3rd November 2011, 09:17 PM
Dinosaur Wrote:You're surely not denying that some people are born with an aptitude to managing and some aren't? And I'd contend that a there's a certain similarity between air-traffic-controlling and computer games (the screens and moving things around on them anyway, even if the rules are different) - if you've been watching the recent Channel 4 series on troops in Afghanistan, quite a few of the guys commented on how 'computer game' they felt a lot of what they were doing felt like, despite all the physical side and using real weapons. Its been demonstrated that F1 drivers brains are just hard-wirred differently from us mere mortals, and I'd imagine at a smaller scale the same applies in other lines of work, you need the basic physical aptitude before you can develop the skill. A lot of my workforce are never going to be able to work out levels in their heads, for instance, whereas I find it a lot quicker than using a calculator (and less chance of hitting the wrong key!). We're all different, and some people are always going to make better managers than others - I habitually ignore the phone and forget people's names instantly and I'm incapable of costing projects (but good at bringing in the project on time and in budget to a decent standard) so I'd be useless and no training's ever going to improve that. Do secretaries still spend their time doing their nails? Thought things had moved on, but, hey, it's a skill, I'm never going to knock anyone for being good at something, however bizarre, wish I was better at plenty of things (but haven't got the nails, sadly) so I concentrate on the ones that I am good at :face-approve:
I like playing in the mud, but I'm afraid I've never regarded myself as a down-trodden digger, just someone who's spent their life doing something they (generally) enjoy and I've always been prepared to graft/be useful enough to pay the bills and be noticed by those nice 'management' people enough to get promoted/those little double-time Sunday watching briefs etc. Seems to work fine and I'm none too happy with people I've never met telling me that apparently that isn't allowed any more cos they've got an agenda
It's a shame, because my agenda is a belief that anyone can do pretty much anything they want given enough opportunity and training. Maybe they won't be the best ever at it but they could still give it a go. I do feel, and I'm not saying that this applies to you (as you say, I don't know you), that there are a lot of people in archaeology who enjoy the field side of the job so much they can't face the idea of not doing it, and it is assumed that the role of management will make this happen. Eventually, however, perhaps they will realise that those field skills, including (I presume) the ability to organise, delegate, and deal with people, make them perfectly able to manage and that this is not a bad thing. In the meantime others will be doing just that - will those who don't carry on griping about useless management?