you want to build long-term relationships with customers and suppliers, without honesty you will not get by.

Chapter 8 Destroy the Bureaucracy

"The structure of bureaucratic organizations follows the principle of hierarchy, that is, each below is controlled and directed by the superior."
Max Weber

Welch's Great Obsession

Change programs and corporate revolutions require their own slogans. В конце 1980-х - начале 90-х гг. Jack Welch бросил клич - разрушить границы между отделами и их функциями. “Our dream of the 90s. - это компания без границ, компания, где разрушены стены, которые отделяют нас друг от друга, - говорит Уэлч. - В компании без границ, по нашим представлениям, исчезнут помехи для общения между инженерами, производителями, маркетологами, службой продаж и обслуживанием клиентов. Исчезнут и различия между внутренним и международным бизнесом - нам будет так же удобно работать в Будапеште и Сеуле, как в США. In such a company, group labels such as "management", "production" and others that interfere with people working together will be destroyed. Будут стерты и внешние границы - например, между компанией и ее главными поставщиками, и они вместе с нами станут частью единого процесса, цель которого - благо клиента».

Defeating bureaucracy was a real obsession for Welch and GE. Many times he proclaimed the slogan: "Fight the bureaucracy, destroy the hierarchy." In fact, he returned to this idea in each of his interviews.

Now let us touch upon an important question: where is the boundary between glamor and concentration? Many executives are possessed by demons of obsession. Одни одержимы ростом продаж, другие - обновлением технологий или корпоративной политикой, третьи носятся с новейшими рекламными тактиками и т. п.

Одержимость - одна из скрытых сторон деловой жизни. Managers are always more or less obsessed with the idea of ​​success. However, obsessions extend beyond the business world. The education system also sets children up for exceptional success. And the sport is entirely in the power of obsession. Athletes do not think about anything other than how to be the first to reach the finish line, jump as high as possible or throw the shot farther. Coaches encourage these forms of obsession (although they call it concentration). Likewise, the boss fully approves of the obsession of a young manager who works 16 hours a day and lives only in business.

“There are culturally acceptable forms одержимости - например, когда музыканты занимаются по 12 часов в сутки, - а есть и неприемлемые, - говорит Фил ХоджсHe. - В деловом мире мы одобрительно относимся к одержимости младших managers. However, later, when they make a career and occupy a higher position, obsession is no longer encouraged. We think the boss should have a broader view of things."

Принято считать, что одержимость босса - положительное качество, во многом потому, что она побуждает к работе подчиненных. Руководитель предприятия работает день и ночь семь дней в неделю - и не только для того, чтобы выполнить работу, а потому, что это дает мотивацию другим сотрудникам поступать так же. Managing in an obsessive manner means that managers work day and night. However, experts rarely question whether these overtime hours make work more productive.

However, sometimes obsession can make a huge difference. If, for example, you are starting your own business, then moderate enthusiasm is not enough. You will have to live and breathe your idea. Your faith in your own success at this stage should be fanatical and unshakable. Другой пример - некоторые компании, такие как McDonald’s и Marks & Spencer, строят работу с клиентами, развивая у своих служащих навязчивое желание обслуживать покупателей как можно лучше.

Одержимость Уэлча борьбой с бюрократией и иерархическими структурами - не единственное его наваждение. One of his obsessions was the desire to destroy the division of personnel by function. In a certain company, the general manager was obsessed with a similar idea. To prove his point, he walked outside the company's factory and asked everyone he met how they felt about "this useless division." The responses he received were quite aggressive. His zeal ran into a backlash from his staff.

The trouble is that obsessive thoughts can lead to a decline in business. If the idea was unsuccessful, then the manager, having spent a lot of time and effort, will lead the company to a dead end. Henry Ford fervently believed that all people strive to have inexpensive cars of the same type. He enthusiastically propagated his ideas until General Motors appeared, which released several models in different colors, and it turned out that Ford was wrong. Ford's obsession was too inflexible to contribute the success of his company. In the same way, IBM cultivated faith in the triumph of its computers, and then watched with amazement as foreign innovations corroded its markets like rust.

