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Jun 23

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The assumptions of scientific management

in 1908 Frederick Taylor carried a stopwatch in to a steel plant in Philadelphia and began the time and motion studies that would lead to his publication, “The Principles of Scientific Management.” His goal was to find the “one best method” of work – substituting “science for rule of thumb.”

We no longer are surprised by the efficiency and productivity that scientific management delivers. But I would suggest that we have forgotten the six basic assumptions that Taylor makes. Here is a summary as set out by Postman in Technopoly (p. 51):

  1. The primary goal of labor and thought is efficiency.
  2. Technical calculation in all respects is superior to human judgment.
  3. Human judgment cannot be trusted because it is plagued by laxity, ambiguity, and unnecessary complexity.
  4. Subjectivity is an obstacle to clear thinking.
  5. What cannot be measured either does not exist or is of no value.
  6. The affairs of citizens are best guided and conducted by experts.

I’ve been pondering the impact that these assumptions have on our organizations and how they influence our decisions and actions on a daily basis. Are we tempted to make everything in our lives more efficient? Are we tempted to apply efficiency standards to our relationships too? Are we at risk of trying to measure things that require wisdom and not process and procedure?

We forget these assumptions at our peril.

Postman, N. 1993. Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. New York, NY, Vintage.

Jun 22

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Resource: Organization Development resources on the web

Here are some of the sites where I find useful information and resources for working with organizations, learning, critical thinking, and life:

Marshall Goldsmith Library
Find articles on Peer Coaching and Leadership. There are also videos and podcasts.

Jim Collins
Find downloadable tools, articles, and audio video items dealing with organizations and personal development.

IDEO
Find resources on thinking, articles on design and critical thinking, decisions by design, and videos on everything from organizational transformation to customer service.

In addition to this summary, I would point to the Blogs of Interest and Articles of Interest linked on the left sidebar of our blog.

What are the web resources that you find useful for working with your organization? I encourage you to comment and share the links with all of our readers!

Jun 21

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Resource: Harvard Business Review

Is your first response, “We can’t afford to subscribe to the Harvard Business Review…”? I will agree it can be pricey, especially if you subscribe to both print and on-line. But the on-line site offers some free, useful resources, including magazine resources that are available to non-subscribers. I include a summary here:

The HBR Blog Network includes the ability to search by subjects such as Imaging the Future of Leadership or by blog author. Here are some of my favorite HBR bloggers:

Marshall Goldsmith on Leadership, Managing people, Coaching
Rosabeth Moss Kanter on Innovation, CSR, Leadership
Roger Martin on Strategy, Leadership, Innovation and Critical Thinking

Some recent blog posts of interest:

12 Things Good Bosses Believe
The 15 Minutes that Could Save 5 Years
How to Translate Training into Results

If you’re interested in hearing what some of the influential leaders, researchers, and educators are saying about organizations, you’ll want to check out these links.

Jun 19

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Idea for reflection – 12

Viewing the Sun at Symphony in the Flint Hills

Here’s a quote for reflection:  

The task of leadership is to create an alignmnet of strengths in ways that make a system’s weaknesses irrelevant.
  – Peter Drucker   

Idea for reflection – 11

Jun 18

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Resource: Leader to Leader Institute

There are many free resources on the web, but not all are created equal.  The Leader to Leader Institute, which was founded as Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, is one that contributes a variety of useful and inspiring resources. I’ll point to a few:

Their on-line journal has many free articles: Leader to Leader Journal.

Another useful resource is the Thought Leader Gateway, which includes an ability to search for articles, interviews, and videos by author. For example, this link will send you to a short biography of Peter Drucker and list Drucker resources available from the Institute.

Or if you’re interested in innovation and organizational practices, check out their Innovation in Practice section.  And, there is a video library of dialogues with leaders.

Finally, they are challenging organizations to ask and answer five essential questions: What is our mission? Who is our customer? What do the customers value? What are our results? and What is our plan?  Can you answer those questions for your organization? Could you tell me the answer in 3 minutes or less?

Jun 16

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Another world: Symphony in the Flint Hills

So that my readers won’t think that I’m abandoning my belief in the need for time for reflection, I share a few photographs from last weekend’s Symphony in the Flint Hills:  

Symphony Banners II

Symphony in the Flint Hills II Before the Symphony

Tents on a Hill II

Symphony in the Flint Hills IV

See and read more about the Flint Hills: Renewal by Fire

Jun 16

The discipline of learning through education

“A well-trained man knows how to answer questions, they reasoned; an educated man knows what questions are worth asking.” – E. Digby Baltzell

This quote appears inside of an article about the Bell Telephone Company’s experiment with educating executives in a broad range of topics.  The executives attended a 10 month program designed to expand their horizons by reading a wide range of books, engaging in discussion with leading thinkers, and listening to guest lecturers.  In the end, even though the graduates better understood the world around them, were more interested in the workings of society, and could see more than one side of an argument, Bell ended the program. The unexpected outcome was that in expanding their confidence and critical thinking capabilities, the executives  were more likely to put their families and communities ahead of the company’s interest in the bottom line.

