| The age of change in organizational thinking | | | | they move on to another idea. Some leaders |
| - sometimes called New Age management theory | | | | are specifically chosen because they appear |
| - is occurring in part because of the | | | | to have an ichy finger poised atop the change |
| influence of the baby boomer generation. The | | | | button. |
| previous generations flourished in the | | | | |
| mass-production economy that grew steadily | | | | Education: Business schools taught only one |
| from the 1920s through the 1960s. It is no | | | | approach to business in the first half of the |
| Oedipal coincidence that the next generation | | | | century; today there is zero "conventional |
| has done everything it could to trash the | | | | wisdom," even in the most hidebound academy. |
| success of the generation preceding it. | | | | Years ago there was no "management theory" |
| | | | section in bookstores; today there is an |
| Organizations in the 1990s and 2000s are | | | | avalanche of offerings. I even recently |
| picking up and trying on new initiatives like | | | | noticed a "new age management" section of the |
| a teenager in front of a mirror, uncertain of | | | | local bookstore. |
| much, only sure that it does not want to be | | | | |
| like its mom and dad. The New Age must be | | | | Experience: People today travel more, read |
| better; it is, after all, new. But you cannot | | | | more, pursue continuing education, change |
| discuss change in our time without addressing | | | | jobs more frequently, encounter greater |
| the enormous demographic and psychographic | | | | diversity, work across functional lines, and |
| blip of our time, and why they (we) can't | | | | interact with people from other countries, |
| help trying out every new thing that comes | | | | cultures, and industries. |
| along - and are unable to make many of them | | | | |
| stick. | | | | Diversity, cross-functionality, and |
| | | | "dress-down Fridays" (currently under |
| Some of the factors behind the fads: | | | | reconsideration in many companies) all have |
| | | | their roots in the rebellious mod of the '60s |
| Globalization: Where the older generation | | | | that railed against conformity, squares, |
| made and sold to a single American market, | | | | button-down collars, and gray flannel suits. |
| baby boomers make and sell to (and compete | | | | "The leader as servant" idea owes more to the |
| against) the whole world. | | | | I Ching and Che Guevara than to Iwo Jima and |
| | | | Dale Carnegie. |
| Technology: Baby boomers possess much more | | | | |
| intimate information processing technologies, | | | | Truth be told, though, conventional wisdom of |
| and are thus prone to greater | | | | the industrial age is no less wise in the age |
| decentralization and individualization. Can | | | | of change. Organizations are remarkably like |
| you say Blackberry? Can't be caught dead | | | | machines, no matter how we "humanize" them. |
| without your new iPhone? | | | | Bureaucracies remain efficient ways to |
| | | | organize complex systems. In-the-box is still |
| Speed: Baby boomers are impatient because | | | | the place where most of us dwell, and think, |
| technology has given them that luxury. | | | | and are happiest. A wise generation would |
| Previous planned changes, like the moon | | | | take pains, in tossing out the bathwater from |
| landing, took years; this generation does not | | | | the previous generation, to conduct routine |
| feel it can wait that long. If an idea | | | | baby checks. |
| doesn't take hold and yield quick results, | | | | |