[nnforall]

You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you've worked on the assembly line? You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have engineered an automobile? You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have been in marketing? You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have been a personal injury attorney? You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have been an accountant?

[ansible]

There are always exceptional individuals who can be effective managers without direct business-line experience. These people can incorporate the experience of others (by listening to them) and make good decisions.

However, in the general case, having direct experience in that industry's work brings a large amount of perspective on how the industry works. And this perspective can well inform decision makers for decades afterwards.

[fsloth]

I think the key claim here is that the manager should have intuitive understanding of the core value adding functions of the company. Not of every function. Being intrinsically motivated about the core value adding process should be considered a superpower.

A stereotypical example: Nokia vs Apple. The Nokia leadership - just before Iphonegeddon hit all the incumbents - really weren't enthusiastic about their technology nor of their products. Where as in Apple the CEO was deeply involved at least in an editorial role and sourced key components himself, like the glass.

I really would love to hear a counterexample where the company with the aloof macroeconomist golfer at the helm beat the company managed by domain afficionados.

I presume it would be in the commodities, but I'm hoping to be surprised.

[Ensorceled]

Example in the same vein, during Iphonegeddon, RIM CEO Jim Balsillie was consumed with buying an NHL team and told RIM's chairman "We'll be fine".

[jayd16]

They should at least have been inside a car!

[nnforall]

How about a bus? Or a train? Or a van?

Do you suppose that there is really a Japanese minister today that has never used a computer? A smart phone? A microwave? A TV? An MP3 player? A network-connected device?

They probably use a computer to enter their home or office. Their desk phone is probably a computer. Their car radio is a computer.

It would be quite a challenge to find a living person in Japan today who has not used a computer. I suppose nothing is impossible, but some claims are so hyperbolic as to be ignored.

[starbeast]

I worked on a job rolling out a virtual ISP service for a bluechip telecoms company around 15 years ago.

The project manager was in his fifties and had not only never used a website, he had never touched a keyboard or mouse.

That was secretarial (female) work.

The three things he did in his job was to dictate documents, have meetings and cause utter chaos.

[SiempreViernes]

Sure, but the argument by lordnacho is an extreme overextension of the idea that the leader should have relevant experience.

The context here is a member of the national executive, so demanding detailed micro level experience is required is just silly, at that level nobody can have such broad detailed knowledge. The only practical way is that whoever is in charge learns what they need as they go along.

I think far more important is that whoever is in charge isn't an idiot so they can realize when they have to learn new things. The fact that this guy accepted a position for cyber-security without reading up on computers is plenty of evidence he is an idiot.

[brohee]

Carlos Tavares, who turned around PSA, is known to be crazy knowledgeable on all things cars and all things manufacturing. Call me bitter but being able to take complex fact based decisions beats taking decision based who got the best Powerpoint. I suspect Lisa Su is a bit the same profile. Extremely successful CEOs tend to be able to be able to understand the details of their operations.

[kss238]

Lisa Su got her BS, MS, and PhD in EE from MIT, so I'm sure she is very knowledgeable on making cpus.

[notyourday]

On the other hand most of CEOs that "kind of" manage to perform or totally flop typically don't have any in depth knowledge of what their company actually does.

Compare the CEO of Verizon who built it into what it is today - Ivan G. Seidenberg against a CEO of Sprint or Global Crossing at the time. Notice that the CEO of GlobalCrossing at the time is the current CEO of T-Mobile. It is well known that he had no clue about products of GlobalCrossing or technology behind it and therefore could not realize its competitive advantages. On the other hand he clearly understands the mobile phones which is how he managed to take a T-Mobile from a pissant company that no one cared about to a company that forces ATT and Verizon to respond.

[zhdc1]

It also helps that T-Mobile (Deutsche Telekom) is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.

Not discounting that their positioning in the states has improved in the last couple of years, but they should be to do (and finally are doing) more than just forcing ATT and Verizon to respond.

