Organization of the book

The book is divided into fourteen chapters, each of which poses a problem and asks a question, which the chapter proceeds to answer. Each solution, or answer, leads logically to a further question or problem, which is dealt with in the next chapter.

I deliberately chose to arrange the book in this adaptation of the Socratic method, because it both illustrates and mirrors the way life – including organizational life – works. Change causes problems, which require solutions, which when implemented cause further problems. It is a process, like the life of an individual – though unlike life, it does not necessarily end. If organizational change is approached in the manner I prescribe, organizations can go on growing and adapting to change indefinitely.

In Chapter 1, I discuss what the terms “managing” and “management” mean in the literature and why the management process is culture-bound and value-loaded – and thus not universal.

Chapter 2 presents a functionalist definition of management that is universal, value-free and is not culture-bound – by defining and explaining the four basic roles of management. In Chapter 3, I show how and why those roles are incompatible and thus why the ideal executive does not and cannot exist. Chapter 4 describes five extreme archetypes of mismanagement styles, using the roles described in Chapter 2 as a code.

Since the ideal executive does not exist, are all organizations doomed to be mismanaged? In Chapter 5, I introduce a new paradigm for successful management: Complementary teams composed of mixed managerial styles. Chapter 6 deals with the inevitability of miscommunication and thus conflict among team-members whose priorities, speed, process, and focus can be wildly different because their styles differ. To prevent this natural conflict from becoming destructive, in Chapter 7 I discuss the necessity for a culture of mutual trust and respect (MT&R), in which constructive rather than destructive conflict can thrive.

How does one build that kind of culture? Chapter 8 focuses on designing a corporate structure that nurtures mutual trust and respect, where “good fences make good neighbors.” Chapter 9 describes how to match individual managerial styles to tasks in a correctly designed organizational structure.

But even having all the right people in the right jobs in the correctly structured organization will not guarantee an atmosphere that fosters mutual trust and respect. In Chapters 10 and 11, I introduce the topic of how the different styles must learn to communicate and deal with each other: Both one on one (Chapter 10) and in meetings where multiple styles must interact (Chapter 11). The problem of communicating with those whose styles differ from yours is vast enough to require a book of its own; these two chapters are only an introduction to the topic.

In Chapter 12, I return to the role of leaders, who are needed to design the right structure, foster the right process, etc. Ideally, under the new paradigm of complementary team membership, leadership traits is what best executives should exhibit.

Finally, Chapters 13 and 14 focus on training and developing managers, executives and leaders, both within the organization and as a revised mission of our managerial schools, so that this new paradigm shift can become a reality. In Chapter 13, I describe the evolution of management schools and training. I evaluate the current trends and conclude that, by starting with the wrong paradigm and using flawed assumptions to dictate the core curriculum, the management schools have flunked their biggest test. Chapter 14 presents some considerations for those who design and do training: What is the real purpose of managerial training? What skills are organizations hungry for? Can those skills be taught or can they only be acquired through experience?

Style of presentation

Throughout this book I have most often used the masculine gender, because I found it cumbersome to switch back and forth and inaccurate to assign one gender to any specific managerial style. My insights apply equally to female managers. When, occasionally, I use the female gender to refer to a managerial style, again I intend my comments to refer to both genders equally.

Because my theories apply not only to business at all levels but also to statecraft, to marriage and parenting – in fact, to any relationship that must deal with change – readers may find the typology helpful in understanding their non-professional relationships. However, since I have written this book mainly for managers, I tried to minimize personal examples and anecdotes.

Some jokes and cartoons have been included, specifically to illustrate that as people go through their daily lives; these same issues present themselves again and again in different forms.

Methodology and Source of Data

This book summarizes for the reader my insights based on thirty years of work in the field of organizational transformation (“consulting”). Since my work as an organizational transformationist (therapist, con- 22 Ichak Adizes, The Ideal Executive sultant or what I like to call myself the most is organizational symbergist®) and lecturer frequently takes me around the globe, I have been able to compare notes and share my observations with executives around the world.

I have treated companies in forty-eight countries that range from $1 million to $15 billion in sales or $120 billion in assets, and employ anywhere from fifteen to hundreds of thousands of people. They are involved in numerous technologies, including aircraft, insurance, banking, the performing arts, museums and government agencies, in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors. I have also used my insights about leadership style to counsel several heads of state.

I’ve found that my insights on managerial styles are valid for all the countries in which I’ve lectured, including cultures as different from each other as those of China, Japan, Sweden, Mexico, Greece, Israel, and the United States. Managerial styles and behavior are independent of culture – although social culture, I have noted, tends to reinforce managerial styles.

Applicability

My approach to management is value-free and applies to all cultures, technologies, and industries with any purpose, whether the organization is profit-oriented or not-for-profit. It applies to organizations of any size: Small self-contained units such as a family, mezzo-level organizations like businesses of any size, or macro systems like nations; in fact, I have organized the cabinets of three Prime Ministers using this methodology.

In other words, this theory provides tools that can be universally applied to diagnose management, mismanagement, and leadership styles, predict behavior and recommend how to develop, train, and staff organizations, as well as how to communicate and reward staff, allowing organizations to achieve their goals with the least amount of wasted energy.

A request

I have learned from everyone who cared to share their thoughts with me. If any reader wishes to communicate agreement, disagreement, experience, or anecdotes, jokes or cartoons that illustrate the content of this or any other of my books, I would appreciate the feedback. Please write to me at the Adizes Institute, 2815 East Valley Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108 – or better yet, send an e-mail to: Ichak@adizes. com.

Thank you.

Ichak Kalderon Adizes

Santa Barbara, California. 2003