Managing Foreign Affairs - a Case for Macromanagement

According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, micromanagement is defined as "to manage especially with excessive control or attention to details." Macromanagement, sometimes written as macro management, is the act of managing managers. In the playing of computer games, the game Grand Theft Auto is an example of a game requiring micromanagement, or one where the player must control each and every element. The Civilization series of games, on the other hand, are macromanagement games, or games in which the player gives general instructions to the game controller, which then carries them out.

Often, micromanagement is used in a pejorative sense, and in truth, in most cases in business of government, micromanagement causes morale and performance problems. Macromanagement, for its part, can also cause problems because employees who work for a macromanager can feel a lack of concern for their performance or a lack of direction or sense of mission.

Both concepts have their place, and have both good and bad aspects. The essence of good management and leadership is knowing when to 'get down in the weeds' and when to 'stay at 50,000 feet.'

There are some professions, however, where one style is clearly preferred. My field, diplomacy and foreign affairs, for instance, is one in which macromanagement is the more effective management style.

Diplomats are people who are charged with managing communication and relations between nations. They must represent the interests of their country in the country to which they are assigned. On the one hand, this requires them to interpret their country of assignment for policy makers in their capitol; on the other, they must be able to explain their country to officials and the public in the country of assignment. Successful accomplishment of these tasks requires tact and skill in communicating, understanding and interpreting often obscure and incomplete information, and flexibility in responding to constantly situations. They must have a clear understanding of their nation's policy, and the judgment to know how and when to respond to any situation.

In the days of clipper ships and quill pens, management of diplomats from capitols, because of the slowness of transportation and communication, was macromanagement out of necessity. With the advent of modern, rapid transportation, and almost instant communication, in some nations the style has shifted to a form of micromanagement. It has been likened by some as trying to put a screw in the wall with a 3,000 mile-long screwdriver. Often, bureaucrats or politicians in the home capitol, many times who've never been in the country to which a diplomat is assigned and working with incomplete or incorrect information, will give detailed directions, and then attempt to supervise every aspect of execution of the task.

Just because it's possible to do something doesn't mean that it should be done. Human motivations in the modern age are no less complex and byzantine than they were in the 17^th century. In the relations between nations, often the best course of action is guided by the in depth knowledge and experience of the person 'in the trenches.' Having foreign ministers or secretaries of state managing the day-to-day relations with a foreign country is akin to having a general direct a company-level firefight from a headquarters one hundred miles behind the battle line. It can have counterproductive, even disastrous, results. In military operations, battle plans are crafted and rehearsed; units are given the necessary resources and told the objectives; and then deployed to accomplish the mission. Most people are aware of the dangers of micromanagement of military operations from the Vietnam War experience when often the President himself was involved in selecting bombing targets.

Less appreciated is the damaging impact of micromanagement on the conduct of foreign affairs. The senior leader who gets involved in detailed decisions on the day-to-day relations with a country is often doing so without the benefit of current, first-hand knowledge of the events and reactions in the country. Micromanagement of foreign affairs is often a product of a politician or senior leader's lack of trust in the diplomatic establishment. At other times it is because of the perceived criticality of a certain task of relationship. In all instances, however, when micromanaged efforts fail, it is the unfortunate diplomat on the ground who has to shoulder the fallout.

In the field of diplomacy, it is highly advisable to use the tools of speedy transportation and communication to ensure that the people on the ground have the necessary information on policy direction and desired outcomes, and when it comes to making detailed decisions, put the 3,000 mile-long screwdriver back into the toolbox.

References:

http://www.crystalinks.com/micromanagement.html

http://www.itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/Project/are-you-a-micro-or-a-macro-manager

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macromanagement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromanagement