Akkam’s Razor

In both my blog-life and personal life, I either don't talk much about my work experiences or don't speak well of them.  The one I typically speak the worst of is my time at Pathmark.

I was raised in a supermarket.  Wait, that's not quite right.  OK, I spent my formative years in a supermarket.  For 10 years, from the age of 15 through the age of 25, I worked in one store (mostly), in several departments,  in a variety of roles, many of them in positions of responsibility as a supervisor.  A lot of the good (as well as some of the bad) things I learned regarding management came from that store. 

Of all the things that I witnessed, the most useful to me as a person and as a professional was the opportunity to work under, for, and with many different types of managers.  By watching these people, and their interactions with their peers, supervisors, and those they supervised, I learned a great deal about how to motivate, demotivate, control, and inspire your people.

One of the more notable examples, whom I won't name, was a former product manager who returned down to the store level.  Pathmark was split into regions (North and South) and then further into Areas (based on local geography).  Each of these areas has a Product Manager for each of the departments (Grocery, Dairy, Meat, Produce, Non-foods, Pharmacy, etc.).  This particular manager had been a perishable product manager (especially important, as the perishable departments held all the profit potential.  I'm unsure whether his move to a GSM (General Store Manager) was a lateral or vertical (down) move for him.  In any case, he was the store manager.  He directly supervised two ASMs (Assistant Store Managers) who in turn supervised the department managers, and a NSM (Night Store Manager). If there's one thing that he's memorable for, it's one phrase that he uttered which drew scorn from the majority of those he supervised, but that I got on some level:

"It's my job to sit here all day and do nothing."

In the supermarket, a man, and it is almost always a man, is judged by his production - his ability to "cut and chuck" - ie. his ability to fill shelves.  This is relatively removed from the act of management, and not at all related to leadership.

I suppose the theory is that one's staff will be inspired by the hard work of their supervisor and they too will chip in and work hard too.  Or not. 

The other type of manager was the smooth operator - the guy who met deadlines, met or exceeded expectations, and smartly executed.  These were the guys I admired.  They typically had plans, systems, and delegated authority to their staffs.  They spent their time leading, not managing, and certainly not working.  Their time and resources was better spent elsewhere.

This manager in question fell in the later category, but was sometimes feared and occasionally respected.  I don't have any real recollection whether his time through my store was successful or not (I don't think it was unsuccessful), but I know he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.  I for one, even if he neither intended it nor realized it, learned something positive from his example.