The Calculus of Management
A notion about how the role of management changes in organizations that are either centralizing or decentralizing has been brewing in my mind for some time. At this point I don’t know if it is either valid or useful! So I’m going to toss it into the blogosphere and see what happens.
The notion is that managers must pay attention to both integration and differentiation. Let’s call it the Calculus of Management (thoughts from mathematicians will be heartily welcomed). Integration means that your group is healthily connected to other key parts of the organization. Differentiation means that your group is clear about its own vision, misson, goals, etc.
It seems that if an organization is centralized–having systems that encourage integration–then managers ought to pay more attention to differentiating their groups. Then the opposite: if the organization is decentralized, managers ought to pay more attention to integration–making sure that relationships with key parts of the organization are healthy.
This is not to say that managers ought to ever ignore either integration or differentiation, but that their emphasis ought to change depending upon what the organization’s systems encourage. If the systems encourage integration, then focus on differentiation. And the opposite.
That’s it, and, as I said, I haven’t a clue about whether that is valid or useful, it just seems intuitively correct and it fits with my consulting experience. It also seems an interesting way to communicate how manager’s roles might change when their organizations are either centralizing or decentralizing.
All comments welcome, even those that suggest, “Nah! That’s just silly,” or, “Yeah. So what?” A bunch of comments of that ilk will at least encourage me to quit mulling this.
Wednesday, November 30th, 2005 at 10:22 am ◊ Comment or trackback◊ Send this post to someone who will thank you for it »
◊ Filed in: Organization Change
November 30th, 2005 at 11:44 pm
Sorry Dick
You said that awful icky word “calculus” and my eyes glazed over. what was that you said? i’m sure it was important but you put the fear of god into me before i could find out!!
Calculus!!
December 1st, 2005 at 6:50 am
Well…there’s one vote to encourage me to quit mulling it. Glazed eyes…the fear of god…good grief, what have I done?…thanks Chris (I think).
Maybe it’ll only appeal to managers with a background in engineering? Any of you out there?
Isn’t it at least better than yet another sports metaphor?
December 10th, 2005 at 12:24 pm
Hiya Dick…
Nah. My eyes didin’t glaze over at all. To me, ‘calculus’ is a GOOD word. It’s a powerful marketing word. One that’s easy to leverage.
I’m an ARTIST and I like the word. Think about the management types it’ll be addressing. These are people who LIVE ‘the bottom line’. Number-manipulators. Graduates from business schools. People versed in the art of playing ‘number-number’.
Rule number one in brainstorming: keep the ideas coming no matter what, and do not submit to criticism.
Brainstorming works on a READY, FIRE, AIM agenda. Fuel your brain by preparing properly (Ready). Then fling out as many ideas as possible, with absolutely NO censorship (Fire). Then, finally, when you’ve exhausted your idea-generating abilities for a while, evaluate the material you’ve got, and shape it into what it needs to become (Aim).
Right now, you’ve got some really interesting concepts that you’re sculpting. Keep that up. When the time is right, you’ll be able to look at the material, and give it a slightly different name, or, use the same name. Right now you can’t make those decisions.
See… you run the risk of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. One or ten or a hundred people might HATE the word ‘calculus’. But it’s not the WORD that you’re working with right now. It’s a metaphor-set.
And the great thing about metaphors is that they can be retooled to serve different purposes.
In this case, craft the ‘calculus’ metaphor-set until you’ve got a working model. Get it honed. THEN retool if necessary.
There’s another consideration here… don’t ‘ask permission’ to innovate. As soon as you do that, you give your power away. You allow yourself to be swayed by TWO comments in a blog post.
One comment says, ‘Give it up, Dick. Calculus is boring.’ YOU immediately respond with, ‘Damn! I had such a good idea going here, and people hate it, so I’ll just ditch the thing. Pity.’
Another comment says, ‘Keep going, Dick! You’re onto something!!’ Now you submit to confusion, and you start thinking, ‘Hmmm… I’ll wait for a few more comments before I decide what to do.’
Suddenly, WE rule your creative output and creative method. Not wise. Ideas are not about democracy. Revolutionary thinking is not about democracy. It’s all about following your nose, regardless of what people are saying.
So… if I were in your shoes, I’d RETRACT the request for permission and just go about it anyway.
Blue skies
love
Roy
December 10th, 2005 at 8:17 pm
Roy - I do love your irrespressable spirit! And thanks for all of the reminders about the creative impulse and what is needed to nurture it: keep ideas coming, don’t ask permission to innovate, don’t give your power away, follow your nose, etc. You just gave us all a lesson in how to keep the juices flowing!
My “request for permission” and reaction to Chris were meant light-heardedly. I too have the artist/scientist brain-meld, and I know that what I called the “Calculus of Management” will have appeal to a certain kind of manager and I know lots of them. I also know that it contains a wisdom whether I call it “calculus” or not. I might just as well have applied a metaphor from the arts– a portrait painter must attend to facial coloration (differentiate) while also seeking background color to complement it (integrate). Or, in our own lives, we must know who we are as a unique human being (differentiate) and also build relationships and be in community (integrate).
The mathematical label is just a package. Someday I might take this whole thing to another level–you helped me think beyond the package. Thanks!