Razzle Dazzle and other Management Tricks

The pressure on leaders to perform is great and the challenge to achieve results on a quarter-to-quarter basis is overwhelming.  A sudden decline in sales and market share, increased costs and competition and other factors can lead to underperformance in a heartbeat.  A downturn in business will not tolerated, so some leaders find themselves reaching into their bag of tricks.  They have served them well in the past and they will need them one more time.

As they reach into the bag, they pull out their favorite preferred modus operandi, the magic wand.  In fact, they have used it so many times that they have carved notches into it.  They first wave it over the problem and if it does not disappear, they use it as a stick to beat their sales team, which explains the notches.  Surely, this will turn things around and sales will quickly pick up.  However, as the leader raises the wand, the sales team is prepared and they use a trick of their own.  Hocus-pocus says the sales team and the wand is immediately deflected to the design and production team.  An inferior product is to blame and thus the finger pointing begins.  The leader continues to wave the wand but his targets are too many and he grows weary.  It seems everyone is to blame yet no one is to blame.  This is unacceptable, as the Leader continues to search for answers, his frustration and desperation mounts until he blurts out abracadabra. 

Abracadabra?  No one is quite sure what that means.  While his challengers are suddenly speechless, the Leader quickly follows up with razzle dazzle.  He announces this is a temporary situation and is unprecedented.  These circumstances are unusual and never seen before.  Trust me I have everything under control.  I have a plan.  As his challengers, slowly gain consciousness the Leader realizes he needs to hit them with another abracadabra but this time something strange happens.  Presto change-o, there is a new leader.