To all:
I agree with the value of original thinking vs. parroting
back someone else's thinking...which may have originated
with someone else's prior quote, which came from...blah,
blah, blah...
Having established that, I am a little perplexed how a
discussion of management can focus on the noun, but ignore
the verb...
Here's one plausible yet simple definition of management:
the effective planning and employment of an organization's
resources. I consider these resources to include an
organization's people, time, money, equipment, and
ideas...thus the notion of management must always be
present. Musn't it?
Considering the verb "management" (which leads to
leadership, but that's another thread!), managing and
management is action: guiding or enabling the interaction
between resources for the purposes of furthering an
organization's goals. And this is about establishing
priorities.
So even if a self-directed, self-organizing organization
chooses to think this can be done without management (noun),
there remains a defacto requirement for management (verb)
whether people choose to recognize this or not.
I have pondered this for several days: how can there exist a
truly management-less organization? But given resources,
and a need to employ resources for a purpose, someone (or
several someones) either by design or by default, must order
the prioritzed use of those resources. And someone (or
several someones) must guide their interaction.
This concept of "action" can be authoritarian or it can be
"progressive"; it can also even be very passive sometimes,
if that is the best means to best "employ" resources. But
there is always a need to "manage" once the quantity of
resources exceeds one of anything.
If nothing else, in a manager-less or management-less
organization, self-directed, self-organized or otherwise,
there is always a need to prioritize and provide order to
resources.
Unless of course we are talking about Plato's republic...
Lee Meeks
Managing Partner
The Polaris Group
http://www.consultpolaris.com
PS. See:
http://www.consultpolaris.com/3pillars.htm for a
brief essay on the role of a thoughtful leadership framework
for leaders to become more effective managers.