Only the one at the top can get away by doing nothing

Managers and those of us who work with them need to be aware of the jokes and cynicism about managers and what they do.

The crow is sitting at the top of a tree and doing nothing.

A rabbit passes by.
Rabbit: “That looks great, can I do nothing as well?”
Crow: “Of course. Just sit down there and do nothing.”
As the rabbit sits there enjoying doing nothing a fox comes by and eats it.
The moral – You can only get away with doing nothing it you are at the top.

The conventional response to this is probably that being down there you can’t really see what managers are doing. Another interpretation is that is always is blindingly obvious to subordinates if managers are creating value in their role or not.

Many managers keep themselves busy by intervening in the work of subordinates instead of giving them the context for doing their job and using their discretion and common sense in doing what they see needs to be done and how to do it. In other words doing what they are paid to do.