MECC - Managing so everyone can contribute

General

Management philosophy aiming to create an environment for better decision making and execution
Aim for everyone being empowered to lead in your organization
Decentralized: empowered individuals make decisions without needing centralized approval
Applied at an organizationl level, individuals receive greater agency for self leadership, resulting in more informed decisions made quicker
MECC is for ICs and People managers, everyone is a Manager of One
An ideal environment for MECC needs:
- Communciation guidelines: robust information for all aspects of communication in the organization, including async, difficult topics and tools
- Shared set of values: actionable and clearly documented, reinforced by actions and used to filter in hiring
- Team trust: a baseline of trust across the organization is needed to embrace change
- Focus on results: measure output instead of input, clear transparent goals allow individuals to take ownership of how their work contributes
- Culture of belonging: cultivate an inclusive environment, creating a non-judgemental culture that welcomes diverse contributions

How does the organization ensure any staff can consume information (self-serve) and contribute
Designed to scale across timezones, functions, levels, personality types and consumption preferences
Information should be public by default and optimized for maximum contritbution
Leadership scales beyond individuals and their tenure, information written down transparently allows others to contribute and correct
Data such as policy, workflows and values should live in a SSOT (single source of truth)
Individual teams may use different tools / locations, but ensure they are transparent and correctly crosslinked
Use low context communication, be explicit, direct and use simple language.
Aim to be comprehensive not narrow in communications
Providing as much context as is available in information exchanges leads to more informed decision making
ICs and manager are responsible for seeking information in order to respond effectively to a scenario
Situational leadership is displayed when a leader adjust behaviour to adapt to each changing scenario
Decisions are better informed when they include a maximally diverse array of perspectives
The best ideas should win, not the loudest
MECC defaults to written, asynchronous information sharing

Optimize for speed of knowledge retrieval
Iteration with a low level of shame is a key aspect of MECC
Iteration enables faster execution, shorter feedback loops and the ability to course correct sooner
Teams can be slowed by the fear of overstepping boundaries and doing work outside their immediate remit
Aim to eliminate silos, focus on collaboration and feel comfortable with others contributing to your domain
Asynchronous brainstorming, providing a proposal first and space for others to contribute leads to faster decision making
Everything is in draft by default, leading to less red tape politics
Assigning DRIs (directly responsible individuals) prevents the risk of sluggish decision making
Deliberate informal communications help build trust (coffee chats, social calls, special interest channels)
Getting to know people outside the context of your work builds trust and prevents conflict
Prioritize two way door decisions (easily reversible), this empowers DRIs to make decisions quicker
Irreversible decisions are the only time more thorough decision making should be used

Focus on quantity of decisions in a stretch of time and the results from the fast progress
Conventional approaches strive for consensus and avoiding risk
Focus on a bias for action
Organizations should strive to have smaller teams iterating transparently and quickly
Decisions should be made by the person doing the work
Say why not just what - share not only what decision is made, but why
Explaining why a decision was made builds trust and avoids speculation, it also documents the reasoning for the future
Focus on transparently articulating your reasoning, not on justifying the decision against every other option
Traditional approaches tie decision making to meetings, limiting how decions can be made
Boring solutions help reduce complexity in the organization
Resisting unhealthy constraints ("this is how companies mature" mindset) helps organizations to continue operating agile and efficiently while scaling

Execution is about establishing a baseline for future iterations, not a point in time solution
No matrix organization means you should only have one manager, this is essential to decision making
Agency and bias for action come with a need for a tolerance for mistakes and appreciation for two way door decision
Micromanaging stifles execution, agency empowers individuals to focus their time and attention
MECC prefers KPIs linked to OKRs
If you're not creating OKRs to improve KPIs you're either missing the KPIs or you have the wrong OKRs
MECC reframes execution as a series of iterations
Prioritize due dates over scope, cut scope accordingly as the due date approaches and add to a future iteration