Gary Hamel wrote “The future of management” in 2007. In 1987 Tom Peters wrote “Thriving on chaos” (one of my old time favourites). Were those titles the first indicators for a change in the way we approach management?
Question
I have a question for other business book geeks. What other books preached management revolution before their time? Charles Handy? Drucker? Love to hear from you.
Management revolution?
You could argue that management is going through a bit of a revolution. More recent books like “Hacking work”, ‘New normal”, “Employees first, customers second” and “Business exposed” are sure indicators of a new way of thinking about how we should organise business.
What matters now
In “What matters now” by Hamel, we are not only getting a better understanding of not only the need for change, but also a sense of urgency. “NOW!” is the word.
Can you afford not to change?
In a world of relentless change, ferocious competition and unstoppable innovation, can you afford a centralised approach to decision making? Can you afford bureaucracy? Can you afford decision-making that takes months, sometimes years? Can you afford to miss the weak signals from the marketplace? Can you afford half of your staff not really engaged?
Can you afford not to be fluffy?
In a world of extreme transparency where the power is back with the people, can you afford treating staff and customers as commodities? Can you afford not to work on loyalty and long-term relationships? Can you afford not to work on branding that is actually heartfelt and based on passion and values? Can you afford not to have a moral compass?
Can you afford greed, indifference, and incompetence?
Do you think the world can afford, or will accept another economic crisis that was mainly caused by management and leadership losing all perspective on values, longevity, community and the common good (instead we had greed, incompetence, deceit, greed, denial, blind indifference to human cost, narcissism, and greed)?
Soon……….
Centralised management got us into the current crisis and is, as a result, discredited. Staff, customers and society will soon no longer accept the current management practices. It is morally corrupt, it makes no sense and as an organisation, you will not survive the onslaught of change that is currently taking place.
“What matters now” by Gary Hamel
Is it a good book? Not sure. Is the message important? Absolutely. Is there anything new in the book? Not really. The book touches on nearly every book we have covered in our sessions with our client’s management teams. From “Marketing 3.0”, “Loose”, “The thank you economy”, “Little bets”, “The starfish and the spider” and many, many more. In some ways it is an extension (and sometimes copy) of his own “The future of management” and the examples used have been used before. Examples such as HCL, which is much better described in “Employees and customers second” and Apple as a case study on innovation. How many time have had Apple as a case study? However, Hamel does give a deeper sense of why and why now in this book. What “workplace 2020” is for HR, “What matters now” is for management. And that is saying something. Which is why you should you read it. NOW!
If you are an SME
As a small and medium-sized company, this is your opportunity to topple a giant. It is much easier for you to apply the principles and it should be closer to your heart. It makes good business sense too.
