Introduction Lee Coker is Manufacturing Manager in one of the major plants of a Fortune 100 company. He is known by all, and described by his subordinates, as a very bright, innovative, and energetic manager. Talking to another participant on a management development programme, in late September, he reected on his job: \"In manufacturing you need people with drive, people who can x problems. I have ve Area Managers reporting to me. They are all ne, but they are not equally willing to stretch themselves. This means that I have to get more involved with some than others. For the last year or so, I've been very busy planning for a new product line which is considered important for the future of the plant. Because of the attention this product line is receiving from above, I worked closely with the Area Manager responsible for the line. I realised this meant neglecting some of the other Area Managers to a certain extent, but it was a calculated risk. You've got to hope that they'll let you know if they need you. But some of them don't. Last week, for instance, I had a big problem with a guy called Ed. Out of the blue, the quality department almost stopped one of Ed's lines because quality was too uneven. I hadn't seen it coming, but you can bet your life that from now on I'll give a lot more attention to Ed's lines.\