Page 16 - Global Focus, Issue 2, 2018

EFMD Global Focus_Iss.2 Vol.12
www.globalfocusmagazine.com

The new activist CEOs often talk of
a “true north” or a moral compass that
keeps them on course in today’s highly
politicised, technologically charged
environment. True north today points
to the human, which means leveraging
technology in the service of organisations
based on community and collaboration
not as an end in itself

And we know where the challenge starts. Perhaps paradoxically, the qualities
As we have seen, the company is the management will need in the age of technology
intersection point where many of today’s social are less about technological expertise than
tensions meet. Think of it as society’s field lab about the wisdom to use it wisely. Its “positive
for registering and charting these currents and contribution to society” is first of all to unify our
managers as researchers experimenting with organisations around authentic purpose that
ways of reconciling them. enlists all employees in the common endeavour.
The new activist CEOs often talk of a “true For that they need to be as adept at reading
north” or a moral compass that keeps them on the human condition as at reading spreadsheets
course in today’s highly politicised, technologically or technical specifications. They need to be able
charged environment. True north today points to to ride the waves of technology, using their
the human, which means leveraging technology in sense of true north to steer in the right direction.
the service of organisations based on community This is the defining test of management as a
and collaboration not as an end in itself. “liberal art”, as Peter Drucker famously defined
The best companies know that technology is it. If we can do it in the living lab of the company
the last step in innovation not the first. “Humans we can surely also do it in society as a whole.
should produce goods manually and make the
process as simple as possible. Then when the
process is thoroughly simplified, machines can
take over. But rather than gigantic multi-function
robots, we should use equipment that is adept at
single simple purposes”, Toyota’s manufacturing
director told Fast Company recently. Automation About the Author
springs out of human innovation not the other Simon Caulkin is Senior Editor for the Global Peter Drucker Forum.
way round. For many years he contributed a column on managment to
The Observer newspaper and is a past editor of Management Today
14