Katzenbach and Khan in Leading Outside the Lines write that today’s formal leadership programs can create a “self-reinforcing system” when they are based on templates designed to reproduce more leaders like those already in place. Choosing formal leaders is usually based on a process defined by degrees and certifications, alongside demonstration of increasing responsibility and delivery of bottom line results. Many training systems have been adapted from the Bell experiment to better serve the company interest in the bottom line.

Or do they serve it better? I would suggest that both are needed. The discipline of learning through education should be broad as well as deep. People need to be well-trained in technical skills. And, people need to be educated in a wide range of subjects and how to be critical thinkers. No company stands alone. Each is part of larger systems that include families and extended families, communities that are connected to schools and housing, and the global community.  We need leaders who can debate and consider all sides of a question, but most importantly, “know what questions are worth asking.”

Jun 15

The courage of “First Who”

I’ve long had an appreciation for Jim Collin’s work, Good to Great.  Friesen Group has done research in the non-profit sector using Collin’s hypothesis about Level 5 Leaders.  Our thirteen year-old has been coming home from summer basketball preaching the Good to Great principles as set out by his coaches – the book is now in his summer reading pile.  And yet, outside of books and magazine articles, I have never personally known anyone who practiced the principle of “First Who, Then What“.

Then this past weekend, I had an opportunity to have a conversation with the leader of an organization I have been privileged to work with a couple of years ago. He told me the story of his latest personnel hire.  I was stopped short when he said, “I did it without having a job description for the position.”  His goal is to allow the person to use their knowledge and skills within the organization  to develop something new; to allow their work within the organization to emerge rather than trying to shoehorn them into a specific, existing job function. It’s a classic example of, “first who, then what.”

In a month when a friend encounters multiple organizations who are screening job applicants based on an exact, computer keyword match to a job description, and using interview check sheets that further reward the use of keywords and stories that represent specific behavioral norms, I am challenged by this conversation.  In a week when I’ve been asked how an organization can go about developing a standardized training system for getting people to conform to their definition of leader, I am challenged by this conversation.  In a day when I wonder how best to continue growing our own organization, I am challenged by this conversation.

First who … not a clone of someone already here, not someone who can conform, but …  first who. There is power in practicing what we preach.

Jun 15

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The space between words

Phil Jackson used to run Chicago Bulls practices in complete silence (Sacred Hoops, p. 119).

I’ve used Nancy Kline’s ideas about silence and listening, presented in Time to Think. It allows each person in a group 5 uninterrupted minutes to speak to the topic at hand. If the individual chooses not to use all of their time, the remainder of their time is spent in silence.

I’ve watched groups of adults and of teenagers struggle with the times of silence. In one case, even 2 minutes to speak or be silent unnerved several individuals.

What would it mean to meet in silence? No cell phones. No e-mail. No video games played under the table. What kinds of connections could be created that would not exist in any other environment?  What would emerge from deep listening?  What would occur as a result of time spent reflecting together?  How would we as individuals be changed?  How would our organizations be changed?

Are we as aware of the space between words as of the words themselves?

Jun 9

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Your Brain on Computers

Yesterday I had a conversation with an 18-year-old who told me that he had started turning off his cell phone for several hours each day. “Off the grid” he was able to focus on accomplishing tasks, getting things done efficiently, and interacting with people who were physically present.

Is the fact that disconnecting from the electronic world allows us to engage more fully in the experience around us a revelation? I’m not suggesting that we throw all of our electronics in the pond, but I do believe it is useful to be aware of their impact on us.

The New York Times is running a series of articles about recent research on how technology impacts our brains, relationships, work skills, and comprehension. Here are links to the articles and a couple of tests you can take to assess your own level of attention:

An Ugly Toll of Technology: Impatience and Forgetfulness
by: Tara Parker-Pope

Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price
by: Matt Richtel

More Americans Sense a Downside to an Always Plugged-In Existence
by: Marjorie Connelly

Links to test your focus and your ability to multi-task.

As for me, I’m headed for lunch with a friend  – and, I’m turning off my cell phone in order to fully appreciate my time with her. I will continue to choose to take time to reflect and unwind off the grid.

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