In 2004 a programme called Boss Swap was shown on Channel 4 in the UK. It was a spin-off from the far more popular Wife Swap. Instead of two wives swapping places, the bosses of two companies were exchanged. There were three programmes and so six bosses were involved altogether. Five of these swaps were disastrous, which is possibly the reason the programme never ran again.
The problem was that these managers clearly saw their role as to know everything, to work out what was wrong in their new companies and tell people how to improve things. This was despite the fact that they had no knowledge of the industry and were working with people who had years of experience. They marched in and started telling people what to do, with predictable results for morale and motivation.
One manager took a different approach. On arrival at the new company he walked round the shop floor, asking staff what ideas they had, what got in their way, and what they would suggest for improvements. This was the only one of the six swaps to be a success.
