Why Are There No Managers In Nature?

A short clip of Lanny Goodman speaking at a recent Chamber of Commerce Seminar.

For more information visit www.lannygoodman.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• management
• business
• complexity
• chaos theory
• self managing
• self organizing systems
• lanny goodman

[WhiskeyJim59]

You begin by implying that Taylor based management made a trade-off between hierarchy and productivity, and mindless dehumanization.

I believe it is more accurate to say that we have never understood self-organization, and that hierarchy is so addicting that we can not even envision discernment and true engagement. It is why management theory remains perplexed by open source.

Complexity theory also flies in the face of all Progressive ideology and politics, which is impeding its progress.

[lannygoodman]

@WhiskeyJim59

actually what you inferred is not what implied. i don't believe there was any conscious tradeoff. i don't think the issue of dehumanization ever entered into the equation or that anyone ever gave it any thought. in those days, any job was a good job. life was cheap. life was hard and unforgiving. the workforce was largely uneducated and unskilled and had few options. the machine model was simply a reflection of the times.

[lannygoodman]

@WhiskeyJim59

we never understood self-organization because the principle was only realized about 25 years ago. management theorists may be perplexed by open source but from my point of view, that is only because management theorists have not dug deeply enough into the assumptions on which traditional management practices are based.

[lannygoodman]

@WhiskeyJim59

the notion that complexity theory flies in the face of all progressive ideology and politics is clearly a political statement based on a free market ideology which pays lip service to complexity theory but ignores inconvenient facts.

[WhiskeyJim59]

And what facts are those? Complexity is partly defined by redundancy and self-organization, both of which allow it to be highly adaptive and innovative and resilient.

How is a highly controlling and pervasive bureaucracy in any way consistent with those structural precepts? Progressivism by its very nature forces statism, which is exactly the opposite of creative, adaptable landscapes. It is the main reason large firms, laden with bureaucracy, fail.

[WhiskeyJim59]

As a further example, it is popular to view the Internet as a perfect example of successful execution of the Commons, a daring 'progression' past free markets and selfish, greedy capitalism.

Complexity shows us that nothing could be further from the truth. The Internet is a perfect example of a complex system, unencumbered by hierarchy or imposition or direction. It is the classic example of a man with two acres and a mule. We do not share the Internet; we build it with free association.