10.22.09
Are You a Bold Manager or a Gangster?
We have heard them all for years: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. You can’t change the process, because we have always done it that way. And, there are many more.
With all of this cumulative wisdom from the ages, why would anyone ever make any changes? The answer is simple, there is probably money involved. Companies get started because they have a new and hopefully better idea. New products are developed to reach new markets or to retain existing customers.
Corporate management must deal with the risk of change and at the same time the risk of not changing. During tough economic times, the easiest route is to not change. Management can trim resources and wait for the storm to pass. This is easier because change is minimized to staff reductions and expenditures that can wait. In these circumstances, management appears to be operating pragmatically. The management can survive while many of those that have worked hard for many years to attain success are cast aside to take the full burden of the economic downturn.
The Godfather Movies reflect the attitude of pragmatism that exists in organizations that do mass layoffs. The gangster solves problems by killing people and says that it is “just business”. Corporate management can lay off thousands, denying them of an economic future. Most will eventually land a new position. Often they will need to pick up their families and move to another city. Many will drain their savings while looking for a new position. Some will become so depressed they are never able to work again. Some will lose their homes. Some will have their marriages end in divorce. Some will commit suicide. Some will go “postal” and kill innocent people. But, the management is being pragmatic about the company’s survival. It is “just business”.
Corporate management does have the choice to take on the high risk of change without downsizing. This requires a bold management team that looks upon the corporate staff as their greatest resource and will not let the current culture of the organization get in the way. This type of management looks to redefine the organization by realizing that it is not “just business”. Bold managers recognize that corporations have a responsibility to their staff first and stockholders second.
IBM is an example of a company that has, when challenged, simply redefined itself and found a way to use its greatest resource, its people. Another company that has redefined itself is Amazon. When it was on the brink of financial disaster, it called in an Enterprise Architect to improve performance. What came out of this work far exceeded the original purpose. Amazon found that they could market their processes to other organizations as an entirely new business. IBM and Amazon have bold management that changed their company cultures. Amazon in particular was saved by a bold management team that recognized the importance of Enterprise Architecture.
So what type of manager are you? Are you bold? Are you more concerned about the corporate staff than you are your own hide? Or, are you a gangster levying pain upon others in the name of the business? If you are gangster, I hope you did not get a bonus while destroying others lives. I had rather think that you had turned to your Enterprise Architect and devised a bold plan to transition your company into a new successful culture.
