skills overlap with the other four managerial skills. This occurs because managers usually need to use technical, human, conceptual, or political skills to make their diagnoses. The agency supervisor just cited needed to be skilled at interviewing (a human skill) to uncover the real problem. Diagnostic skill becomes increasingly important at higher levels of Diagnostic management. This happens because the problems faced by managers become less clearcut at each higher level of management. Many managers regard diagnostic skill as the most exciting part of their jobs. An experienced manager expressed it this way: “Figuring out what’s wrong is why I am here. If all problems had a ready solution, you wouldn’t need a manager.”
