Description
Book SynopsisBaker takes on eight dysfunctional people management practices originating from the scientific management and offers practical solutions for changing these practices and increasing organizational agility.
Agile is the new black. Every business now has to be adaptive, nimble and ready to pivot – managers have to be comfortable with ambiguity and constantly ready for change. And yet…
While agility is regarded as essential for competitive advantage, most organizations are still unthinkingly applying people management practices, rooted in Frederick Taylor’s scientific management philosophy of the early 20th century, designed to ensure consistency and efficiency on production lines but which actively prevent the sort of creativity and flexibility needed in the modern workplace.
100 years of scientific management has led to the creation of eight performance myths. Myths that impede the agility necessary to compete in the age of the knowledge worker but which are so instinctively embedded in management psyche that they go unchallenged despite the fact that the changing world of work has rendered them dysfunctional and counterproductive.
Through case studies and examples Baker demonstrates how the right workplace culture for promoting and applying agile decision-making consists of eight values shared by employer and employee – values that are polar opposite of the values and assumptions of traditional management styles. A new psychological contract that enables the collaborative working relationship necessary for agility to flourish.
Table of ContentsPart I: The Agile Enterprise.- 1. Profit measures the past – Agility predicts the future.- 2. The characteristics of agility.- 3. Seven dimensions of agile performance.- Part II: Myths Blocking Agile Performance.- 4. Management Myth # 1—Job specification improves performance.- 5. Management Myth # 2—Quality systems and processes guarantee good outcomes.- 6. Management Myth # 3—The job description helps the employee understand their organizational role.- 7. Management Myth # 4—A business is best organized around functions.- 8. Management Myth # 5—A satisfied employee is a productive employee.- 9. Management Myth # 6—A loyal employee is an asset to the business.- 10. Management Myth # 7— A technically superior workforce is a pathway to a high performing business.- 11. Management Myth # 8—Employees can’t be trusted with sensitive information.- Part III: The Right Culture for Agile Performance.- 12. A new psychological contract for managing agile performance
