As a child, I absolutely worshipped the comic book heroes. I used to squander all of my free time (and money) in this small, grungy comic book shop downtown. I loved the stories of Aquaman, The Fantastic Four, and The Green Lantern. Most of all, however, I loved Superman. As you know, Superman could perform practically every amazing feat of all of the other super heroes combined. There were limits to his powers, though. One small (and somewhat obscure) fact was that he could not lie. He also could not see well through lead. Last and most important, he was rendered positively powerless when he came in contact with a substance called Kryptonite. Now, for some time I thought that was all there was, but now, after all these years (and much to my chagrin), I have discovered another limitation to Superman's powers. He does not have the power of delegation.
superman
Superman in Oslo, Norway
Superman suffering from kryptonite poisoning.Think about it. In the popular eighties movie, the super villain, Lex Luther, sent two nuclear warheads in opposite directions. One was headed for Hackensack, New Jersey and the other was headed for the San Andreas Fault. Superman had a choice to make. He could either save southern California or he could save the wonderful people of Hackensack. It's too bad that he couldn't have delegated some of that responsibility. He could have saved himself a heap of trouble in doing so.
Actually, the business world is not that different. A company can have power, money, and influence, but if it does not possess the essential elements of delegation within it's infrastructure, it is doomed to succumb to a business' ultimate Kryptonite; chapter eleven. One needn't fear, however, delegation is here (du du du du)! In order to survive the super villains of business, a company's management team...