David Creelman

I recently had a chance to talk to Henry Mintzberg in Toronto. I can't beat the description someone made of Mintzberg as being like the Mick Jagger of the management world. He's influenced the thinking of a field for decades now.

But Mintzberg has the feeling that American management has gone off the rails and that they've been running down the intangible capital of their organizations. (Mintzberg avoids fancy terms like 'intangible capital', that's my own interpretation of his ideas.)

Basically Mintzberg sees an organization as a community committed towards each other and a common purpose. The managers in the organization have grown up there, and know the products, culture, customers and history. They are, to use his phrase, managers not MBAs.

I remember Arie de Geus talking about an ethic amongst Shell managers that they first and foremost wanted to ensure they didn't leave their function worse off than when they took over. I can't imagine many managers saying that these days (though Steve Kerr did say that to me about his work at GE, but then he's an incredible guy).

This ethic of stewardship seems crazy and it seems crazy because it expresses a respect for the continuity of the organization and one's subordination to the greater good. These ideas are certainly out of favour.

Mintzberg even warns us against leadership. Why? Because leadership necessarily implies followership. Why don't we talk about followership--becuase it does not seem like a helpful construct. But we can't have one without the other. The trouble with talking about leadership is that it tends towards elitism, egoism and a focus on the heroic individual not the great community.

What Mintzberg is doing is issuing a warning. It's a warning that what everyone is saying is best practice may be based on a world view that is harmful to the health of organizations.

I remember someone from a Fortune 100 company telling me that the company was being held together by the dedication and skill of old-timers who had yet to unlearn the old ethic; but that those being promoted were the people with the fastest tongues and slickest powerpoints.

Acting in a way contrary to the masses is hard. But if you feel that your approach to management is that it's all about long term commitment to the community that is your organization take courage--you are probably not out-of-date, you are probably cutting edge.