The more we become specialized in what we do, the more we need to rely on others. In consequence, as individuals we become more interconnected with each other. This is the paradox of today’s economy. A lot is being said about how these trends influence the modern organizations, with some authors proposing that we are facing the end of management, and the rise of the free-agent, democratic organizations.
These theories are based on a misunderstanding about what management is. In my opinion management is the process by which we create organizations that provide value. So yes, perhaps we can observe a decrease in the need for supervision, and flattening of hierarchical structures, but mainly because they are not appropriate managerial and organizational solutions for all companies in the current environment and market. Management is not synonymous with supervision, just as power doesn’t flow from a corporate position.
So what does it mean to manage businesses, today? Let’s talk about the knowledge-based, and service-oriented economy most of us participate in the developed world. One big difference to the last century, would be that the modern manager focuses more on managing people than on physical assets. And does so earlier on in his career, very often straight out of a business school. Another trend, is that information is more valuable, and sharing it efficiently is becoming more important. Historically, using information was a part of power control. Further on, the ability to learn and store knowledge is becoming crucial for organization’s survival. Also technological innovation is not managed through focus on technology anymore, but on the social and work environment in which it takes place. Another trend is that collaboration rather than competition, is becoming more pronounced.
All these changes require managers to develop new skills, very often different, to what they are taught in post-industrial business schools. The specialized world requires generalists who are skilled in the process of facilitation and coaching. Managers who know how to invest in people rather than physical assets. Managers who are skilled in pattern recognition and are able to navigate constant information overload. People who know how to grow human commitment and manage the transference of individual knowledge to organizational knowledge. Managers who know how to improve the process and not the decision, and in consequence have an intuition for organizational development.
All this is talked widely about. I would like to add something that has been on my mind for a long time already, and that is more connected with who you are as a manager, rather than what you know. In my opinion, it will be the manager’s ability to be mindful and present that will be his or her source of excellence.
Being mindful and present, allows you to stay constant in the face of change, and provide your team and colleagues with a sense of stability. It allows you to focus on what is important and keeps your mind calm, while still engaged in the “always online” workplace that will become the modus operandi of the modern corporation. It will provide you with the ability to cut down and simplify. It will also teach you how to stay authentic and true, without any facades, and that is really important in this completely transparent new world.
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Want to be more creative? Move abroad.
I have already mentioned that living abroad can boost creativity and now we have some scientific research proving it (see embedded video below). What’s important about the research conducted by William Maddux, an assistant professor of organisational behavior at INSEAD, is that it shows causality between living in a different culture and the creativity. Professor Maddux says that it applies to individuals who actually move and stay in a new culture or country, and not people who only travel.