Page 53 - Chapter One

Why it is Time Now for The Management Shift 21

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sources not as resources. Resources are spent after they are used, while
sources are like the sun’s energy; capable of continuity and renewal. Work
is supposed to be a fulfilling, purposeful and life- enhancing experience,

not just a job. It is not possible to be unhappy at work and happy in life.
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Thomas Kuhn argued that disconfirmation of or challenging a dominant
paradigm never leads to its elimination, only a better alternative does. It is
only a matter of time before a critical mass of academics, business schools,
practitioners and consultants accepts the new paradigm as a norm.
From the clockwork to the complex adaptive systems management

Management paradigms are traditionally based on scientific paradigms,
and since the time of the Renaissance and Newton’s theory, the machine
metaphor has been predominant. This mechanistic metaphor describes the
Universe as the clockwork, where any phenomenon is reduced to its parts,
these parts are to be understood and put back together (often in new
ways). It is also focused on the need for certainty, control and prediction,
which prevents creativity and innovation. As discussed, this model was
popularized by Frederic Winslow Taylor in his book The Principles of
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Scientific Management, published more than a hundred years ago.
The machine metaphor can be seen in organizational charts, detailed
strategic plans and job descriptions. Organizations are viewed as machines
and people are like cogs in these machines. Individual components are
viewed in isolation, with managers specifying changes and corporate
plans, resisting change and reducing variation and complexity. The
plans, rules and regulations are described in detail with the hope that
the organizational clockwork can produce desired outcomes. When an
unpredictable event occurs – for example, customers reject a new product
or a competitor launches a major innovation on the market – we do more
analysis, more prediction and then the next time something unpredictable
happens we do the same. There are some contexts where this approach
might work, but it is increasingly apparent that there are many situations
where it does not. Rapid rates of change, new insights from life sciences
and insufficiencies of the machine model have created a critical mass for
revolution in management thinking.