Will Sr. Managers Change? LO6908

John Zavacki (jzavacki@epix.net)
Tue, 23 Apr 1996 05:31:03 -0400

Replying to LO6889 --

Gordon Housworth[SMTP:ghidra@conch.aa.msen.com] wrote:
>Replying to LO6857 --
>
snip

>Continuing your comments on Ray LaMann's observations, we see =
management
>theories treated as a stream of successive "isms" which certain levels =
of
>both management and staff merely adopt as the "camouflage of the day" =
and
>endured in a search for the "less-bitter medicine" alternative.=20
>
>When an organization has been swept by successive managerial "isms," =
the
>only "ism" that sticks is cynicism.=20

Or, perhaps, dynamism? Many of the "isms" are derivatives of sound =
tools and methods based on the weakness of a publisher's bottom line and =
a need to get some new trades into print. The plethora of 7, 8, 12 step =
"methods" to business, health, or psychological well-being are quick =
take offs on a fully developed model. Quick readings produce instant =
enlightenment. Failed implementations produce eternal darkness (or at =
least a few months of depression). I think the whole point of the Vth =
discipline is that it is the sine qua non of the others. Personal =
mastery learned in a cave or on a pillar in the desert does not make =
life better for the rest of us, but produces an "ascended master". =20

To understand what is not known in an organization, to analyze it's =
potential impact, to teach, and to use. All of the hype and the things =
Deming called "slogans and exhortations" will do nothing more than stir =
a temporary excitement if they are not internally an externally =
consonant with the goals of the system in which they are being =
promulgated.

--
John Zavacki
The Wolff Group
900 James Avenue
Scranton, PA 18510
Phone: 717-346-1218  Fax: 717-346-1388
jzavacki@epix.net
 

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