice, Vova knew better than anyone else.



Especially effectively he did coursework on electronics - where it was necessary to design some kind of device, and even with a microcontroller inside.



We, all the others, did exactly what was required - a schematic diagram, a drawing of a case, a layout of a board, a specification, at most - selection of elements from the catalog and calculation of a heat sink.



Vova made this device. Not everything, of course, otherwise we were given laser roughness meters. The ones he could afford on modest student income. He made and brought to give up, with all the necessary documentation, which shocked the teachers - most of them were theoreticians who taught new theorists.



Our student environment was good in that no one was particularly jealous of anyone. Unless the locals were jealous of the commoners - they could thump for weeks without parental supervision, and the commoners were jealous of the locals - they could eat three times a day.



Nobody envied Vova either - either they were happy for him, or they were neutral. He disinterestedly helped everyone with tasks, coursework and exams - simply because he was interested in the subject itself, in all its manifestations.



Then Vova got to the plant - of course, in his favorite profile. There they designed and manufactured devices, mainly measuring devices, for various industries, environments, and loads. But all as one, with microcontrollers. Simply put, Vova went to heaven.



His abilities were appreciated very quickly. The plant was, on the one hand, all enmeshed with rules and instructions, prescribing for people like Vova a very modest position and salary. On the other hand, like any large Russian enterprise of those times, the plant was full of holes and opportunities for leveling the strictness of its own rules.



Therefore, Vova's boss did not bother with the system, demand an extraordinary promotion or individual payment terms, but simply found an opportunity to receive a very solid increase for Vova in cash. He brought it in an envelope and gave it back with the words "thank you, Vova."



And Vova worked. Interestingly, he did not demand and did not even ask for this money. He just liked the work itself, and he did it sincerely, with childish joy. The boss himself decided that Vova needed to be encouraged financially, otherwise he would leave - then small companies that also design and produce electronics began to gain momentum. So Vova got used to good money.



But, in the end, the plant was left without Vova. Who do you think tried?

Conclusions, it is Summary

The heroes in the company are very dependent. They cannot exist without the person who brought them, noticed, and raised them up. They constantly need protection, and enemies are on the alert.



The heroes have many enemies, and in each case they are unique. Anyone - the owner, the director, and colleagues, and subordinates, and even an impersonal management system - is a danger for the hero.



Enemies are conventionally divided into three categories.



The first is envious people. The hero does not bother them in any way, but his successes do not allow them to live in peace.



The second is those whom the hero interferes with. Simply by the fact that he is not like everyone else, is not ready to obey, to follow the system, violates peace and order.



Still others are those whom the heroes infuriate in principle. Doesn't interfere, doesn't help, just infuriates. Just like people with pink hair, piercings or expensive cars are pissed off.



Heroes often fall victim to good intentions. Those who elevate them create comfortable conditions. The hero gets used to it, and perceives any changes painfully.



Heroes should not be forced into the general system. It is normal to have two systems of management and reward. Even three if it helps the overall result.



The easiest way is to perceive the hero as a temporary phenomenon. As a project for change, breakthrough, new discoveries and high goals. Costly and efficient. The cost of running a hero in the company is not as high as the subsequent spending on trying to keep him.



Let the hero move on. Let others make a breakthrough, don't be greedy.