Читать книгу Reframing Organizations - Lee G. Bolman - Страница 20

Imagine a harried executive browsing online or at her local bookseller on a brisk winter day in 2021. She worries about her company's flagging performance and wonders if her own job might soon disappear. She spots the gray cover of [Re]Creating the Organization You Really Want: Leadership and Organization Design for Sustainable Excellence.² Flipping through the table of contents, she notes topics like “Compelling Directive,” “Focused Strategy,” and “Comprehensive Scorecard.” She is drawn to phrases such as “Leaders today face many challenges that require the design or redesign of organizational structures, systems, and processes to achieve and sustain high performance.” (p. 35). “This stuff may be good,” the executive tells herself, “but it seems a little dry.”

Next, she finds Lead with LUV: A Different Way to Create Real Success.³ Glancing inside, she reads,

Many of our officers handwrite several thousand notes each year. Besides being loving, we know this is meaningful to our People because we hear from them if we miss something significant in their lives like the high school graduation of one of their kids. We just believe in accentuating the positive and celebrating People's successes. (p. 7)

“Sounds nice,” she mumbles, “but a little too touchy‐feely. Let's look for something more down to earth.”

Continuing her search, she looks at Power: Why Some People Have It and Others Don't.⁴ She reads, “You can compete and triumph in organizations of all types … if you understand the principles of power and are willing to use them. Your task is to know how to prevail in the political battles you will face” (p. 5). She wonders, “Does it really all come down to politics? It seems so cynical and scheming. How about something more uplifting?”

She spots Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization.⁵ She ponders its message: “Tribal leaders focus their efforts on building the tribe, or, more precisely, upgrading the tribal culture. If they are successful, the tribe recognizes them as leaders, giving them top effort, cult‐like loyalty, and a track record of success” (p. 4). “Fascinating,” she concludes, “but maybe a little too primitive and nebulous for modern organizations.”

In her book excursion, our worried executive has rediscovered the four perspectives at the heart of this book. Four distinct metaphors capture the essence of each of the books she examined: organizations as factories, families, jungles, and temples or carnivals. But she leaves more confused than ever. Some titles seemed to register with her way of thinking. Others fell outside her zone of comfort. Where should she go next? How can she put it all together?