You finally found a way to balance limited supply across all customers during a shortage.
Then your Managing Director calls.
She wants one specific customer prioritised after a lunch with their CEO.
You immediately know what that means: Someone else will be out of stock tomorrow.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 “𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐥”?
If the person who shouts loudest gets the biggest share of the cake, something is usually off.
Organisations rely too heavily on “Informal Values” and “Hierarchical Power” in decision-making.
And not enough on “Standard Work” and “Cross-Functional Forums”.
Many shortages are repeatable business situations.
“Standard Work” for allocation can handle many repeatable exceptions efficiently.
Even if root causes cannot always be avoided, clear allocation processes can reduce the impact.
For more significant ad hoc exceptions, organisations need empowered “Cross-Functional Forums” with the capability for collaborative sense-making.
Unfortunately, “management by decibel” still creates a strong perception of control and quick resolution.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭?
→ Employees experience frustration, helplessness, and emotional exhaustion
→ Trust between functions and regions erodes
→ Valuable talent disengages when decisions feel political instead of transparent
→ Customers and business performance suffer from inconsistent prioritisation