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Academy »
Management »
The Holistic Management
Holistic Management – Hierarchy of Behaviour
Apart from other things, people have their dreams, wishes, aspirations and
creative imagination which end in their somehow undetermined and not always
targeted behaviour. Such behaviour does not fit in the hard organizational
framework of processes, structures and strategies, defined through analytical
methods which are designed to meet the desired results in the most effective
way. I am going to explain the logic of this assertion in greater
detail.
The most primitive type of behaviour is the determined behaviour. Going from
different starting conditions, it will achieve different results, and from each
such result you can trace back its exact cause. In other words: in the
determined behaviour, there is an unequivocal corelation between the result
(marked with the letter V) and the starting conditions (marked with the letter
P). If we specify exactly what people are supposed to do, we require them to
behave in the determined way. What defines the result
how defines the manner of realization, with a typical example
being operators in the production process in which we adapt their behaviour to
the behaviour of machines. We do not do it in reverse, as the machine – we
are inclined to think, and rightly so – is comparatively inflexible: its
input and output are defined, and it cannot pick and choose the way in which it
prefers to achieve the result. It was exactly this philosophy that the classical
industrial era management at the turn of the 19th and the 20th centuries was
based upon. It was to last until the 1970s or the 1980s. Admittedly, the results
it achieved were phenomenal. Yet at the turn of the 1970s and the 1980s,
unequivocally, this approach alone turned out to be insufficient: under the
changed circumstances, organizations which began breaking the rules of the
classical management were establishing themselves successfully. Among other
things, the target-oriented management was born and, before long, won
recognition. Implementation of the target-oriented management in organizations
was facing no major problems. It was due to the fact that people are able to
behave not just in the determined manner, but also in the goal-directed one.
Targeted behaviour adds another possibility to the ability to behave in a
determined manner, which is that the given result or aim is achievable
regardless of the conditions you start from. In order to achieve this, clearly,
a somewhat higher flexibility of behaviour is of the essence. In other words:
what the worker is supposed to achieve is indeed still determined by somebody or
somehow, yet the ways how to achieve that are up to the worker to choose. And
exactly this is reflected in one golden managerial rule of that period:
�Tell your workers what to do, not how to do it.� Here we
should remark that the ability to act in a targeted manner comes with something
like a room thermoregulator: regardless of whether it is hot or cold outside, it
maintains still the same room temperature. That is what it has been designed to
do. However, it behaves with some flexibility: sometimes it will increase the
temperature, at another time, conversely, it will decrease it. The fact we
modify its target every now and then is irrelevant here. People are,
nonetheless, endowed with another ability. The ability to behave
purposefully.
Purposeful behaviour excludes neither targeted behavior nor determined
behaviour, adding a little extra something into the bargain. The extra something
is the ability to achieve dramatically different results while going from the
same starting point. People quite clearly possess such an ability. For instance,
you have someone get you milk, and they will get you rolls instead. Wouldn�t you
kill that guy? And this is precisely the domain of management:
setting targets and, as can well be the case, processes,
structures, strategies, watching what is going on, and
eliminanting deviations from the standard. Perfect
mastery of the targeted behaviour makes the ultimate management dream come
true. Thus, management achieves the defined and pedictable results. Yet
the purposeful behaviour necessarily introduces major problems into the
management mission, and, viewed from this perspective, it is undesirable and
deserves to be eliminated. Let me summarize it now: hopefully, it is clear by
now that people�s behaviour is, by nature, neither purely determined nor fully
targeted; they behave purposefully at times. I also hope it is evident that
such behaviour does not fit in the rigid organizational framework of machines
and thermoregulators which are designed to meet the defined results. Let�s go,
however, beyond the bounds of the above statement of fact. Viewed from another
perspective, though, the purposeful behaviour may not be all that detrimental.
The very opposite is true. Just imagine what it would be like if you sent a
technician to do some assembly work on your customer�s premises. Not only that
he would do his work, but – in addition – he would bring in another,
new contract worth several millions. Would not it be great? The ability to
behave purposefully is absolutely essential to develop new things and new
approaches, as well as to exceed the established expectations. With this
ability, and with this ability only, one can achieve even unpredictable results,
results that exceed the most daring of expectations, results the world has yet
to see.
Unlike the managerial controlling which deals with predictable results, the
ability to achieve unpredictable results rests with the managerial leadership.
Maybe, doing them both in parallel is not all that bad. And, possibly, doing
them both in such a way as the two activities do not inhibit but support each
other. In the 1920s, some managerial thinkers were becoming increasingly aware
of the fact that
Even seasoned managerial practitioners have now come to realize ever more
increasingly that the road to outstanding results does not rest in
elimination of the human factor, but in its development and utilization to the
benefit of the organization. The common sense commands them to believe
that excellence does not rest in elimianting the managerial control and
returning to the period of total chaos either. Some already know, others are
still just suspecting that the road to organizational excellence leads
through integration of differing parts into one synergic whole.
Therefore, no elimination, no dismemberment or just toleration, but the synergy
of both. So far only few corporations have succeeded in implementing this
fundamental paradigm of the holistic management into the
organizational practice. The managers do know how to distinguish between the
hard and the soft organizational aspects, but, more often than not, they have
not been able to distinguish between the specifics of their operation, that is,
between the managerial controlling and the managerial leadership, thus standing
no chance of integrating them into one holistic whole. They stand zero chance of
creating a sound organization, for you cannot integrate something you cannot
distinguish. Examples are plentiful. Research carried out at several
universities in the US and published in 2010, for instance, shows the
distinctive orientation towards reaching of the goals, which is the absolute
routine today, profoundly makes for:
Violence being committed is also evidenced by research conducted in
2000 by the International Organization of Work which concerned
occupation-related mental disorders and states that about 10% of employees do
suffer from depression, anxiety, stress or burn-out, with another 10% of workers
being in for the trouble. The implications for the employer are clear: lower
productivity, lower profit, higher costs of hiring and training substitute
workers. In the US it accounts for the loss of 200 million work-days per
annum, while in Germany it represents the production loss worth several billions
of euros. Overall, it leads to lower tax revenues and higher expenditures on
health care, too. We cannot really speak about healthy organizations, at least
not in the majority of cases. Somehow, by a rare coincidence (or would they be
doing it purposefully???), the organizations that have progressed furthest in
the field of synergic integration of different parts are exactly those
organizations which boast the highest market value, reach the highest profits in
their respective branches, and are the most sought-after employers.
They practise the holistic management.
Author: �Martin H�jek, Praha,
14.11.2010 www.vedeme.cz
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Average: 3.05, assessed 302×
Last assessment: 21. 04. 2011
ACADEMY
Determined behaviour
Targeted (Goal-seeking) behaviour
Purposeful behaviour
Managerial leadership
THE HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT
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Discussion to article
Text advertisement
What do you help in finance crisis period?
- an increase in unprofessional behaviour,
- a distortion of hazardous preferences,
- corrosion of the oraganizational culture, and
- a decrease in the workers� motivation.
- the targeted behaviour of employees alone represents a sizeable disadvantage
in dealing with some important business matters, and - that the inborn human capacity can be taken advantage of, and employees can
start behaving with even greater degree of flexibility than the aforesaid room
thermometer.
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