[notyourday]

DT bought VoiceStream in 2001 and renamed it into TMobile. For 11 years TMO was a pissant company even with all that DT "knowledge" and money. Even Sprint and Nextel laughted at it.

It took Legere becoming a CEO 11 years later for anyone to start taking TMO seriously. And boy they do.

[gargalatas]

No you are wrong. Simply you shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer if you have never been in a car for at least a ride. Al least you should know the shape, the noise, the feeling. Otherwise you are just a puppet of the consultants. This guy is supposed to manage the networks security of the olympics! What does networks security means? Probably he thinks that we can change the locks and we are safe again? Or the passwords!! WoW like a movie!

[nnforall]

Do you know this person's name? Have you seen their resume? Have you read anything they have written? Have you listened to any interview they have done?

How do you know what they are thinking?

Did you read a headline written by a source you don't know and assume it was true?

[notyourday]

Architecture projects are managed by architects. In fact, non-architects don't get to play in "management" of the architecture firms.

Those with no experience in construction do not run around being managers of construction companies doing construction. Those that do won't account for rain delays or know that at certain wind speed one cannot operate a crane and that wind speed would need to come down before 11am. And that's why the projects end up slipping.

> You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have been a personal injury attorney?

You will fail at managing a personal injury lawfirm unless you are someone who is intimately familiar handling ( and therefore laws ) of personal injury cases.

> You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have been an accountant?

You will fail at managing an accounting firm if you have no idea about accounting process, deadlines, amounts of paperwork or different filing schedules.

[beaconstudios]

with an aggregate function like an auto manufacturer, you'd want the executive in charge of each constituent function to be competent in that area. The CFO should be well-versed in accounts, the head of design should have been a designer, the head of factory ops should have experience and knowledge of how a factory works, and so on.

The CEO is an awkward one because they can fill different roles in different companies, but I guess CEOs are usually people managers first and foremost so it makes sense for CEOs to come from the management chain.

[ivanhoe]

How about you shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have some previous experience in auto industry? You need to know the game...

[dingoegret]

You shouldn't manage an auto manufacturer unless you have relevant experience in auto manufactoring, yes, correct, absolutely.

[adverbly]

Great response! I love talking in terms of analogies so this is great! Unfortunately, I don't think your assembly line manager analogy really gets to the heart of what the problem might be. Lets unpack the original cyber security argument:

1) Cyber security is really hard, and it might normally take someone a full university degree, plus several years of experience before they might understand at a high level what kind of strategies are often employed.

2) This minister has no education or experience.

3) Without any education or experience, the minister will not understand exactly what they are responsible for, fail to make good decisions, or otherwise perform poorly.

There are a few key difference between your assembly line analogy and the argument above.

1) The existence of a reasonable best-alternative. It is possible for one person to obtain domain knowledge on cyber security, as well as the knowledge required to perform ministerial duties. In your auto manufacturer example, it is near impossible for any one person to have experience on an assembly line, engineering, marketing, law, and accounting. Lacking this, it might be more reasonable with auto manufacturers to try and select someone who has reasonable breadth, or maybe depth in a couple domains, but might not have depth across all domains.

2) Certain jobs such as that of an assembly worker, do not require as much education and experience as working in cyber security, and as such, it is easier for a manager to have a conceptual model of what is required from their role, without having performed the job themselves.

[kurtisc]

Jaguar Land Rover engineering employees do work on the manufacturing line for this reason.

[maxxxxx]

I studied mechanical engineering and we had to spend more than 3 months in the shop building stuff. This made a huge difference in my understanding of issues when I worked in production management for a while.

So I think if you run a car company you should at least like cars, know how they work to some degree and have worked at a car company for a while. When I came to the US in the 90s and rented a Buick I wondered if the CEO of that company even had tried that car once. It was so bad that I couldn't imagine that anybody who knows a little about cars would have allowed this car to ship.