Business management touches everything. Everyone engages in economic activity in order to survive and hopefully prosper. Business represents the connective tissue of economics. Indeed, two hundred years ago, someone could have made that claim for government. But business has surpassed the influence of government. Business management is how most people perceive that things get done. Innovative, progressive practices in business, as they are seen to be effective, integrate into other institutions.
When I first read Peter Drucker's Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices in the mid-80's I became truly inspired by the promise of business to positively influence the course of human evolution. Shortly after reading much of Drucker's other works, I came across another body of work by psychologist, Michael Durst, called Management by Responsibility (MBR). MBR provided the philosophical underpinnings and practical how-to for building organizational culture and infrastructure based on personal and group responsibility, and ethics serving all within the business management framework.
Zoom forward to today. The conventional business management structures based on hierarchical command lines have been morphing into hybrid systems for a number of years. There are many creative, intelligent knowledge workers in today's business economy who won't sit still for the old systems of command and control by a handful of good ole boys. Even the 'old school' leaders are slowly but surely acquiescing. Attracting the best and brightest demands it.
With business' rise in power, so too have the stakes risen on the value of responsibility and sense of ethics. We've witnessed enormous leaps in the past fifty years in business management development. The next wave of development is beginning and I'm excited to be a part of it.
It's challenging and exhilarating. If you think of yourself as cutting edge, then you'll appreciate the work we can do together in developing the business practices that work for your organization.
