Understand Management in 2 Sentences

An article I read today by Rosabeth Moss Kanter over @HarvardBiz summed up what I believe to be the epitome of good management.  In the article, Kanter states the following:

“Good management is a series of well thought-through actions including phases, communications, checkpoints, customer-impact-testing, metrics, contingencies, and feedback loops, designed to produce specified results on time and on budget, based on known circumstances. Where circumstances are unknown, as with innovations, then good management proceeds in a series of pilot tests, rehearsals, or rapid prototypes, in which early feedback at a small scale improves later execution at a bigger scale.”

I think this statement articulates perfectly how good managers simultaneously choreograph a variety of events and activities across their business.  Management and leadership are about enabling the gears of one’s organization work in unison while maintaining protective rigor and preparing back-up plans in the event of unforeseen challenges.