How do you herd cats?

Can people-oriented management really work?

In a thoughtful post in an ongoing conversation about my earlier blog posts, Jon Thorne writes "I also think we need to accept that people focused organisations ... have weaknesses … as with most things in life. I have had several people focused projects shut down by the traditional managers. The argument that enabled them to do this was this ... Jon's project will lead to lots of well meaning and motivated people rush off and do similar things slightly differently ... in an uncoordinated way ... burning resources as they go ... forgetting to reflect and learn from each other ... delivering expensive, inefficient, inconsistent organisations / services.  As I could not provide an answer ... other than ... trust me it will work ... my project was shut down. What is needed is a way of herding cats ... without introducing methods, accreditation, documents, training and websites. If I provide a practical way of doing this ... I feel I can counter the argument of traditional management attitudes."

In fact, there is an answer. That's what radical management is about: a practical way to herd cats, a way to prganize and manage that is two- to four-times more productive than traditional management.

The organizations that have discovered how to make self-organizing teams productive, efficient and consistent (as well as innovative and fun) typically do the following:

• They have a worthwhile goal, such as delighting clients (rather than producing goods or services, or making money for the company).
• The team is truly self-organizing, with responsibility for saying how to do the work and even how much should be done.
• The work of each team is focused on that worthwhile goal and is given a clear line of sight as to whether and to what extent it is achieving that goal.
• The team works in short-cycles aimed delivering value on that goal.
• At the end of each cycle, there is a review of what has been accomplished, and whether in fact value has been generated for clients, and new targets are set for the next short cycle.
• Practices are adopted for encouraging radical transparency in terms of what is being accomplished and what impediments are getting in the way of adding value to clients.

When those principles and other related practices are put in place, you find that that the organization routinely becomes two- to four-times more efficient than traditional management.

In fact, the idea that traditional management is efficient is a ludicrous and pernicious myth. One has only to glance at a few Dilbert cartoons to remind oneself that it simply isn’t so.

Laurence Lock Lee also writes: “…the main challenge of the 2nd stream [i.e. people oriented management] is that people always reinvent the wheel and take uncoordinated action.”

That only happens if you inherit some of the attitudes and practices of traditional management, such as:

·        Unclear or uninspiring goals.

·        Pseudo-teams that are not give responsibility for their work.

·        The work is focused on interim outputs in terms of things, rather than people-related end-goals like delighting clients.

·        The team works in long cycles, and management relies on progress reports to find out what is going on.

·        There is a lack of transparency as to what is really going on, both in terms of what is actually being accomplished and what impediments are getting in the way of adding value to clients; people are in a CYA mode.

When those issues are addressed, the team—and the organization—becomes much more efficient than traditional management.

It turns out that "herding cats" isn't all that difficult once we have learned how to do it.

To learn more go here:

http://www.stevedenning.com/Books/radical-management.aspx

 

Comments

[Michael D. Kull, Ph.D.]

There's a quote attributed to Max Weber that "bureaucracy is the most efficient form of organization." When you understand what he's talking about, you see the logic. However, if the goal is to be EFFECTIVE, then any other form of organizing, by definition, is less efficient. So we see this constant tug-of-war that never ends and should never end, because it is how we make change based on both precedent and imagination. Recognizing our roles in this dance is important so that we see it is more likely the system dynamic, not individuals, at fault then things don't work out as intended.

[Geoff Barbaro]

Steve, great post as usual. I would suggest that the problem identified Jon Thorne is also less of an issue in organisations that know how to listen. Leaders listen, they don't just monitor progess or get updates as many managers do. People focused organisations are better at listening, and true listening also leads to learning and growth.

As a professional communicator who works within organisations, my experience is that people focused organisations work much more efficiently, but many within the organisation have trouble communicating, including listening. I believe that one of the most important roles PR/comms people can play is teaching and guiding communications and creating channels for people to communicate effectively. We are by nature usually people focused ourselves (I hope - & certainly if you're any good) and are in positions that should mean we help organisations retain that focus.

When your people are communicating, achieving and motivated by their work, that reputation starts to spread creating more external opportunities for the organisation and delivering greater value to clients.

And I must admit that I am always delighted when I am given the opportunity to help create these results!

Cheers, geoff

[Christopher Lowe]

I've thought a great deal about how leaders lead in the cat herding environment. There's an implicit assumption here that needs exposure: that the leader is the catherd, rather than another cat. It seems to me that If you really want to elevate the poeple oriented mantra beyond the level of mere bumpersticker, you have to assume a fundamentally different role for the leader than the one embodied within the traditional world of management. Otherwise, poeple-oriented management is just another technique on the part of traditional managers to gain greater control -- rather than a way to gain higher quality strategies and output. Perhaps, its not the leaders job to "herd" because, in fact, he is just one of the cats, albeit the biggest and furriest. If he guides movement its because of his prescence, his example, and his participation in the life of the pack. In other words, its because of leadership commandership.

[Noeline Holt]

Chief cat herder is the one who bangs the food bowls together (when the cats want to be fed)

[Health News]

Thank you for introducing me the wonderful information.And .....Totally boring.!