A visit to the production lines

Once, during a routine visit to one of the production lines, I saw that the workers were struggling with a simple measurement.

I stood on the side, noticed the confusion – and then stepped in.

I showed them exactly how to measure.

We solved it in two minutes.

At the end of the day, I asked the consultant who was accompanying me:

“So, how was I?”

He looked at me and said:

“Terrible.”

I was shocked.

“What do you mean? I solved the problem!”

Then he said a sentence that changed everything I thought I knew about management:

“You’re not supposed to solve problems.

You’re supposed to teach others how to solve them.”

And from that day on – I stopped being the hero who saves everyone.

And started being the one who asks:

“What do you think?” “How would you handle this?” “What did you learn from it?”

At first, it took restraint.

But later – it freed me.

And it lifted them.

A good manager isn’t measured by how much they know –

But by how much they help others believe that they do.