Why Does Brad Jacobs Cut Bloated Management?

David Senra reads Brad Jacobs's reason for cutting bloated management: a person who manages one person is providing companionship, not management, and it pains Jacobs that shareholders pay for it. Jacobs wants as many layers removed as possible. A layer is one rung between the person on the front line and the CEO. Every layer slows communication and decision-making. Flatten the organization so ideas move fast, while people still know who is in charge.

Org charts with nine layers between the customer and the CEO are bureaucracy. The shorter and more direct the line from problem to decision, the better. In most of the acquisitions, the cuts do not come from the front lines of people actually serving the customer. They come from bloated management. Waylon Hicks, the chief operating officer, was fond of saying that a fish rots from the head. When leaders are not top tier, their bad characteristics cascade downward and drag performance with them. On a typical acquisition, most of the people who exit are in the mid to upper echelons of the legacy operation, which is where most of the bloat sits.