Pen, Pricetag, Flashlight

Management used to be taught as a deterministic process. Hierarchies and division of labor made it OK to think of a company like a machine. I think management today is a lot more like influencing a messy marketplace where millions of individuals make repeated, short-term agreements to work together. Management is pretty challenging in messy marketplaces. But you can use some simple tools to manage better. Start with a pen, a pricetag, and a flashlight.