When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Pick It Up: A Case Study in Managing by Self-Responsibility

Focused and limited management theories generally do not cover many important aspects of staff members’ and teams’ working lives. While most managers implement specific tools that they find helpful from one theory or another, an overriding philosophy that has proven consistently effective for our team is that of self-responsibility by the manager, by the individuals, and by the team as a group.Managers must not only encourage self-responsibility but also set expectations and empower both individuals and teams with the capability to take responsibility for and manage as much of their work life as possible.