Push v/s Pull based Management
Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all
"How very true", was my first reaction when i read what the famous Dwight D. Eisenhower once remarked, I imagine to a group of his officers when drawing up battle plans against the third Reich. Today, times have changed and so have the circumstances that must have inspired Eisenhower to make that remark, but it is as relevant today as it were a couple of decades back.
"Lets push sales this month". "Lets give it a final push", are quite common remarks that we hear these days in corporate boardrooms or discussions and meetings. Probably what the boss always wants to hear is that you are willing not only to push others but also yourself in that respect to accomplish the task.
"So what's wrong with that?" , would be the next question and to be frank, nothing. But there is always a better way of doing something and this is probably how
We have all heard about the lean system of manufacturing wherein a "Pull" based system ensures that there is production just to meet demand. in other words, least inventory, which in turn improves profitability by eliminating "waste". but in order for this to work, the employee workforce must be highly motivated to ensure that quality is maintained not only in the final product, but also in each step or process as only this will ensure that the system will work.
When we extend the same concept to managing relationships in a business, it becomes imperitive that in order for any target to be met, the team must first be highly motivated to take "ownership" of his particular aspect of work that is contributing to the whole. Easier said than done, but definitely simpler than most of us think
Ownership is a very fickle thing. For the team to have ownership means that they have the authority to create and change certain aspects without having to take excessive approvals from management. Also this is possible only when the management is very mature in its thinking and that means that it is also not insecure
Insecurity is often the bane behind over control or micro management wherein the team's creativity is subjected to intense pressure as there is a push to conform to the organization way of thinking. Read management way of thinking.
In order to reduce insecurity, a very clear succession path must be evolved not only for the team but also for managers wherein the KPI should not only mean meeting targets, but also organization development and succession management.
hence in order to implement the pull system, change must be Top - bottom. Wherein gradually, a team is given broader scope of responsibility wherein they have to "Self-manage" and management will only play the role of a mentor or advisor.
In doing so, all routine & semi-strategic work can be thus "outsourced" to the working team, thus freeing up resources for more strategic thinking at the management level.
In other words, as Ricardo Semler puts it, the true mark of a great organization is not what the company can achieve in the presence of a CEO, but what it can achieve when there is no CEO
In short Pull people and they will follow wherever you wish and Push it always and they will go nowhere at all!
Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all
"How very true", was my first reaction when i read what the famous Dwight D. Eisenhower once remarked, I imagine to a group of his officers when drawing up battle plans against the third Reich. Today, times have changed and so have the circumstances that must have inspired Eisenhower to make that remark, but it is as relevant today as it were a couple of decades back.
"Lets push sales this month". "Lets give it a final push", are quite common remarks that we hear these days in corporate boardrooms or discussions and meetings. Probably what the boss always wants to hear is that you are willing not only to push others but also yourself in that respect to accomplish the task.
"So what's wrong with that?" , would be the next question and to be frank, nothing. But there is always a better way of doing something and this is probably how
We have all heard about the lean system of manufacturing wherein a "Pull" based system ensures that there is production just to meet demand. in other words, least inventory, which in turn improves profitability by eliminating "waste". but in order for this to work, the employee workforce must be highly motivated to ensure that quality is maintained not only in the final product, but also in each step or process as only this will ensure that the system will work.
When we extend the same concept to managing relationships in a business, it becomes imperitive that in order for any target to be met, the team must first be highly motivated to take "ownership" of his particular aspect of work that is contributing to the whole. Easier said than done, but definitely simpler than most of us think
Ownership is a very fickle thing. For the team to have ownership means that they have the authority to create and change certain aspects without having to take excessive approvals from management. Also this is possible only when the management is very mature in its thinking and that means that it is also not insecure
Insecurity is often the bane behind over control or micro management wherein the team's creativity is subjected to intense pressure as there is a push to conform to the organization way of thinking. Read management way of thinking.
In order to reduce insecurity, a very clear succession path must be evolved not only for the team but also for managers wherein the KPI should not only mean meeting targets, but also organization development and succession management.
hence in order to implement the pull system, change must be Top - bottom. Wherein gradually, a team is given broader scope of responsibility wherein they have to "Self-manage" and management will only play the role of a mentor or advisor.
In doing so, all routine & semi-strategic work can be thus "outsourced" to the working team, thus freeing up resources for more strategic thinking at the management level.
In other words, as Ricardo Semler puts it, the true mark of a great organization is not what the company can achieve in the presence of a CEO, but what it can achieve when there is no CEO
In short Pull people and they will follow wherever you wish and Push it always and they will go nowhere at all!
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