The following article originally appeared on the Link4Growth Forums >>>
If we look back in history since the days of the Industrial revolution we have been running and managing our businesses using the same techniques and strategies. Of course the technology has changed unrecognisably but basically as far as the human element is concerned we are still operating the same model.
If you are currently running a business the chances are that you are operating it in a way that you have been taught by someone who learned their skills back in the 60′s, 70′s or 80′s. They in turn would have learnt from the generation before that! I have illustrated this to demonstrate that the way we run our businesses, the methodologies we deploy and the human management elements are passed between successive generations. In actual fact we are still tied to our operating practices even when scientists have proven that the methods we are using don’t work which is fascinating. In this short post we will look at why that is, and why it is all about to change!
If we look at businesses we have worked for in the past it is highly probable that they were operating as an island completely separate from other organisations. Everyone would have been focussed on what they were doing, what was happening inside their business… and with the exception of marketing (possibly taking an interest in competitor analysis) the rest of the company kept itself to itself.
You might also find another common trait in previous employers that of careful selectivity, with staff, suppliers and even people that could be engaged in conversation. If the conversation did not have a direct benefit to the business then why have it? Surely I am wasting my time right? … and we could never openly chat with competitors they were the enemy and would steal our business!
The final aspect we will find ubiquitous in business is controlling. Everyone wants to be in control, control is power, power is importance, importance boosts the ego… ego feeds thoughts such as I am better than you, superior, and it feels good. We can no doubt all think of people jostling for position and power in previous businesses.
All of the above are fuelled by a scarcity mentallity which leads businesses to be both insular and protective and drives us away from collaboration and sharing.
Management styles have been the subject of many innovations over the years but the one that prevails as a default is the ‘Column Management’ approach where the Directors of the business hand on down to the minions instructions from their deliberations. People are told things on a ‘Need to Know’ basis, information and knowledge is power and secrecy perpetrates the closed, selective and controlling mentality.
It is a wonder that any work could get done in an organisation such as the one described above, how could you motivate staff in such an environment. Well that tried and tested technique of ‘carrot and stick’. People tend to fall in to two camps either move away from something they don’t want to happen or move towards something they want. The most widely used ‘want’ is an increase in financial reward or salary. The biggest stick is the the loss of employment if the work is not carried out successfully. But do such measures really work?
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