Management- It's Not What You Think! Read online

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Henry Mintzberg is one of today's best-known and most controversial management thinkers. He is Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University in Montreal. Henry is always interesting and usually controversial. He spends his public life dealing with organizations and his private life escaping from them.

  Bruce Ahlstrand has a D. Phil. from Oxford University and a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics. He is the author of The Quest for Productivity (Cambridge University Press) and co-author of Human Resource Management in the Multi- Divisional Company (Oxford University Press). He is currently a professor of management at Trent University in Ontario, Canada.

  Joseph Lampel began his career as a doctoral student at McGill university believing that strategy is the answer, but has concluded that it may be the answer to the wrong question. He fi rst began to suspect this terrible truth during the long journey that produced the fi rst edition of Strategy Safari. Further research, and numerous publications in journals that are well received in polite academic society, only served to confi rm this belief.

  Contents

  INTRODUCTION

  MANAGEMENT? THINK AGAIN

  CHAPTER 1

  MANAGEMENT MOSAIC

  The manager as orchestra conductor Peter Drucker, Sune Carlson and Leonard Sayles

  Management: be careful what you think Henry Mintzberg

  What MANAGEMENT says and what managers do Albert Shapero

  Management and magic Martin I. Gimpl and Stephen R. Dakin

  CHAPTER 2

  MANAGEMENT OF MEANING

  Problems, problems, problems Smullyan

  Accenture’s next champion of waffle words Lucy Kellaway

  Mana-gems

  Subject: new element for Periodic Table

  PowerPoint is evil Edward Tufte

  Planning as public relations Henry Mintzberg

  The opposite of a profound truth is also true Richard Farson

  Systematic buzz word generator Lew Gloin

  CHAPTER 3

  MISLEADING MANAGEMENT

  There are no leaders, there is only leadership Richard Farson

  Conversations from the corner office John Mackey talks with Kai Ryssdal

  A star executive does not make a company John Kay

  Rules for being a heroic leader Henry Mintzberg

  A descent in the dark R.R. Reno

  Leadership and communityship Henry Mintzberg

  CHAPTER 4

  MYTHS OF MANAGING

  Outsourcing the outsourcers

  Spotting management fads Danny Miller and Jon Hartwick

  Musings on management Henry Mintzberg

  To err is human Spyros G. Makridakis

  CEOs: some gamblers Henry Mintzberg

  CHAPTER 5

  MAXIMS OF MANAGING

  Laws and rules: from A to Z

  Parkinson’s lawCyril Northcote Parkinson

  Maxims in need of a makeoverJustin Ewers

  Why most managers are plagiarists Lucy Kellaway

  CHAPTER 6

  MASTERS OF MANAGING?

  Managers not MBAs Henry Mintzberg

  Harvard’s masters of the apocalypse Philip Delves Broughton

  Games business schools play Andrew J. Policano

  CHAPTER 7

  METAMORPHOSING MANAGEMENT

  ‘Change management’ is an oxymoron Jim Clemmer

  Senior managers aren’t cooks, they’re ingredients David K. Hurst

  Staying on track Anon

  Backing into a brilliant strategy Richard Pascale

  A modern parable Anon

  Wither our wiki, worldly, wounded world? Jonathan Gosling

  Crafting strategy Henry Mintzberg

  CHAPTER 8

  MANAGING MODESTLY

  Yee gods, what do I do now? Ian Hamilton

  A long overdue letter to the board Henry Mintzberg

  Here’s an idea: let everyone have ideas William C. Taylor

  Managing quietly Henry Mintzberg

  Managing without managers Ricardo Semler

  PUBLISHER’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  We are grateful to the following for permission to reproduce copyright material:

  Figures

  Figures on page 31 reprinted by permission, Edward R. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint (Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT, 2003), as appeared in Wired magazine, September 2003.

