Generalists can be as stifling to the business as the bean counters, albeit for different reasons. You can easily recognize them by their drive and vision. The trouble is that their drive and vision often comes without any tangible proof of concept. Generalists usually refuse to deal with the theory because they lack the underlying know-how. They don’t want to bother themselves with proving the value of their vision—they just want to force that vision onto others.

    To their credit, generalists are easier to work with than bean counters—but only to a point. They may not want a constant stream of detail and analysis—but because they have no frame of reference they often ask employees to complete unrealistic or even contradictory tasks. Generalists seem more easygoing because they have no concrete strategy; often they seem more like prophets than managers. Many generalists think of themselves as builders. In the end, however, generalists offer little more than castles in the air.

How many air castles have you come across?

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The bean counter lives for details, to the point that details are split further into more details. Every single detail then gets painstakingly analyzed, often to find ways to change them. When those details are changed, they lead to more details, which leads to more analysis—and still more details and analysis. They can be relentless in their drive to change details (a never-ending cycle).

    Engineers at a company that manufactures refrigerators found a way to produce the doors faster, thus saving a few minutes per door. In a large operation, of course, those few minutes add up to big gains. They proudly presented their discovery to top management, but the financial director became quite upset with the report. As he saw it, these savings in one area led to a slowdown in another. It was a stoppage of less than a second, but the financial director saw it as a waste of time and money. Thus, instead of thanking the engineers for their cost-saving idea, he instead found fault with a relatively insignificant issue.

    Bean counters are hardly ever able to create a short, quick analysis of a situation. When they rise to the level of management, their need for more and more details becomes increasingly problematic, not to mention demoralizing to employees who are told their performance is never good enough.

Are you detail driven?

Or someone in the team?

Can it be changed?

Should it be changed?

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Management always happens between the two extremes of vision and details. The manager has to find the right point of balance between the two. Only those managers able to find the right balance run a striving business; probably one of the darkest definitions you will come across.

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You have to tell them what to do—and that’s exactly what they do. No more, no less. An imprecise explanation will lead to mistakes. You will find them all over the place, but (not surprisingly) you rarely see them in higher management.

Who in your team is dense and lazy?

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These are the worker bees. They execute everything according to plan—no matter the costs. Rules and standards are important and will always be followed religiously. They may be valuable for certain tasks and they’re always willing to work harder. But they lack (or seem to lack) the creativity needed to solve complex problems, or the understanding to know when to ignore the rules and standards.

Who in your team is dense and diligent?

Does your company need worker bees?

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