Why oh why when a company gets bigger do some people feel the need to distance themselves from direct and practical actions? It seems to me that some managers make things more difficult by asking that everything goes through them - channeling all the information - and thus blocking the natural flows. What a shame. Real leaders will set the shape and the vision - outline the outcomes they need to see and really encourage people to get together to achieve. No blockages - no fixed protocols. People speaking directly to the people they need to speak to.

I had a blog response today - a guy suggesting he had some great ideas for A4e - his email showed a degree of cynicism - ''you are too busy - your email will be filtered by five people - messages will never be allowed to get to you''  - that sort of stuff. Not withstanding his obvious belief that the bosses of big companies know nothing and are in touch with no one (and the fact that I get all my emails unfiltered and respond personally best I can) - I was interested in his - ''I have some ideas for A4e that you might have missed'' - so I called him. He was so shocked that he could not think what he wanted to say - so we agreed that we should make an appointment to speak on the phone. Ha ha. There is me trying to be direct and practical and it went wrong... he wanted an appointment - he needed the beaurocracy ! - but I kept on trying...

The next person I called was delighted (and a little shocked ) - but she was able to talk me through her thoughts and I was interested in them so we have arranged to meet. Simple - direct - no confusion - no time wasted - and human.

I will keep trying - direct and practical - speaking to the people I need to speak to - keeping things human, straight forward and frankly more rewarding.

Join me ( if you dare) !!