Organizational Development: A Manual for Managers and ... - FPDL

organization. “In linear systems, ‘negative’ or ‘damping’ feedback is primarily used to bring the
system back into equilibrium. …Your state of mind is ‘what actions can we take to return to the
desired equilibrium?’. ‘Management by exception’ is an example of using damping actions – you
plan to achieve a state of equilibrium and act only on deviations from that state, rather than
continuously looking for opportunities to improve. In non-linear systems, there is ‘positive
amplifying’ feedback. As the world is seen as inherently unstable, very small actions can be
amplified so that they have major consequences. …Managers’ ways of thinking and acting are
quite different if they see the world as being in something near stable equilibrium than if they
believe they are operating in chaos.” (Glass, 1998)
We could add to this that managers’ ways of thinking are also quite different if they see an
organization as something where they should organize everything around a certain equilibrium, or
as something where a lot of self-organizing processes take place at all levels and these processes
in their own way respond to the chaos wherever it exists and whenever necessary. Some
management concepts are very relevant to this second approach - they help build modern
organizations that are able to survive in a stressfully competitive and turbulent world.
The first concept is related to teamwork. Conducting training on this topic was exceedingly popular
over the last decades. Unfortunately, as with most fads, it was compromised – the deepest sense
of teamwork was substituted for socializing issues, building good relations, understanding, mutual
respect, compatibility, tolerance and all other notions available to psychologists who made it their
chief business. Meanwhile, the main reason for teamwork is the great synergy effect of
cooperation that emerges when a group functions as a team, and the main key to it is relevant
organizational arrangements that allow and encourage people to work in teams. When all
necessary organizational conditions are present – the group will become a team; no training is
needed for this. However, the team may need training to become more effective and successful.
This training might address specific skills that are lacking or problems that the team faces, perhaps
of a social or psychological nature, but often related to structure, responsibilities, information
systems or technology.
Another concept was called empowerment. It refers to the authority to make a decision on what to
do and how to do it. That used to be the job of a manager in Taylor’s times. But it cannot be any
longer because those who just carry out orders never feel responsible for the results from their
actions. When they do things in a way prescribed by instruction – they cannot be responsible for
their own efficiency. Although both effectiveness and efficiency depends primarily on their efforts –
they do not care about this, because somebody else made the decisions. The brains, skills,
understanding of a situation, and information at hand among subordinates are at least equal to
what the boss possesses or knows. The balance of capability to know best what to do and how to
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