Читать книгу Managing Through Turbulent Times - Anthony Holmes - Страница 22

This is a subject that could consume the pages of another book and therefore I do not intend to attempt a comprehensive discussion in this brief work. By the same token I do not want to be so superficial that you conclude that there are just a few easily recognised traits that will enable a clear identification of the prevalent mode.

The key mode to search for is denial, which I discuss in a little more depth in chapter 4.

The point I want to emphasise is that the action you take in turbulent times depends not just on your organisation’s position in its lifespan or the psychological mode of management but on the way the two interact.

If the organisation’s position in its lifespan is late maturity or early decline, it is a period of general economic uncertainty and an appraisal of management’s psychology concludes that denial or concealment of problems is the dominant condition, then stakeholders should consider the early removal of the incumbent senior management and the replacing of them with individuals experienced in leading unstable businesses.

If the same external conditions are encountered during the growth phase and managers are engaged in the self-deception of denial as to do otherwise means an admission that their ambitions may be unfulfilled then, as the senior manager, you must examine the consequences of growth being truncated. Will the scale achieved be sufficient to give the critical mass necessary for maturity or can the investment in growth be slowed until more conducive conditions return? Will ‘becoming’ be brought to a premature end and are you organised enough to enter the mode of ‘being’?

These preliminary comments lead directly into the important area of managerial psychology and the mindset managers need to understand and adopt in order to manage through turbulent times.