If Management Frameworks Were TV Shows…

Management Frameworks are decisive ways to boost employee moral, designate raises and develop and maintain hierarchy.

However, they’re not the most cut-and-dry systems. We at Turnkey Office Space have come up with an easy way to understand these complex ideologies. TV shows! Every company has its own particular set of expectations and cast of characters, and the same goes for sitcoms and dramas. Check out our list below!

Stack Rankings = The Bachelor

Microsoft employees took a deep sigh of relief last fall when the software magnate decided to do away with its employee-review and compensation system colloquially known as “stack ranking”. Since the 80s, Microsoft had practicing a method of pitting employees against each other and numerically grading workers’ performances. However, the system was more like highway cops trying to make their ticket quota. It required managers to collectively label a minimum of 100,000 employees as “underperformers”. The system left employees feeling belittled and unrecognized. If only Law and Order had a “Speeding Tickets” series. We’ve decided that this management framework’s prime-time counterpart is The Bachelor. Just like “stack ranking”, contestants are pitted against each other and manipulated into thinking they’ll never be good enough for a rose.

Holacracy = The Brady Bunch

Holacracy is taking over companies small and big worldwide. The concept was conceived by Hungarian-British writer, Arthur Koestler in 1967. It’s a democratic, insular management strategy that governs employees with tasks rather than authoritative figures. Workers are arranged into “circles” based on their skill sets, and every employee is selected to be in either a higher circle or a lower circle. The higher circle sets the expectations for the lower circle and thusly evaluates its performance. Circles are run autonomously without managers or supervisors and everyone makes decisions collectively. Primarily smaller corporations have found success with Holacracy, specifically Zappos being the most recent and biggest convert. Other notable companies that have hopped on the Holacratic bandwagon are Mashable, Moveline and Conscious Brands. Due to their size, it’s doubtful that mega-tech companies like Google or Facebook will ever adopt the new-age framework, but there’s no telling for sure. Holacracy’s big-family-hug nature speaks adeptly to The Brady Bunch’s tight-knit camaraderie. Carol and Mike Brady and Alice are the higher circle, while Greg, Marcia, Peter, Jan, Bobby and Cindy are the lower circle. Both circles are open and honest with each other, and despite the arguments and rivalries, they value respect and family above all.