Leaving the seat of power

The doctrine of management by walking around matters more than ever.

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The arc of management bends towards sitting on your backside. You may intend to get away from your desk, but it holds you there nonetheless. There are always more e-mails to clear; there is always more work to get done. When you do leave your desk, you are probably off to sit down somewhere else, in a meeting room. And you will probably share that room with your closest colleagues, people who sit behind desks that are located extremely near to yours. Domestic cats have larger territories than some bosses.

Worse, the chair's magnetic pull is getting stronger. The pandemic normalized video calls with people in different locations: Managers can see employees around the world without leaving their perch. Quantification is another excuse to remain sedentary. Dashboards and data can keep bosses informed about the state of the business in real time without ever having to stand up.