‘An effort to control everything may end up in controlling nothing’. Explain.

The statement, ‘an effort to control everything may end up in controlling nothing’ is in regard with the principle of ‘Management by Exception’. It stresses on the fact that everything cannot be effectively controlled. According to this principle, rather than controlling each and every deviation in performance, an acceptable limit of deviations in various activities should be set and only those deviations that go beyond the acceptable range should be brought to the notice of the managers for control. In other words, only the major deviations which are beyond permissible limit should be acknowledged. For instance, suppose the acceptable range of increase in the input cost is set at 3 percent. In this case, only a more than 3% increase in the input cost (say 7%) should be brought to the notice of the managers. On the other hand, a less than 3% increase (say 1%) should be neglected. Hence, an effort should be there to control only the major things instead of trying to control everything.

It’s a well known fact that “Jack of all master of none” when we start controlling everything it results in controlling nothing because it is not possible at one time to control various activities as this process may neither be economical nor easy. Control thus focus on KRAs (Key Result Areas). It means instead of controlling all activities, control where the critical points goes wrong and by which organisation suffers. Thus, KRAs are set as critical points and one should be aware that he has to control what.

It’s a well-known fact that “Jack of all, master of none”. When we start controlling everything it results in control of nothing because it is not possible at one time to control various activities as this process may neither be economical nor easy. Control thus focuses on KRAs (Key Result Areas). It means instead of controlling all activities, control where the critical points go wrong and by which organization suffers. Thus, KRAs are set as critical points and one should be aware what one has to control.