Communication Breakdown

There was a recent incident that is a great example of how idiotic the Matrix Management model is. Jim was a talented young engineer, highly regarded by his IPT team. While things were going well, he desired something better. For years he’d been telling his functional manager that he wants to take on a leadership role. He even went to back to school to get a degree in Engineering Management to prove that he had what it takes. As the years passed and his career aspirations were ignored, his subtle requests for a leadership position gradually became demands. He began openly telling his functional manager that if he doesn’t get some career development, he will have no other choice but to quit. More years passed and his career goals continued to be ignored.

Then one day, Jim came in to tell his functional manager what had been a long time coming: he found a new job. His functional manager told him “Okay, thanks for letting me know.” He followed up with several questions about the new job and wished him luck. No counteroffer, no thanks for all the hard work. Later that day when Jim told his IPT leadership, he got a somewhat different reaction. “What? Why?..Is there anything we can do to get you to stay? Let me talk to you functional manager.” They were, for lack of a better word, utterly-shocked that he was leaving.

Now think about how ridiculous that is. At the very heart of the Matrix Management model is the assumption that IPT Leadership and Functional Management communicate with each other. For years, the Functional Manager knew Jim was unhappy and might leave. The IPT Leadership on the other hand had no idea because the Functional Manager never told them. Thus, the IPT Leadership assumes Jim is happy, only to be caught completely by surprise when he quits, scrambling to fill the void left behind by his departure. But the situation was totally predictable, if the Functional Manager spoke to IPT leadership in the first place.

The best part of this story is the complete lack of accountability of the functional manager. You see, later that week, Jim overheard his Flunktional talking to the IPT Leadership a few doors down. While the IPT Leadership was still in shock about Jim leaving, his Flunktional was heard saying to them: “Well, I guess we should have seen this coming after he got that Engineering Management degree. We should stop that educational reimbursement policy. We’re losing too many people.” --- Yeah, that’s the problem. He really hit the nail on the head.

Because nobody recognizes the inaction of Functional Management or questions the logic of the Matrix Management model itself, I throw rocks.