“The Power of Leadership”
Our final installment of the Stupidest Management Fads of All Time by Geoffrey James, though he has a few more on bnet.com if you’re amused and looking for more… This one takes a poke at legendary Management guru Tom Peters:
Created by: Tom Peters
The theory: Solve business problems with as little business process overhead as possible, and empower decision-makers at multiple levels of a company.
The reality: At the very least, the data behind the concept is questionable. Peters was once quoted admitting that he had falsified the underlying data for his book In Search of Excellence. He later retracted that statement.
The result: Awful. Simply awful. The majority of the companies Peters held out as exemplars ran into all sorts of problems.
My opinion of the fad: Ended up as yet another excuse for companies to try to imitate the success of other firms through the use of their “best practices.” At best, this ends up with a me-too strategy. At middling, it ends up with a “me-too” strategy that doesn’t make sense for your industry and company. At worst, you end up successfully implementing a strategy that put another company out of business.
Likelihood you’ll run into it at least once: 20%
Your strategy if you do: Hard to say. If your management is still gnawing on this tired old bone, they’re seriously, seriously out of date. You might try pointing out that Peters has written a number of other books since then, all of which are equally valid (or invalid). Maybe your manager will hole up and read them all while you get some real work done.
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected. ” – Steve Jobs
Have a most excellent day!
Shawn
Performance Institute – A Global Leader in Human Capital and Business Development
Russ M. Miller, LLIF – Chairman and CEO
Sunny Hong Zhang – Managing Partner – China
Shawn M. Miller – Managing Partner – USA
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