  Text

  Extract on page 5 this extract was published in The Practice of Management, Drucker, P., originally pub. 1954, 2nd revised edition 2007, Copyright Elsevier 2007; Extracts on pages 6–7, pages 7–10, pages 12–15 from Managing, Financial Times/Prentice Hall (Mintzberg, H. 2009) © Henry Mintzberg 2009, with permission from Henry Mintzberg Ltd; Extract on pages 9–12 from Decision Making: It’s Not What You Think, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring, pp. 89–93 (Mintzberg, H. and Westley, F. 2001), © 2010 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Media Services; Extract on pages 18–21 from Management and Magic, California Management Review, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 91–96 (Gimpl, M. L. and Dakin, S. R. 1984), Copyright © 1984, by the Regents of the University of California. Reprinted from the California Management Review, Vol. 27, No. 3. By permission of The Regents; Extract on pages 29–32 reprinted by permission, Edward R. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint (Graphics Press, Cheshire, CT, 2003), as appeared in Wired magazine, September 2003; Extract on pages 32-33 adapted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by Henry Mintzberg. Copyright © 1994 by Henry Mintzberg. All rights reserved and with permission from Pearson Education Ltd; Extract on pages 35–36 from ‘WORDS’ (a column), Saturday Magazine, The Toronto Star, 25/02/1989, p. M2 (Gloin, L.), reprinted with permission – Torstar Syndication Services; Epigraph on page 37 from Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel by Scott Adams. Copyright © 2002 by United Media, Inc. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers and Knight Features Limited; Extract on pages 41–44 from Whole Foods CEO John Mackey talks with Kai Ryssdal, transcript from ‘Conversations from the Corner Office: John Mackey’ from American Public Media’s Marketplace®, © (p) 2007 American Public Media. Used with permission. All rights reserved; Extracts on pages 46–47, pages 87–90 from Managers not MBAs, Financial Times/Prentice Hall (Mintzberg, H. 2004), Pearson Education Ltd. and with permission from Henry Mintzberg Ltd; Extract on pages 47–48 from A descent in the dark by R. R. Reno, reprinted from Commentary, November 2008, by permission; copyright © 2008 by Commentary, Inc; Extract on pages 48–51 reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. From Enough Leadership by Henry Mintzberg, November 2004. Copyright © 2004 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved; Extract on pages 55–58 reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. From Spotting Management Fads by Danny Miller and Jon Hartwick, 1 October 2002. Copyright © 2002 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved; Extract on pages 58–65 reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. Adapted from Musings on Management by Henry Mintzberg, July–August 1996. Copyright © 1996 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved; Box on pages 65–67 adapted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by Henry Mintzberg. Copyright © 1994 by Henry Mintzberg. All rights reserved and with permission from Pearson Education Ltd; Extract on pages 67–69 adapted with the permission of The Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from Forecasting, Planning and Strategy in the 21st
Century by Spyros G. Makridakis. Copyright © 1990 by Spyros G. Makridakis. All rights reserved; Extract on page 70 © Ashleigh Brilliant. www.ashleighbrilliant.com; Extract on pages 75–77 from Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress by C. Northcote Parkinson reproduced by permission of John Murray (Publishers) Limited; Extract on pages 77–81 from Maxims in Need of a Makeover by Justin Ewers [Money/Business] March 19, 2006, http://www.usnews.com/, Copyright 2006 U.S. News & World Report, L. P. Reprinted with permission; Epigraph on page 83 from Shepheard, Paul., What Is Architecture? An Essay on Landscapes, Buildings, and Machines, pp. quote from page 145, © 1994 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, by permission of The MIT Press; Extract on pages 91–94 from If his fellow Harvard MBAs are so clever, how come so many are now in disgrace?, The Sunday Times, 01/03/2009 (Philip Devies Broughton), © The Times March 1, 2009/nisyndication.com; Extract on page 103 adapted by Jim Clemmer from his book Pathways to Performance and published at www.JimClemmer.com; Extract on page 100 from When it comes to real change, too much objectivity may be fatal to the process, Strategy and Leadership, Vol. 25, Issue 2, March/April, pp. 6–12 (Hurst, D. K. 1997), © Emerald Group Publishing Limited all rights reserved; Extract on pages 101–104 from Perspectives on Strategy: The Real Story Behind Honda’s Success, California Management Review, Vol. 27, No. 1 (Pascale, R. 1996), Copyright © 1984, by the Regents of the University of California. Reprinted from the California Management Review, Vol. 26, No. 1. By permission of The Regents; Extract on pages 105–107 from Jonathan Gosling 2008, University of Exeter, UK © Jonathan Gosling 2008; Extract on pages 107–110 reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. Adapted from Crafting Strategy by Henry Mintzberg, September–October 1987. Copyright © 1987 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved; Extract on page 113 from The Soul and Body of an Army, E. Arnold & Co. (Hamilton, I. 1921) pp. 235–36, © by kind permission of the Trustees of the Estate of Sir Ian Hamilton; Extract on pages 115–118 from Here’s an Idea: Let Everyone Have Ideas by William C. Taylor, from The New York Times, © 26 March 2006 The New York Times All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying and redistribution, or retransmission of the Material without express written permission is prohibited; Extract on pages 118–121 from Managing Quietly, Leader to Leader, Spring, pp. 24–30 (Mintzberg, H. 1999), Copyright © 1999 Leader to Leader Institute. Reproduced with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc; Extract on pages 122–126 reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Review. From Managing Without Managers by R. Semler, September–October 1989. Copyright © 1989 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved.

  The Financial Times

  Extract on pages 25–27 from Accenture finds its next champion of waffle words by Lucy Kellaway, FT Business Life, 28 January 2008; Extract on pages 44–46 from Star CEO does not make company, Financial Times, 14/02/2005 (Kay, J.); Extract on pages 81–83 from Why most managers are plagiarists, Financial Times, 07/05/2006 (Kellaway, L.).

  In some instances we have been unable to trace the owners of copyright material, and we would appreciate any information that would enable us to do so.

  INTRODUCTION

  MANAGEMENT? THINK AGAIN

  Management: is it what you think it is? And is it only about thinking?

  Frederick Taylor gave us time studies a century ago; strategic planning came along a half-century later. Both have left us with the impression that management is all about thinking – systematic thinking. Well, think again, about the art and craft of managing – the seeing and the feeling and the doing, beyond the thinking and the analysing and the planning.

