The Find: Traditional management practices are “ill-suited to human beings” says a new book which argues for a hands off approach to managing.- The Source: Stefan Stern, writing on the FT Management blog, takes a look at Management Rewired, a new book by the consultant Charles Jacobs.
The Takeaway: Jacobs has a problem with appraisals. Namely, they don’t work. How does he know? He looked at our brains, or at least he looked at the neuroscience investigating how human brains actually function. Stern summarizes his argument:
Now we know so much more about how the brain works, we need to move on from the standard management practices… As animals, our emotional responses are more powerful than our rational ones, he says. Logic evolved later. Cool, rational feedback is bound to upset people. Appraisals are basically destructive.
And it’s not just appraisals Jacobs takes issue with, it’s also much of standard management practice. Instead of standardized procedures, dictated targets and harsh but true feedback, Jacobs suggests we’ll get better results “if, rather than trying to thwart their natural inclinations, we just accept how people behave and make the most of it.” Exactly what does that mean in practice? Specifics are light on the ground in reviews of the book at least, but his general idea seems be less is more: “the managers who produce the best results are the ones who do the least managing … the biggest challenge is for managers to stop doing most of what they’re doing now.”
Instead, he advocates for taking in to account employees’ emotions and avoiding overt exercises of control, which trigger humans’ (and chimps’, for that matter) instinct to rebel and subvert. In short, Jacobs is against setting up procedures as if humans were automatons and being shocked - shocked! - when they find ways to undermine management’s regime. Instead, employees should be empowered to set their own goals and critique their own performance. Intrigued? Baffled perhaps? Check out Stern’s more in-depth review or the book itself.
The Question: Stern is skeptical, saying “my rational, logical side wants to disagree (we need order, not chaos!). But perhaps that’s just because my inner chimpanzee is feeling threatened.” What’s your reaction?
