People Planet Society Technology

There is a huge need for “change” , for “corporate excellence” , to tackle the world’s problems in a whole. But how? Absolutely NOT how we did “manage” it the last 120 years. LEAN, SixSigma, PDCA, AI, ERP, ….. all “tools” to “get on track” again. But which track ? The same? Preferably not I would say.

Excellence should be a mindset by default , and for many of us it is, in fact I cannot imagine somebody going to work in the morning saying “Let’s make as much trouble as possible” and yet…. How do we get into as much trouble as we do ? My answer is simple : Because we have poor (weak) decision making. And how is that possible? By information getting
filtered out through “subjective analyze”. In this blog I will be posting some comments on (global and local) issues, which could be a result of poor decision making, just for the sake of showing that this is a universal problem in all industries and through all categories or levels of decision takers.


Jimmy Van de Putte



Email : jimmy@fluidism.biz
Twitter : @JIMMYVDP

An idea of the global treats for the next decades :

http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2012/#ol=data-explorer
Some further "reflections" : http://www.ascentofhumanity.com/text.php

REACTIONS ARE HIGHLY APPRECIATED !

23 May 2012

PV : Oligarchy , the big scary wolf !?

Oligarchy, what it says on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy

The "iron law of oligarchy" states that all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations. ...
And also :
...“But with a powerful out faction ready to expose profligacy, no leaders dared take overly generous personal remuneration.”...



Forgive me that I ‘m the one NOT sharing  these thoughts and conclusions .

For me Oligarchy is :

“ The perception that  a small elite group is taking decisions for their own  benefit, but is actually the result of taking decisions with the wrong kind of parameters and mindset, due to different standards, moral values and operational experience and a focus-inversion on what result and cause is. “                  ( more explanation on request … of course)

Let me present you an alternative view.      

A modest company NUMBER ONE , managed by the owner, let’s say with about 20 collaborators is doing quite well, the boss controlling everything and with great revenue and profit , decides that the time is ripe for growth and expansion.  The owner makes 4 new units, with of course some value adding workers and some management. Thus getting more layers of  management, as we know it now, where even the flattest of hierarchy has maybe three, four or up to 8 management levels. And of course ,  each “level” is ought to earn a bit more than the one just below with the initial owner of course the highest pay.

Now, we have a structure that provokes pay scales , levels  and a certain salary-augmentation-steps with each level as it is linked to power, responsibility and hierarchical level or function. (and even with sort of work and other , but that’s beside the point now) .

Than government comes into the picture, with extra taxes, getting all the wages up, and eventually augmenting all the salaries.

The boss dies (or sells the company) having a need for a new CEO , the company starts headhunting, knowing it needs a great CEO , they buy one off another, similar company  NUMBER TWO( take an exact copy of number one) . How? By paying him more that he is earning now ! Do this for all “management functions, and what do you get Right, exorbitant but understandable ( AND LUDICRACE ) wages and remunerations . ( so #1 YES we need to reconsider this way of rewarding )

                Second , and this is an important one ,companies, because of their sheer vastness end up with poor decision taking (explanation on request but consider :  info-filtering,alienation, nepotism, fraud ,etc.)  on operations, investments etc.( examples are legio !! , JP Morgan Chase, Olympia, … and actually ALL COMPANIES which feel the need for “CHANGE” or suffer exuberant losses due to this …)

This will leave them with the need for MORE MANAGEMENT … creating maybe a temporally better situation but doing worse in the long run . (explanation again:  alienation, nepotism, fraud ,etc.)

(so #2 YES we need te re-engineer management in companies in function, structure, schooling etc) .

To get to that “Oligarchy”- thing…apart from some rules  and laws that surely are built for less morally accepted purposes ( I mean fit for one) I will give you a simple example.

Buy a new car. …

I’m sure you just had  a couple of potential cars in your head popping up. And probably from those few you ended up with one or two.

Is it a Porsche ? Ferrari ? Audi? Or maybe a Truck? Or an Ambulance ? or a SUV ? Firetruck ? what I do know is that not many of you will have exactly  the same car in mind as anyone else .

Why I gave you this exercise is simple, you all will have different ways of filtering your ideas and requirements. AND THAT IS JUST THE REASON THAT DECISIONS GET CORUMPTED AND POOR .

If I would tell you : get me a sports car,two seat, reliable , red, with engine in the back, a good chance I’ll end up with that Porsche !
But I could also end up with a Yugo...

The #3 to keep in mind is that PEOPLE will filter out the information that THEY want, and will be based on THEIR personal subjective opinion.

Ask the same question at the company ONE and TWO ‘ s  less paid workers , they’ll probably end up with a solid family car as for the top management they will end up with a top ranked BMW or Mercedes or whatever. So why would it be different in company or society decision taking ?

And this is what , for me ,oligarchy is.

“It is the perception that  a small elite group is taking decisions for their own  benefit, but is actually the result of taking decisions with the wrong kind of parameters and mindset, due to different standards, moral values and operational experience and a focus-inversion on what result and cause is. ( more explanation on request … of course)

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