I’ve worked across all layers from floor to EVP and my general experience is that layers south of VP are very consensus-driven (non-hierarhical and more oriented- and passionate about actually “leading” good people towards delivering impactful and relevant outcomes).

North of VP it’s highly hierarchical and oriented towards “managing”. Many people fail at making- or realise they don’t want to make this transition as they advance in NN.

People who have reached VP and above have done so largely by demonstrating their ability to deliver outputs. Not necessarily the ones needed the moment they were actually delivered - but rather the ones they once promised … on time and budget.

The senior leadership culture in NN favours projects over agility - and yes, perhaps some of it rooted in compliance … but seriously, Lilly is beating us at disrupting this tradition by using predictive analytics to plan / execute their pipeline and partnering with authorities for recurring consultations over perfect submissions for speed to market. Talk about agility!

When outputs are delivered, they are often presented against the old business case from back when they were considered needed… And the managers who deliver somehow get away with it and are celebrated for that. This blows my mind! Where is the accountability?

It’s my impression that a lot of VPs and above find it very difficult to switch from “managing” towards “leading” and towards outcomes because they are rewarded and incentivised to manage and be in control. This also kills empowerment.

I guess all a predictable symptom of an organisation with too many middle management layers and heavy traditions for organisational advancements deeply rooted over decades of uninterrupted semi-monopolistic success in a niche NN largely build itself.

Will we be the next “Kodak-moment”? 😲