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MANAGEMENT OF THE ABSURD
Paradoxes in Leadership
For as long as humans are thrown together in organizations, absurdity will remain with
us. There are no techniques offered here, this is a book full of wonderful big ideas.
James Watt observed the power of steam from a teakettle, leading to the invention of
the steam engine and the birth of the industrial revolution. Alexander Fleming saw that
bacteria inhibited the growth of microorganisms, which led to the development of
antibiotics. Henry Ford saw that by making workers do one task repeatedly the
automobile assembly line could produce much more at a faster rate.
Some things that are terribly obvious only need to be pointed out by a pair of fresh eyes
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and applied accordingly.
When one remembers significant events from childhood, the things our parents did for
us that meant a lot to us are often the spontaneous moments of humor, caring, and
thoughtfulness, things that are not found in a "how-to" parenting manual.
The same goes for employee-boss relationships. Employees tend to become more
impressed with the humane side of their bosses, when they show their own vulnerability,
personal struggles, and reveal themselves as people. People respond to what you are
more than what you do. Being your own unique self has nothing to do with skill.
"If we genuinely respect our colleagues and employees, these feelings will be
communicated without the need for artifice or technique. And they will be reciprocated."
- Richard Farson
Our most significant human affairs such as marriage, childrearing, and leadership do
best when we have an occasional loss of control and increase in personal vulnerability.
You cannot control your children, your spouse, your lover, friend, or colleague. We
argue and have interpersonal conflicts because we want the other person to indicate he
or she has had an impact on us.
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The people we love the most are the ones we cannot handle. When it comes to
employees, you cannot shape them into what you desire. You can only hope to leave an
impression.
Executives suffer from always trying to treat predicaments as problems, breaking them
down into parts to be addressed, but predicaments are never handled smoothly.
Predicaments are created by conditions we value and cannot give up. For instance, we
will always have crime for as long as people desire material wealth, freedom, and
urbanization.
Paradoxes of communication
The More We Communicate, The Less We Communicate.
Most organizations are overcommunicating. There are more than enough faxes, emails,
meetings, and memos going around in every office. Employees are overwhelmed by the
amount of communication they have to deal with every day.
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communicates his needs to the spouse who rejected him. It is only when there is a fairly
equal balance of power that true candid communication can take place.
Top-level management requires a communication system that can truly serve the
strategic interests of an organization. Big bosses spend all their time in meetings,
making memos, and attending conferences. An information system has yet to be
designed based on the way these executive communicate.
A round table communicates a more democratic setting. Taking one's shoes and tie off
and sitting on the floor communicates we are in an informal gathering. People are
naturally intimidated by expensive leather office furniture and authentic artwork on the
walls.
If an ordinary person was to praise a person higher in status, the praise must be given in
a way that shows the difference, like "I loved your painting, Mr. Picasso".
Managers try to make up for the lack of involvement and guidance in their employees'
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work by giving praise.
Praise puts a distance between people and terminates contact. We normally end our
conversations on a positive note, and we try to put a distance between others and
ourselves this way.
Sometimes the very laws designed to "protect" women in the workplace actually
demean them. Most women still make only 75% of the pay men get for the same work.
Provisions made for women actually make it look like women are not capable of taking
care of themselves.
From African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians, to women, men, children, gays and
lesbians, handicapped and so on, we have legislation and equal opportunity clauses
supposedly to protect each group. Appointing representatives from each group shows a
fragmented society. Instead of seeing ourselves as one big community, we see
ourselves as different groups all competing against each other.
The Best Resource For The Solution Of Any Problem Is The Person Or Group That
Presents The Problem.
An ex-drug addict is the best resource person to speak in a rehabilitation center.
Alcoholics Anonymous draws on the experiences of former alcoholics to enlighten
others.
It takes a good leader to come up with ways to respect each individual's needs within a
group and see how these needs are accommodated.
The person who can change is the one a consultant should focus on. This is normally
the person who has brought the consultant in to look into a problem. The absurd but
practical solution when an individual is being difficult is we do not ask him to do the
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changing. It is often those who are most difficult to handle who are also the most
creative and hardworking people in the company.
Organizations on the other hand can be destroyed with one bad public relations disaster,
bad decision-making, or unfortunate events.
Psychologist Abraham Maslow provided us his famous hierarchy of human needs, from
the low-order to the high-order. From this one can expect that those in a healthier
organization tend to have more complaints than those in an unhealthy one. People seek
something better when things are good, not when times are hard.
Real creativity always breaks the rules. The greatest achievements by human beings
have been results of people working independently, outside of a university institution, or
in their own small unorthodox organizations. Einstein, Freud, Gandhi, Marx, Darwin or
Edison- all these individuals worked independently.
