Roxanne:
At 13:42 1/10/1997, Roxanne Abbas wrote:
>The CEO is aware that he is
>stuck in an outdated mental model related to his view of the role of
>management vs. workers and he is looking for an executive development
>experience that would help him understand and appreciate the benefits of
>employee involvement and empowerment. He seems to have a deep conviction
>that blue collar workers want to work as little as possible for as much
>pay as possible. He doesn't trust them or believe that they care about
>the organization, so why would he give them any power. He dosn't talk
>with the people and is not open to coaching but is eager to go to an 4-5
>day executive development course.
This is an all too common executive model in our culture. Blue collar is
accustomed to being dismissed and abused by white collar, to the point
that it has seeped into the culture. Take debt collection, for instance.
The process of debt collection was historically based upon intimidation
and abuse - the model by which blue collar workers (the vast number of
debtors) were managed. Now that large numbers of white collar workers
have slipped into debt, the nature of debt collection has shifted towards
conciliation, accommodation, and work-out.
Let me paraphrase from an item that I've already used as the thin edge of
the wedge in dealing with another highly hierarchial management structure,
a structure upon which other list members have already commented:
How does the boss treat you? AND how do you treat each other?
A qualitative metric, which provides very positive guidance to competitive
advantage within an organization, is how high management positions their
employees in the satisfaction of Maslow's basic human needs. People
generally cling (hidden drivers) to maintain their place on the scale, as
well as trying to inch up, and no manner of "rational" talk will sway
them:
Five Stages of Human Needs
1.Physiological desire
2.Needs for safety and stability
Stability of life
Material gain
To stay away from danger
3.Social desire
To be a member
To gain a reputation
To be trusted
4.Needs for self
To be recognized by others
To be self-dependent
To be confident of self
To be responsible for own work
5.Needs for self realization
To be creative
To show own capability
To realize hidden ability
While all employees have these same needs, American management deals with
employees at a Maslow level commensurate with that employee's relative
level within the organization, i.e., common workers are dealt with at
level 2 while the boss is dealt with at level 5.
"An enabling myth teaches the top dogs and the underdogs that they deserve
their respective positions."
This scaling of Maslow's needs is a part of the enabling myth of a large
percentage of American organizations and so represents a management
mindset, which is highly detrimental to competitive advantage. Looking at
various time scales of Japanese quality development indicates that
Japanese management may have been dealing with most Japanese employees at
level 5 as early as the 1960's. (And there is some evidence that this
approach existed in Japan during the 1940s and 1950s!)
Stepping beyond US shores, Hofstede's study on international culture
points out that this viewpoint applies to masculine cultures with weak
uncertainty avoidance, which include the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand,
India, Philippines, Canada, and Ireland. He suggests that other needs
should be included to have the above apply to many other cultures.
Hofstede suggests the possible inclusion of respect, harmony, face, and
duty as needs of other cultures. Based upon Hofstede's findings, the
metric can be modified to read: Management should ensure that their
employees are positioned as high as possible in the satisfaction of basic
human needs within the local culture.
I asked, "So how does the COO rate each member of the operating committee?
How do operating committee members rate one another (and thus send the
real message that makes the recipient flinch)?" The answers were
revealing and allowed us to attack some organizational and responsibility
issues that were a direct result of how certain members were perceived.
I would also add that I do much work for an automotive OEM (manufacturer),
in which I move around the corporation, from its HQ to its plant floors.
Shop floor folks are a treat to deal with as they are direct and guileless
in a no nonsense manner that many white collar workers could only hope to
emulate. Shop floor/blue collar folks are not stupid. They may have
blighted opportunity and diminished hope but they do not have blighted
minds.
I would be interested in hearing how your client responds to the above.
If the CEO is one of those who believe that, "Gods cannot stir pots" then
more education is needed. I had the luxury of growing up "on the shop
floor" (as my father was chief engineer with responsibility for design and
manufacturing) as well as working in the oil fields while a student - I
find the essential goodness that I know is on the floor. I fear that your
CEO has been robbed of this opportunity.
Best regards, Gordon Housworth
Intellectual Capital Group
ghidra@modulor.com
Tel: 248-626-1310
http://www.modulor.com
--Gordon Housworth <ghidra@modulor.com>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>