| "Can This Marriage be Saved?" So reads the title | | | | column for the Twentysomethings in the July 17, |
| of the cover story in the August 15, 2005 issue | | | | 2005 issue of the Washington Post, Career Track |
| of BusinessWeek ( The article describes the | | | | section, Mary Ellen Slayter wrote about why |
| seven-year (1998-2005) story of the merger of | | | | young professionals resist the offer to move to |
| Daimler and Chrysler Corporation. As of this | | | | management. "I am not good at managing people" |
| writing, the board of the merged companies | | | | is the reason provided by a 49-year old lady for |
| decided to terminate the reign of the current | | | | resisting the offer. In defending the new |
| chairman, Jürgen Schrempp. At the end of | | | | Department of Homeland Security's merit pay |
| this year he will be replaced with Dieter Zetsche, | | | | system, Clay Johnson III, the Deputy Director of |
| the current head of the company's operations in | | | | the Office of Management and Budget asserts |
| North America. The article identifies the following | | | | "The Federal government as a rule is pretty bad |
| five critical challenges facing the new chairman: | | | | about managing people" (Washington Post, National |
| 1. Improving product quality and worker morale. | | | | News, July 19, 2005). |
| 2. Securing union support to gain flexible labor | | | | This mindset of people management is |
| agreements. | | | | entrenched in our social and organizational |
| 3. Impressing on company executives to promote | | | | systems. It is very important for organizational |
| flexible and productive operations in North | | | | leaders to know that machine control techniques |
| America. | | | | apply to things, not people. Except for the military, |
| 4. Developing and executing a more coherent | | | | we manage things. We lead people. The role of a |
| partnership strategy in Asia. | | | | manager is to provide a rich and rewarding |
| 5. Addressing investor pressure to break up the | | | | environment to enable workers to do their work. |
| merger. | | | | A human being is an agent in an organizational |
| The five challenges listed above clearly show that | | | | context. This agent's behavior is unpredictable. |
| more people related problems (i.e., social issues) | | | | The agent must interact with other human |
| will need to be addressed than technology issues. | | | | agents, within a team, whose behavior is also |
| The new chairman must embrace a | | | | unpredictable. The team must interact with other |
| mixed-initiative leadership style with a | | | | teams in a department. Next, we have |
| proportionate focus on both the technical and | | | | inter-departmental interactions, which can lead to |
| social aspects of the organization for the | | | | inter-divisional interactions, and so on. The result |
| company to survive. This leadership style | | | | of the interactions is a complex organization, |
| demands some proficiency in the science of | | | | which must adapt to its environment to survive, |
| complexity (i.e., the principles of managing the | | | | because the organization is a living system. As |
| organization as a complex adaptive system) and | | | | articulated by Richard T. Pascale, Mark Millemann, |
| the machine metaphor (i.e., the routine aspects of | | | | and Linda Gioja in their book: Surfing the Edge of |
| modern organizational life--job descriptions, | | | | Chaos, (Random House, 2000), as a living system, |
| corporate policies, strategic and operational plans, | | | | the organization must abide by "the laws of |
| etc.)*. Organizational leaders cannot afford to | | | | nature and the new laws of business". |
| place disproportionate focus on the machine | | | | Whether managing a corner store or a global |
| metaphor in a complex organization. | | | | conglomerate, the manager/leader must always |
| The Machine Metaphor | | | | remember that an organization is a socio-technical |
| The machine metaphor takes an objective view | | | | system and the machine metaphor should be |
| of an organization in which the interactions among | | | | applied only to the technical or machinistic |
| the elements are predictable and controllable. | | | | elements. To ensure the survival of the |
| Given that premise, organizational leaders take a | | | | corporation, the leaders need to identify and |
| mechanistic view of organizational management. | | | | understand those elements of the organizations |
| The mechanistic view considers the organization | | | | that exhibit unpredictable behaviors, and those |
| as a combination of manageable components with | | | | elements whose behaviors are predictable. They |
| organizational charts, job descriptions, policies, | | | | need to master and apply the management |
| operational plans, people, etc. The machine | | | | science of complex adaptive systems to the |
| metaphor is based on an organizational | | | | former and machine metaphor to the latter. |
| management belief that effective management | | | | These two approaches constitute the essence of |
| can be realized by managing all organizational | | | | a mixed-initiative perspective. |
| components. | | | | *(Plsek, PEP&A, Inc; Lindberg, VHA, Inc; |
| The Flawed "People Management" Mindset | | | | Zimmerman, York University; 1997--Some |
| In some instances, this metaphor is incorrectly | | | | emerging principles for managing in complex |
| applied to people management. In her advice | | | | adaptive systems). |