Organisational management
From Unfocusgroup.org
Beware that people who come up with theories of management don't really know what the hell they're talking about. This is because people who know a lot about management choose to apply it, and spend their time actually managing something rather than trying to tell other people how to manage stuff.
However, I do have a few thoughts about management.
Making sure that people do what you want them to do
There are roughly 2 ways to make sure that people do things the way that you want them to:
- "Policing", by having procedures etc that ensure that people do things the way that you want them to.
- "Leadership", by leading a culture of doing things the way that you want them to, and leading by example.
The "leadership" style of management allows for greater personal freedom and open-ness. It says "do as I do". Leaders realise that their workers are not captives and need fair reward for what they do. Leaders are team workers, and rely heavily on a 2-way trust relationship.
"Police"-style managers tell people what to do and expect them to follow. They love rule books and procedures and having to write down how to do everything. They treat people like idiots, and believe that people are generally not to be trusted. However, they often fail to practise what they preach.
Traditional management is very much police-like. Management manuals are full of systems and things about matrices and hierarchies. Anybody can practise police-style management.
Leadership can only be performed by certain people. The key requirement is that leaders cannot be corrupt. A corrupt leader will get found out sooner rather than later, unless he is surrounded by idiots. And a leader who surrounds himself with idiots is a fool.
In fact, any organisation that is keen to operate successfully in the long term should do its best to weed out corruption.
A dishonest manager will breed a culture of dishonesty. If you employ honest staff, they will hate you. If you employ dishonest staff, they will eventually be dishonest towards you. In particular, if you are a company who make dishonest claims, and expect the staff to repeat these dishonest claims or engage in dishonest practices, then you should all watch your backs!
Interestingly, this is why it's good to encourage a culture of open criticism rather than "yes-man" toadying. Staff who lie to you, even white lies, will hide problems from you.
