Naturally as Hamel zeroed in on the human mind, he caught my interest, since he framed management as social technology. This makes sense in light of recent research from University College London, which demonstrates, "choices we make internally are weak and easily overridden compared to when we are told which choice to make." On the other hand, innovation in today's businesses requires extraordinary minds to make on-the-spot decisions... minds that solve problems, create and invent.
"Do we we really have a vision for future," wonders Hamel. "I never met 10-year-old who wanted to grow up to be a manager. It's innovation in management that allowed us to cross thresholds and create innovation."
What is it that allows for shifts? Hamel's revolutionary idea is that a new management model's required in the 21st century. Industrial Age models simply don't cut it. What do you think? Hamel's questions to get you thinking...
How can we come up with a new management model?
What if every employee rates managers?
What if every critical development task turns into a game?
What if every employee could outsource boring bits of their work?
"Management models have not changed in a long time," Hamel reflects... and he offers three concepts to change the future:
1. How to build a company that can change as fast as change itself...
"The world is becoming more turbulent faster than organizations are becoming more resilient. What usually has to happen before you can shake loose beliefs and dogmas of a company? Crisis. For instance, Kodak pushed off it's film business. Turnaround's a poor excuse for timely transformation. We have to change the way we change."
2. How do you build a company where innovation is every one's job?
Today you have to compete with everybody
- Customer inertia
- Capital constraints
- Scale advantages
- Regulatory barriers
- Proprietary advantages
- Falling entry barriers - Deregulation, Digitization, New Channels
- Growing buyer power - More Choices, Better Information
3. How can we build new knowledge?
"Profit per employee. We are no longer in knowledge work," Hamel says, "but in creative work. Creativity and passion cannot be commanded, but are needed. So how does this change the work of management? How can work climate be changed to generate these?
Do your ideas really matter? Do people at work really listen to you? No more than 20% of employees are engaged in their work. Why do we live with this as managers? Is it possible to change this, Hamel quizzes. He suggests one model - W.L. Gore's - Gor-tex. Why?
High ratings for employee satisfaction
People spend all time innovating and no time fighting bureaucracy.
Nobody has to show up at a meeting. Commitment is voluntary.
10% of time at work spent on hobbies.
How do you get to be a leader at Gore? If your team asks you. All of Gor-tex's against the grain innovative management strategies debunk the myth of management efficiency.
"Gor-tex is not a sloppy company," Hamel points out. "Employees are extraordinarily disciplined. This kind of organization is becoming a necessity." I think Hamel is on target. What do you think?
"What do you do and where do you start? I didn't come to give you a model," Hamel declares, "and say go and do likewise. You have to think about what you heard, deconstruct it, and reconfigure it to fit your business."
"No Gor-tex manager went to business school," laughs Hamel. "There you get your head full of old ways of thinking. Mission may be more important than money. We have to expand freedoms. We have to change cultures. Management has to transcend old tradeoffs such as freedom and discipline. How can we think of alternative ways to gain control?"
"When a new person comes to company they're careful of waterline issues. You can take a risk that will punch a hole in the waterline of this company. Each employee is rated by 20 peers... Rate by value of 1-20 in the company. Every employee is entrepreneurial and collaborative."
To become management innovator - learn from the fringe. "If you want to see change, just look at the Internet. It will change the way we manage. It will allow us to overcome design flaw of Management 1.0. Many managers are not real managers because leadership appointments come top down. Management hires in their own image. People brown nose. Power is binary. If I screw up I lose my power. A lot of power goes sideways," Hamel claims.
"How do you get power on web? By adding value. Power is always on the move. What is alternative to top down leadership appointments."
What if I have no power and can't influence others? Most of us rely on formal power.
No power - No sanctions. How do we hack it?
Through a system for recognizing and empowering "natural" leaders, Hamel argues.
- Challenge the dogma
- Explore the fringe
- Experiment - Be revolutionary
Articles published by bloggers at World Business Forum 2009 show divergent views on Hamel's call for management innovation.
Andrea Meyer: High-Value Innovation: Innovating the Management of Innovation
Bill George: Gary Hamel: We Aren't in the Knowledge Economy. We're in the Creative Economy
Braden Kelly: A Day with Gary Hamel
Ellen Weber: Gary Hamel’s New Management Model
Hutch Carpenter: Management by Community
Jim Estill: Gary Hamel - Competing with the Future
Kathy Korman Frey Will Business Celebrate, or Tolerate, Our Daughters?
Orrin Woodward: 2009 World Business Forum - Gary Hamel
Steve Todd: Gary Hamel: Slacker's Paradise #WBF09
Thoughts on Gary Hamel's view of management?
