In an interview on innovation in management featured in the McKinsey Quarterly (2008, No. 1), author and strategy guru Gary Hamel talks about the need to radically change how we design and manage organizations. I particularly liked this quote:
The old model was, “How do you get people to serve the organization’s goals?” Today we have to ask, “How do you build organizations that merit the gifts of creativity and passion and initiative?” You cannot command those human capabilities. Imagination and commitment are things that people choose to bring to work every day—or not.
Hamel also shares some interesting thoughts on where the art & science of management is headed in the future:
Increasingly, the work of management won’t be done by managers. It will be pushed out to the periphery. It will be embedded in systems. I think we’re on the verge of what I would call a postmanagerial society. The idea that you mobilize human labor through a hierarchy of overseers and bureaucrats and administrators is going to look extraordinarily antiquated a decade or two from now.
And:
There is a danger ... of creative apartheid. Too many executives seem to believe that while a few people in the company may be really clever and creative, most folks aren’t. When you look at companies like Toyota, you see their ability to mobilize the intelligence of so-called ordinary workers. Going forward, no company will be able to afford to waste a single iota of human imagination and intellectual power.
An interesting article that's well worth checking out.
Excellent post, Ann. Thanks for sharing the article link, too.
I think that the author is wrong about a declining need for managers, since when human beings self-organize they select overseers and such organization exists across cultures and time, indicating to me that the "manager" or "supervisor" role springs from something deeply human.
With that nit picked, though, I agree on mostly everything else. The Brazilian company, Semco, is an interesting case study because it thrives with an almost tribal, self-organizing approach to the enterprise.
But in most companies, there's a real challenge. I offer two quotes. The first is from FedEx founder Fred Smith: "The short definition of leadership is getting the discretionary effort out of people."
The second is from Woody Morcott then chairman and CEO of Dana Corporation: "Why did we hire 55,000 brains and only use three of them."
Posted by: Wally Bock | November 01, 2007 at 07:04 PM
Wally:
Thanks for your comments, and the fantastic quotes - your perspective is always a valuable one. The Brazilian company that you mention, Semco, sounds like a fascinating organization.
Posted by: Ann | November 01, 2007 at 07:31 PM