We Want For Ourselves Not What We Are Missing, But More Of What We Already
Have.
"The difficulty for all of us is that our absorption with what we do well may blind us to
what will enable us to do even better."
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Organizations tend to rely solely on their star product, failing to see what they really
need to do. Just like the way an individual who is always serious needs to learn to
lighten up a bit, organizations have to explore other areas they have not yet opened
themselves up to.
People respect big decisive moves and are more likely to buy into a change when it is
big enough to withstand any attempt at countering it.
We Learn Not From Our Failures But From Our Successes And The Failures Of
Others.
When you are experiencing success, it inspires you to keep on working toward bigger
and better goals. A series of failures demoralizes you.
Gossip becomes the glue of community and social bonding. People can relate more to
stories of unfortunate events happening to others rather than their success stories. It is
human nature to empathize with those who are suffering than with those who are
succeeding.
Success and failure are intimately connected. We cannot experience one without the
other.
Crash diets don't work, but a permanent lifestyle change of exercise and good eating
habits can be more effective. The same is true for management. Lasting change
happens when sound principles are practiced on a daily basis. There is no such thing as
a quick fix when dealing with people.
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programs that aren't working, and contacts with people that are simply liabilities.
Plans are rarely of any real strategic use. The planning done in a low-status
department cannot have any effect on the high-level management.
Planning that does not consult other departments and is focused on just one
department of an organization is limited in scope and cannot be beneficial.
Plans are always made to accommodate relationships with established
suppliers, contacts, and political interests.
Plans are vulnerable to fads and self-interest.
Planning is a process that requires anticipatory and strategic thinking, the basis
for organizational flexibility and readiness.
It's not about the way you manage a crisis, it's about the way you survive it and allow it
to rebuild your organization into something better.
People We Think Need Changing Are Pretty Good The Way They Are.
This is a very important message to all managers who feel frustrated with their
employees. You cannot fix people. Most employees are really trying to do their best.
The more rules you lay down, the more time clocks you install, the more manuals you
distribute- the more you try to control people, the more you create an environment of
distrust. Private meetings that exclude certain personnel are another form of bad
management practice.
A high-trust organization keeps a set of shared values and goals. Communication flows
freely. Managers pay attention to people's personal issues and concerns.
If you believe that human nature is not that bad and work your rules around this belief,
people will respond more positively. Nobody likes to work in a company full of strict rules
and regulations.
When forming teams, each individual brings something unique to the table. Learn to
appreciate the differences in people. The bad manager always tries to fix a person and
make him behave a certain way to conform to the group.
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heavyweight company but was unable to compete in the market due to its very size as a
corporate giant. Agility doesn't come easy to heavyweights.
KayPro was a small enterprise that moved with lightning speed into the market, but
lacked the size and experience to compete against other giants in the field. Both IBM
and KayPro had strengths, which also were their weaknesses.
No matter how many little gifts you give your employees, or how many parties you host
and notes of goodwill you distribute, people can sense fakery. They want a genuine
approach to management and there can only be high morale if you as a manager
possess this kind of high morale. Enthusiasm comes from people when it isn't forced.
Our stereotype macho image of a leader has brought us to picturing our leaders as
dominant and aggressive types. Leaders are actually humble servants, and they take
advice from many people surrounding them.
There is no model we can suggest for you to follow. Leaders are like surfers trying to
catch a wave. Their actions may not always work.
The More Experienced The Managers, The More They Trust Simple Intuition.
You need to develop that gut feeling that tells you how to read a situation. Try to see
things clearly, without all the clutter grown-ups have acquired over the years. Go back to
your childhood sense of clarity.
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Don't allow yourself to be victimized by appearances.
If you believe in something, you are more likely to see it.
You may want to repeat past successes even if what you did then won't work in
this current situation.
First impressions are usually right.
Try to look into things others would rather avoid.
Don't let the pressure of the group thinking make your decision for you.
Unlearn or get rid of the barriers to perception and clear judgment.
"With education comes a better understanding of the context in which one's decisions
are imbedded, a better perspective for viewing human affairs, and a better idea of what
is important."
In essence, the word amateur is taken from the Latin "amator" which means "lover". A
professional manager must love his work and do it for it's own sake. Great leadership is
a high art form. The amateur performs his work out of love and the pleasure of
accomplishment. Your passion for your work will indelibly influence others.
It is good to give up before you start. You know in your heart it may be a lost cause but
you set about working on it anyway. Why do you think there are so many
environmentalists, human rights workers, and non-governmental organizations? These
are idealists who work without any guarantee that they can change the way world
leaders decide on important issues.
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Researchers are working on absurd ideas like greening deserts and growing plants in
seawater. It is about performing a task well, even if the rest of the world thinks it is
unimportant.
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