  This is the intention of this book: to get us all thinking again, opening up perspectives on this fascinating business of management, for managers themselves, those who work with managers, and anyone who aspires to join their ranks.

  We do this through all sorts of pithy and provocative pieces. Some will make you laugh, others may make you cry (for poor old management itself). Some will seem wacky, irrelevant, irreverent – good, they are meant to be unsettling, sometimes even to make you angry, so that the irrelevant becomes relevant and the irreverent can sometimes be revered. We’d like you to see and to feel and to do management as you have not before.

  Alongside articles from newspapers and excerpts from books and journals, you will find quotes and poems, outbursts, letters and Web things. We have put in whatever we could find that feels interesting, provocative and above all insightful.

  For convenience and coherence, we have clustered all this into chapters. These make a little sense, but you needn’t take them too seriously. Read as you wish, jump around (just as do so many managers) and skip what you care to ignore (unlike successful managers).

  The first chapter is a ‘management mosaic’, meant to unfreeze you a little about what you think management is and what you think managers do – especially if you are a manager. Then we muse in Chapter 2 on the ‘management of meaning’, about how words are used and misused to represent the practice of managing.

  Then it’s on to leadership. These days, how can any book about management not leap into leadership? But beware: this chapter is called ‘Misleading management’. You just might discover that leadership, too, is not what you think.

  Myths abound in management, so Chapter 4 gets into these – fads, clichés, metaphors and more. Maxims, too, abound in management, so Chapter 5 presents lots of these, and what’s wrong with them – including some maxims about such maxims.

  Look left or right these days and there you will likely see an MBA (or maybe just look in a mirror). So we consider these masters of managing in Chapter 6. If you happen to be the one in the mirror, cover your eyes.

  We live in times of great change. Have you heard that before? Not as in Chapter 7. Called ‘Metamorphosing management’, it might just change how you think about change.

  To close the book on how to carry all this positively forward, Chapter 8 suggests various ways to manage modestly. Time to think about how to take management well beyond thinking.

  This is the course in advanced physics. That means the instructor finds the subject confusing. If he didn’t, the course would be called elementary physics.

  Luis Alvarez, Nobel Laureate.

  CHAPTER 1

  * * *

  MANAGEMENT MOSAIC

  If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.

  [Anon]

  Time for a little unfreezing: breaking down what we all ‘know’ about management. So we began with a mosaic of irreverent thoughts about management.

  First comes the manager as orchestra conductor. We all know about this grand metaphor. Peter Drucker provides the first words. Well, read on, as Sune Carlson and then Leonard Sayles provide some other words. Management – you had better think again.

  Next comes a cluster of short items, mostly from co-author Henry Mintzberg. The first is a list of words that have been used for managers over the ages, and most of them still. Managers: they’re everyone you think. Then comes a list of all the qualities needed to be a successful manager. Superman would be found wanting. Management: it’s everything you think. So the discussion turns to ‘the inevitably flawed manager’. Then we move on to decision-making, to discover that it’s not just what you think; it’s also what you see and what you do. And last is a discussion from Henry’s new book about the dynamics of managing. In this job, how can anyone possibly think?

  In case you miss the point, there follows a classic piece by Albert Shapero, who contrasts the image of contemporary MANAGEMENT (his capitals) – staff-driven, bureaucratic, competitive, impersonal – with managing tuned to ‘the natural messiness of life’.

  As if all this is not problem enough, we close with an article by Gimpl and Dakin called ‘Management and magic’. It offers some surprising thoughts about this supposedly rational job: they link planning to superstitious behaviour, forec
asting to magic, and control to the illusion of control. Take special note of the quote that closes this chapter.

  The manager as orchestra conductor

  By Peter Drucker, Sune Carlson and Leonard Sayles

  One analogy [for the manager] is the conductor of a symphony orchestra, through whose effort, vision and leadership, individual instrumental parts that are so much noise by themselves, become the living whole of music. But the conductor has the composer’s score: he is only interpreter. The manager is both composer and conductor.

  PETER DRUCKER, THE PRACTICE OF MANAGEMENT, HARPER & ROW PUBLISHERS, 1954, PP. 341–342.

  Before we made the study, I always thought of a chief executive as the conductor of an orchestra, standing aloof on his platform. Now I am in some respect inclined to see him as the puppet in the puppet-show with hundreds of people pulling the strings and forcing him to act in one way or another.

  SUNE CARLSON, EXECUTIVE BEHAVIOUR, STROMBERG, 1951, P. 52.

  The manager is like a symphony orchestra conductor, endeavoring to maintain a melodious performance in which the contributions of the various instruments are coordinated and sequenced, patterned and paced, while the orchestra members are having various personal difficulties, stage hands are moving music stands, alternating excessive heat and cold are creating audience and instrumental problems, and the sponsor of the concert is insisting on irrational changes in the program.

  LEONARD SAYLES, ADMINISTRATION IN COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS, MCGRAW-HILL, 1964, P. 6.

  Management: be careful what you think

  By Henry Mintzberg

  Managers: they’re everyone you think

  President

  Prime Minister

  Middle Manager

  Administrator