Career Eye: The management theory maze
Perhaps terrified at falling behind, many would-be executives seem to wander from one fad to the next. Nowadays, you can find books and courses on mission and vision statements, the seven habits of highly effective whomever, self-directed teams, and anything else including using yoga in the boardroom.
The great flaw of these books is that they often confuse the knowledge of how something should/could be done with the ability to do it. Line managers often fall into the trap of failing to realize this and miss the important difference between external commitment (motivation imposed by a company on its employees) and internal commitment (motivation that comes from the employee him/herself).
When a senior executive talks to his/her team about the need for internal commitment, but actually practices external commitment, he/she creates a basic problem, a lack of 'buy in' by the team (regardless of the goal).
Critical thinking
Management is not about slogans; rather, it is really important, whatever the source of inspiration, to get the buy-in (and commitment) of the organization for whatever it is you want to do. In fact, good execution usually wins at the end of the day.
New skills and approaches are needed to combat age-old business problems. Thinking critically is the task of any executive.
Executive education
The US-style MBA has become something of a gold standard in education. A new type of 'executive' MBA programs are being created in their dozens and are very popular in Poland. However, the standards are not so well established, except at the top programs, and 'executive' can be just shorthand for part-time. In Poland, where the educational system is very 'technical' to start with, the whole management-education system is not yet well developed and focuses on 'hard skills', such as finance or marketing. The result is that newly minted MBAs and the local business magazines spout innocuous mantra-like slogans, which are then taken up and 'reality tested' when no one is looking. What is clear after meeting with many graduates of these programs is that they are short on leadership education and development.
Attempting new management approaches should be ongoing. Success can breed conservatism, which can be a cause of failure.
The great flaw of these books is that they often confuse the knowledge of how something should/could be done with the ability to do it. Line managers often fall into the trap of failing to realize this and miss the important difference between external commitment (motivation imposed by a company on its employees) and internal commitment (motivation that comes from the employee him/herself).
When a senior executive talks to his/her team about the need for internal commitment, but actually practices external commitment, he/she creates a basic problem, a lack of 'buy in' by the team (regardless of the goal).
Critical thinking
Management is not about slogans; rather, it is really important, whatever the source of inspiration, to get the buy-in (and commitment) of the organization for whatever it is you want to do. In fact, good execution usually wins at the end of the day.
New skills and approaches are needed to combat age-old business problems. Thinking critically is the task of any executive.
Executive education
The US-style MBA has become something of a gold standard in education. A new type of 'executive' MBA programs are being created in their dozens and are very popular in Poland. However, the standards are not so well established, except at the top programs, and 'executive' can be just shorthand for part-time. In Poland, where the educational system is very 'technical' to start with, the whole management-education system is not yet well developed and focuses on 'hard skills', such as finance or marketing. The result is that newly minted MBAs and the local business magazines spout innocuous mantra-like slogans, which are then taken up and 'reality tested' when no one is looking. What is clear after meeting with many graduates of these programs is that they are short on leadership education and development.
Attempting new management approaches should be ongoing. Success can breed conservatism, which can be a cause of failure.
