Managing exceptionally

This paper is about two managers of Red Cross refugee camps in Tanzania who manage by exception in rather exceptional circumstances. Using a model of managerial work that delineates roles carried out at the information, peopl e, and action levels, inside and outside the unit, these managers' activiti es concentrate especially on communicating and controlling a chaotic situat ion in a steady state, at least temporarily. While many other managers appe ar to be moving away from conventional forms of managing-to more linking in stead of leading and convincing instead of controlling, etc.-here are two m anagers who seem to be going the other way, precisely because their situati on is so unconventionally risky. Ned Bowman's great contribution has been n ot just about risks and options per se, but in the risks that he himself to ok and the options that he himself exposed. In this spirit, the paper concl udes with a plea for the opening up not simply of content, but of context.