Management Theory

First, I had hoped, dear reader, that I might be over this colored bottle obsession by now. No such luck. I continue to be driven to experiment with colors, combined with glass. Unlike many of my male friends, I am not color-blind. Rather I am blinded by the richness of the various colors along the rainbow. Each shade has its own sensuality. Any color you can mention evokes in me a deep primordial response. This is a physical experience I am sharing on my blog -- the attraction I feel toward these colors, their warmth, their coldness, their closeness and their remoteness.




However, this post is not even indirectly meant to be about colors or bottles. Nope, this is my attempt to create one of those uninteresting seminars on management theory. I have been managing employees all of my adult life. I don't why. It appears simply to have been my fate.



Therefore, I have developed a theory about how to play the role of manager in our economy. My approach transcends organizational type, I believe. It doesn't matter if you are in the private sector (my current job and one-third of my ~36 year career to date); the non-profit sector (another one-third); the academe or government (one-sixth); or self-employed/consultant (the last one-sixth).

No matter in which of these roles you find yourself, you need a theory that guides your management philosophy. The hardest person I ever met for me to manage is, in fact, me. So, that is a starting point. As your own manager of your own career, how do you best motivate yourself, hold yourself accountable, and drive toward success?

Anyone who can solve these dilemmas has the potential to manage others. When we reach that point, the issues migrate slightly to how can we motivate those who report to us to be the best they possibly can be?

I will not deny that the answer includes some aspect of manipulation. But I think Malcolm Gladwell captured what I think works in his book, BLINK. He was describing a military man's approach in a war games exercise, but I believe this applies much more broadly across employment categories.

"This kind of management system clearly has its risks. It meant (the manager) didn't always have a clear idea of what his troops were up to. It meant he had to place a lot of trust in his subordinates. It was, by his own admission, a "messy" way to make decisions. But it had one overwhelming advantage: allowing people to operate without having to explain themselves constantly...It enables rapid cognition."

That, in a nutshell, is the gamble I take every time I roll the dice by encouraging my employees to trust their own instincts in tackling problems. Rapid cognition.

I love it!

-30-