Lisa Murphy explains how managers become decision bottlenecks by taking ownership of problems employees bring them. A manager fielding 41 low-value requests daily wastes three hours on decisions worth under $500 each. The fix: ask "What would you do?" instead of "leave it with me," returning decision-making to employees.
Chapters
How do managers accidentally collect what management scientists call monkeys? It's why you're completely out of time while your team runs out of work. Take Daniel. On a 4-day beach vacation, his phone buzzed 41 times, forcing him to approve a basic $600 order from his beach chair. In business, every problem has a next move. Whoever owes that move has the monkey. When a problem lands on an employee's desk, They own the monkey. But when they bring it to you and you say, leave it with me, you just volunteered to take the monkey. You stripped them of the ability to decide and put the problem on your back. You think you're being helpful, but you've wired yourself into every choice, creating a single point of decision. Multiply this by 41 transfers a day. That's 3 hours of your time spent answering questions worth under $500. To reverse the flow, Replace leave it with me with what would you do? The monkey bounces right back to their desk. This forces them to create a standard rule so they never have to ask again. And that $600 hardware order that ruined Daniel's vacation? The team applies their new rule and approves the order themselves. His desk stays clear and Daniel's phone stays completely silent on the beach.
