One of the most time consuming activities of directors and managers is administrivia - all the paperwork, record keeping, compliance monitoring, and so on. Now we all know that these are merely the necessary means, and not the ultimate goal of any business. But…

I think the specialisation of administative roles and the compartmentalisation of managerial responsibilities create a situation where administrivia (the means) becomes THE END for individual directors and managers! As they fuss over the record keeping, the business is often left to drift with no one actually at the helm!

Administrivia also presents much easier goals to achieve than the often-vague directorial concepts of leadership, creating direction, motivating talent and envisioning brave futures for a business.