Comments on: Sword and Pistol Management

By: Nancy Coppock

Nancy Coppock — Fri, 30 May 2008 19:15:00 +0000

Interesting concept as I was just reading about George Washington using his sword to lift up the rifle barrels of a separated group of his troops engaged in friendly fire rather than enemy fire. “His Excellency”

In light of leading start up mavericks, this poignant thought may show a required use of a sword. It enforces teamwork and prevents friendly fire.

By: dosadi

dosadi — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:53:11 +0000

If I had a sword I’d poke Shannon Barrett for the misuse of the phrase, “beg the question,’ which is actually a term used in logic to describe an argument in which the premise presupposes the conclusion.

But more to the point, You don’t hire mavericks to manage them, you hire them to be visionaries and give them basic guidelines and direction. If they are showing up late, etc etc.. you hired the wrong maverick. A person can be a professional and be a maverick at the same time..

By: Brad Groux

Brad Groux — Thu, 29 May 2008 17:14:39 +0000

Strangely enough this hits home for me… I’m more of a maverick who has been stuck working for fortune 100 companies my entire career. I’m also a manager and even though I work in the corporate sabre+six shooter world I manage my team more like startup management (militia)… I want my team to be free thinking and gun slinging; i give them the freedom to do their jobs and think outside the box on their own and am prepared to take the upper management sword in the back for them if needed… that may be the reason I can’t seem to stay put for more than a few years.

By: Shannon Barrett

Shannon Barrett — Thu, 29 May 2008 16:32:58 +0000

So this begs the question - how do you manage a gaggle of mavericks?

Mavericks don’t respond well to the sword or pistol so most often management ends up being a mixture of negotiation and leading by example.

Luckily this management style is not limited to just startups - if you can negotiate with a stubborn technician at a startup, you can do the same for people reporting to you at a larger organization. In fact they’re probably appreciate you for it. Just don’t expect that you’ll be able to have the same negotiation with your boss (especially if they’re carrying a sword or pistol).

By: Jennifer Donica

Jennifer Donica — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:13:36 +0000

…and becuase of they just may get the chance to be apart of something big.

By: Jennifer Donica

Jennifer Donica — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:06:55 +0000

“…people don’t join startups because they are scared, they join startups because they like the risk.” Nicely put. This is strong…very, very true!