Let's Get Down to Business...

Form and Structure: They're not the same thing

In order to better understand how organizations work (and to make them work more efficiently), it's important to know the difference between an Organization’s Form and its Structure.

The terms “Form” and “Structure” describe completely opposite aspects of a businesses’ organization. They're not interchangeable and are as different as night and day.

Peter Drucker writes about what it takes to be an "Effective Executive"

Peter Drucker's contributions to understanding why businesses act the way they do are nearly boundless.

Well into his 90s, Professor Drucker was teaching, consulting and energized by how organizations were changing as we moved from the 20th Century "Age of Industry" to the 21st Century "Age of Knowledge and Globalization."

Business research is often criticized for being too theoretical and not having any practical usefulness.  No less vocal are critics of the "menu approach" where you're told that if you do this or act that way, you'll be wildly successful.

Professor Drucker legitimately had a foot in both camps.  His 65-year-long career in research produced a lengthy list of theoretical insights.  His practical experiences also showed him the right and wrong way to do things.

In the accompanying article, Professor Drucker outlines the things he thinks you should do in order to be "effective."  And he backs them up with some reasoning that is hard to argue against. 

I encourage you to look through the article for a idea or two that you could use in working more effectively in your team or organization.  Certainly Professor Drucker doesn't have the answer for everything, but there may be a nugget in here that will be useful for you.   

• Download what_makes_an_executive_effective_peter_drucker.doc

What does it take? Good Leaders or Better Followers

Management education and training focus on "How to be a Good Leader."

An industry has sprung up around figuring out what leaders do and shouldn't do, why one type is better than another, who is this month's good or bad leader and manufacturing can't-miss recipes for success.

Resisting the temptation to be sign up for the latest "breakthrough" is easier if you keep a few things in mind.

A Few Bad Apples will Ruin Everything

WHAT HARM CAN A HANDFUL OF NASTY OR INCOMPETENT EMPLOYEES DO?  A LOT MORE THAN YOU MAY THINK.

Superstars get a lot of attention from bosses. But bad apples deserve even more.

A growing body of research suggests that having just a few nasty, lazy or incompetent characters around can ruin the performance of a team or an entire organization—no matter how stellar the other employees.

Bad apples distract and drag down everyone, and their destructive behaviors, such as anger, laziness and incompetence, are remarkably contagious. Leaders who let a few bad apples in the door—perhaps in exchange for political favors—or look the other way when employees are rude or incompetent are setting the stage for even their most skilled people to fail.

It's crucial for leaders to screen out bad apples before they're hired—and if they do slip through the cracks; bosses must make every effort to reform or (if necessary) oust them.

Office Politics: Learn how to live with them

It's a safe prediction that every one of us, some time during our business career, will announce, "I love my work, it's the office politics I can't stand."

Maybe you've already grumbled it five times this week alone. 

But business is a social process; it involves people interacting with one another.  Someone wants to sell you something, someone else wants to get promoted or, quite frequently, wants your job.

This never-ending process of getting things done is also called politics.  It's how decisions are made.  And it's a necessary part of business. 

So, to succeed in business, do you have to play office politics?  Can you get ahead without resorting to endless maneuvering and always watching your backside? 

Want to do the Right Thing? Get a Good Night's Sleep

Who said this stuff is rocket science?  Didn't we already know the answer to this question?

How can you do the right thing (or get the thing right) if you stayed up all night?  How can you expect your brain to be in top form if you didn't give it a rest? 

A recent study led by a Virginia Tech researcher told us what we already suspected:  lack of sleep is associated with unethical behavior. 

Their list of how to be at your best has all the usual suspects:  Get more sleep.  Exercise regularly.  Avoid too much caffeine and alcohol.  Set priorities.  Work more efficiently.  Plan ahead.

The research also observed something that is an important lesson for effective management.  Managers who demand results that require employees to stay up late and miss sleep may be increasing the likelihood that workers will "fudge" results and engage in other forms of cheating.

The lesson?  Managers have to find the right balance between encouraging their employees to work faster and better while not pushing them so hard that they start cutting corners. 

Good Managers: Where do we find a few?

Management is the Art of "Making the Trains run on Time."

Deciding whether to travel by boat, train or plane is the principal duty of a firm's governance; those are strategic choices (What will we do?). 

Management's role is tactical in nature:  to implement the firm's strategy.  What will we do to make the trains run on time?

In case you're wondering, there's no such thing as a "management gene."  Good managers aren't born with "it."  It is something, however, you can learn and become very good at with practice, practice and more practice. 

But you've got to practice the right way and, most important, start in the right place.  Much of the management training you'll encounter will consist of "new insights" into things to do and not to do.  And when those insights aren't new anymore, they'll be replaced by some "breakthroughs" and some other things to do and not to do. 

Let's take another approach.  What if we were to begin by asking, "What am I managing?"

While you're thinking about that question, you might want to look at my Lecture Notes and PowerPoint slides for our Week in the World of Organizations and their Management. 

• Download organizations_and_their_management_week_6.ppt

Keep reading to learn more about the highlights of Chapters 7 and 8 and even more about becoming an effective manager.

Are "Tough" Managers more Successful?

Defining what it takes (or what it means) to be a "good" manager flummoxes business educators and practitioners.  That's because it's a subject where "one-size-DOESN'T-fit-all!"

Teaching "soft skills" is the current rage in management education.  As you know, everything relating to teams and teamwork is at the top of the list. 

But does being a good-listener or a flexible decision-maker correlate with on-the-job success?  How do we know what it takes?

Three University of Chicago researchers recently tapped into a motherlode of real-world data that challenges a lot of contemporary management thinking.  In brief, they found that what matters is being a little "tough-minded," not soft-around-the-edges.  Sure, it helps to be respectful and a good communicator, but they found delivering results takes execution and aggressiveness.

Attached is the Wall Street Journal's story reporting on this study.  Read it and think about what it's telling you. 

Is management education getting it right?  Or are some "hard skills" a little softer than we think?  Or, and maybe here's the take-away, to be successful, do you need to have a "bag of tricks" that's full of hard, soft and "just-right" skills?

Enjoy...

• Download are_tough_ceos_most_successful.doc

Splitting the Roles of Board Chair and CEO: How did it happen in the first place?

You've probably noticed that most large, publicly-held companies are led by someone with the (long and impressive) title of "Chair of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer."

And you've probably wondered if doing things this way produces the best corporate governance possible. 

After all, aren't we talking about the leadership roles of two very different, and possibly conflicting, functions in a corporation? 

Doesn't the Board of Directors and its Chair represent the corporation's owners (shareholders)? 

And isn't the Board responsible for hiring the corporation's management which would be led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)?

Do you see the potential conflict?  What happens when the shareholders are unhappy with the firm's management?  Would someone filling both roles have a conflict of interest if the shareholders demand the CEO be fired?

It looks likes this heretofore common practice is changing, albeit slowly.   

The Sixth Week's Study Guide: Organization or Management, which comes first??

Here's your Study Guide for the Course's Sixth Week.

This is interesting stuff and will be what keeps you busy when you're climbing the ladder to the Executive Suite.

• Download Sixth Week Study Guide