THE C.E.O. OF SOMETHING?

Mark Pincus, chief executive of Zynga, tells the New York Times [Corner Office, January 31, 2010] that he found himself challenged by how to effectively touch everyone in an organization once the growth of his employees exceeded 150.

It was easy to keep everyone informed and going in the same direction with 50 people but when the size grew, it was physically impossible to efficiently communicate with everyone. Adding middle management did not seem the best solution.

So he experimented [successfully] by having everyone charged with figuring out what they wanted to be C.E.O. of. This technique essentially was an act of delegation with accountability.

He said to his people, "By the end of the week, everybody needs to write what you're C.E.O. of, and it needs to be something really meaningful." This then was published so everyone knew who was in charge of what.

He talks about the receptionist who kept talking about needing a new phone system as the company got larger. By putting her in charge of that project, "I don't want to hear about it. Just go buy it. Go figure it out", she was so motivated that no one could have done a better job of solving this need.

From my own experience with clients, whenever we can put people at any level in charge of a meaningful project, they rise to their true level of ability and with a sense of owner mindset.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/31corner.html?scp=1&sq=corner%20office%20pincus&st=cse