It is worth bearing in mind that, in the grand scheme of things, what we do as managers is really quite new. Moreover, where we do it - in organizations - is new as well; as Peter Drucker pointed out, barely 100 years old.
Certainly, we are beset by stories of paragons of leadership from ancient times. Politicians, conquerors, religious figures - even Santa Clause - are pressed into service as examples of what we ought to strive to be. As we have noted before, though, these lessons should be taken with great care.
On the other hand, organizations have also been around for some time. Indeed, without them the birth and growth of civilization would have been impossible. As a result, it is of genuine value today for managers to study the role of organizations throughout history.
For example, please see this excellent piece by Wally Bock, of Three Star Leadership, on what lay behind the phenomenal growth of one of the modern age’s foundational empires (this essay was recently recognized as one of the eight best business blog posts of 2008).
For the greater part of history, though, the building blocks of international society were states, and organizations were merely their instruments for establishing and maintaining control. This only began to change in modern times.
Today, we hardly notice this. But the transformation was striking enough to those who lived through it. For example, Alexis de Tocqueville, who Cam Beck, at ChaosScenario, wrote about recently, noted more than 160 years ago in “Democracy in America” how struck he was at the Americans’ penchant for forming societies and associations. These seemed to penetrate every corner of life. It was a new idea.
But it was one that would soon sweep the world. Today, organizations of one sort or another are themselves the building blocks of society within states, and even challenge them as independent actors on the international stage. It is this remarkable, and really still new and evolving, world of organizations that we continue to struggle to learn to manage.
The implications of this remain daunting and contentious. Some argue that we should follow the model of the ancient leaders to manage these powerful and influential organizations; others counter that it is a wholly different situation we find ourselves in, today, calling for different management ideas, as well.
Consequently, it would seem to be helpful to approach the subject at least with an appreciation of how new this age of organizations is, how important and still not fully understood are the roles of the organizations upon which it is built, and how unexpected and remarkable are the demands on all of us - ordinary people - who are now called upon by circumstances to work in and manage them.
That requires us to look at organizations from a number of angles: who owns them, how is that ownership expressed, what is their purpose, who is it that manages them, and how do they do that? All of this will be among the items to be discussed here in the coming weeks - please do join in!
—
Today’s tip. Speaking of figuring out how to manage in a new world, please see this creative commentary on micro-management at The Human Workplace.
—
We appreciate your visits here very much, and would love to have you as a regular reader. Please take a moment to subscribe, either by email or via an RSS reader, using the options available just below or at the upper right. And welcome aboard!
—
Technorati Tags: manager, organization, leadership, Wally Bock, business, history, society, state, instrument, control, transformation, Tocqueville, Cam Beck, Democracy in America, American, association, society, manage, leader, management, Peter Drucker
ON DECK
Post a Comment