Middle Management Is Broken by Design — Here's How to Fix It
By
By Ciara Harrington
Summary
Middle management roles have become structurally flawed because they were never deliberately designed — they grew organically and now carry unsustainable weight. The article argues that the real problem isn't manager resilience or burnout, but the role itself, which forces managers to juggle two conflicting jobs: being both a player (individual contributor) and a coach (people leader). It calls for a fundamental redesign of the middle manager role, including splitting the player and coach functions, reducing spans of control, and rethinking how organizations support and structure management layers.
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bskyMiddle Management Is Broken by Design — Here's How to Fix Itreworked.coKey quotes
· 3 pulledThe real issue is structural. The role itself was never deliberately designed. It grew, layer by layer, and now it is carrying weight it was never built for.
Most conversations about middle management start in the wrong place. They start with engagement scores, burnout surveys or coaching programs, as if the problem is that managers are not resilient enough.
Manager engagement has been falling steadily. Gallup's latest data shows it dropped nine pe
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