Managing as in getting things done!

Henry Minztberg, the author of the famous book "Managers, not MBA's" wrote in 2007 a prescient short article on the danger of the managing culture of contemporary America and of the Bush presidency in particular. It is instructive to know that President Bush has received an MBA in 1975 from Harvard University.

In short and crisp term, Mintzberg comments on the pitfalls of an MBA approach where confidence boosting is put forward without a real focus on competence and how it results, when managing (whether in strategy setting or in execution) in arrogance as oppose to humility in our leadership. This article is a short manifesto that puts managing, not as a profession or a science, but as a practice. I hope you enjoy the article that I find relevant for many of or leaders around the world.

Can organizations be creative and innovative if they struggle at creating a collaborative culture?

I have been interested for many years in the collaborative process that can take place in organizations and interrogating what makes collaborative efforts a success or a failure. I find this concept of collaborative increasingly appropriate for our time, because of the progressive integration of our systems, organizations, and to a greater degree, our world. We are realizing how much connection there is between us but we are still used to see ourselves in adversarial roles. So how do we foster creativity and collaboration and can we say that an organization that puts a lot of emphasize on creativity and innovation is by definition a collaborative entity?

From my observation, I believe that groups that puts a lot of energy in fostering creativity and innovation in there productive pipeline but who neglect setting and nurturing a sophisticate yet natural environment that promotes collaborative efforts, will inevitably affect seriously and incrementally over time its capacity for creativity. It might sound like evidence but I observe that it is a serious challenge for many so-called creative entities today. In a context where innovation itself has become one of the key element of our economy renewal, I will be exploring more aspects of this questions and hopefully receive your precious feedback.

These questions so far, when they are tackled at all, are very often explored within the strict concept of the enterprise and the business world. It is my intention to show that the implication of creativity, innovation and collaborative work are in fact elements that are crucial to the success and the exercise of power and politics in our contemporary world. Many of our institutions could benefit greatly from a serious injection of these elements in their form and content. We will talk more about this in another post.

I have included an interesting vidpost from Clay Shirky who gave an insightful talk at the edition of the world famous TED conference in Monterey (2005). It shows the limit of our current organization in relation to the contribution of individuals and shows the internal machinery of collaboration. It can feel a bit technical but bear with him if you can; his reflection is rich and sound.

Learning from the youngest

This is a funny and moving little reminder of how much there is to learn from our little ones!