Madelyn Burley-Allen
Founder, Dynamics Of Human BehaviorOur age is a period of major transformation. Peter Drucker, in his article "The New Society of Organizations" has much to say about this subject. He states in this article "that in our society, knowledge is the primary resource for individuals and for the economy overall. However, knowledge by itself produces nothing. It can become productive only when integrated into a task. It is the nature of knowledge that it changes fast and that today's certainties always become tomorrow's absurdities. The greatest change of all is probably that in the last 40 years purposeful innovation—both technical and social—has itself become an organized disciple that is both teachable and learnable. For managers. The dynamics of knowledge impose one clear imperative: every organization has to build the management of change into its very structure."
Drucker continues by stating, "every organization must devote itself to creating the new. Specifically, every management has to draw on three systematic practices. The first is continuing improvement of everything the organization does, the process the Japanese call kaisen. The aim of kaisen is to improve a product or service so that it becomes a truly different product or service in two or three years time. Second, every organization will have to learn to exploit it's knowledge, that is, to develop the next generations of applications from its own successes. Lastly, every organization will have to learn to innovate—and innovation can now be organized and must be organized – as a systematic process."
He goes on to say, "the need to organize for change also requires a high degree of decentralization. That is because the organization must be structured to make decisions quickly. And those decisions must be based on closeness – to performance, to the market, to technology, and to all the many changes in society, the environment, demographics and knowledge that provide opportunities for innovation if they are seen and utilized.
It's important that executives of businesses see that "a business has more than the responsibility of economic performance is the first responsibility of a business. Indeed, a business that does not show a profit at lest equal to it's cost of capital is irresponsible: it wastes society's resources. Economic performance is the base without which a business cannot discharge any responsibilities: cannot be a good employee, a good citizen, a good neighbor. But, economic performance is not the only responsibility of a business anymore than education performance is the only responsibility of a school. Unless power is balanced by responsibility, it becomes tyranny. Every organization must assume full responsibility for it's impact on employees, the environment, customers, and whomever or whatever it touches. Good intentions are not always socially responsible."
Drucker stresses, "the critical component of a focused and common mission will hold the organization together and enable it to produce. Without such a mission, the organization will soon lose credibility and , with it, its ability to attract the very people it needs to perform. Therefore, an organization is always in competition for its most essential resource: qualified knowledgeable people. 'People are our greatest asset.' Yet few practice what they preach. Let alone truly believe it. Most still believe, though perhaps not consciously, what nineteenth century employers believed: people need us more than we need them. They have to attract people, hold people, recognize and regard people, and serve and satisfy people. He states that, "Executives in an organization—whether business or university or hospital or the Boy Scouts—must believe that it's mission and task are society's most important missions well as the foundation for everything else. If they do not believe this, their organization will soon lose faith in itself, self-confidence, pride and the ability to perform."
"The diversity that is characteristic of a developed society and that provides its greatest strength is only possible because of the specialized, single-task organization that we have developed since the industrial revolution, and especially, during the last fifty years. But the feature that gives them the capacity to perform is precisely that each is autonomous and specialized, informed only by it's own narrow mission and vision, it's own narrow values, and not by any consideration of society and community. This narrow focus in these time of drastic change can have a negative impact on society. This type of focus misses the critical ingredient of looking at the whole and how their narrow view impedes the transformation of society. "The biggest implication is that the economy is a changing structure. From being organized around the flow of things and the flow of money, it is becoming organized around the flow of information."
Madelyn Burley-Allen founded the Dynamics Of Human Behavior in 1972. Her goal was to link her specialized training in applied psychology with her extensive experience in sales and business management--and provide practical, hands-on development programs for both businesses and individuals.
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