Any психолог скажет вам, что одержимость - очень опасная болезнь. Managers who become ill with it embark on a dubious and risky path. At what point does a hard-working businessman turn into an obsessive businessman who has discarded all ethical standards in pursuit of profit? When does commitment and enthusiasm turn into obsession?

Phil Hodgson believes that there is a clear line between enthusiasm (which is a positive quality and aimed at finding constructive solutions) and obsession, which clearly looks like an unhealthy manifestation of self-interest. “If an obsessive manager looks back and analyzes his actions, he can easily see the unhealthy side of his behavior. Одержимость подчиняет себе всю его жизнь, принося ущерб семье, друзьям, отдыху, - говорит ХоджсHe. - Одержимость - это потенциально полезная черта личности, которую нужно направить на организацию работы, а не на то, чтобы все осуществлять самому. Managers spend a lot of energy on intrigue, promotion and increasing their influence on corporate policy. If this energy is released and directed in the right direction, huge forces will be released.”

Используется ли эта энергия для того, чтобы убедить банковского служащего дать вам кредит, или для проведения программ радикальных перемен - силу одержимости отрицать невозможно. What remains in doubt is the extent to which we can use this power for positive purposes.

bureaucratic model

Немецкий социолог Max Weber пишет, что большинство эффективных форм организации предприятия напоминают хорошо отлаженный механизм. These forms are characterized by rigid rules, control, hierarchical structure and bureaucratic management. Weber calls this the "rational model". In contrast to this model, there are two more models, namely: "charismatic" and "traditional". In the charismatic model, the organization is run by one dominant figure. Вебер отклонил эту модель как недолговременную - здесь он был первым, кто разобрался в этом явлении и рассмотрел его последствия. History shows that an organization built around one charismatic leader is short-lived.

Наконец, традиционная модель - третья, которую рассматривал Вебер. She определяется тем, что все делается так, как делалось всегда, - например, в семейных фирмах, где управление переходит от одного поколения к другому.

Experience shows that a purely bureaucratic type of organization (that is, an autocratic variety of bureaucracy) is, from a purely technical point of view, capable of achieving the highest degree of efficiency. From a formal point of view, this type of organization has the most rational and effective means of controlling employees. On this occasion, Weber wrote: “This type of organization surpasses all other types in stability, punctuality, discipline and reliability. Thus, for the leaders of the organization, as well as for those who are associated with this organization, it becomes possible to easily see and evaluate the results of the work. And finally, the bureaucratic type of organization is superior to others in terms of efficiency and scale of work. Formally, it can be applied to all kinds of administrative tasks.

It is considered good form among modern analysts to laugh at Weber's thoughtful conclusions. The bureaucratic business world he described was devoid of life and inspiration. Nevertheless, he lived quite well.

If you need proof, look at Scott Adam's Dilbert, a company based on pragmatism and the traditional order of corporate life.

bureaucratic model, описанная Вебером, распространилась довольно широко. Это был, несомненно, узкий путь, и кажется, что идти по нему - значит выбиваться из современного ритма. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, this was the most efficient way of doing business. Подобно многим великим идеям, этот тип организации работал, по крайней мере, какой-то период - особенно в такой компании, как GE.

Hierarchy Fight: Christmas Geese

Well-managed and successful generations before Welch took over as its chief executive, GE built a huge network of management systems and layers to keep things running efficiently. It was a bureaucratic model, but also a rational one.

GE was nothing unique. Its structure consisting of a layer of managers and internal systems, was typical for a large company. «Представьте себе здание, - объясняет Уэлч. - Как только компания становится больше, она надстраивает этажи. The complication of the company leads to the appearance of walls. Разрастаются отделы - транспортный отдел, исследовательский отдел. This is a complex structure. It's an abundance of walls. Our job is to level the building, break down all these walls. If we do this, then new employees will come to us with their ideas. And our business is in great need of people who are ready for action.”

Welch found walls even where others could not see them. «Когда я присмотрелся к структуре GE, я нашел компанию весьма бюрократической - множество прослоек менеджеров и все такое - и не особенно дружелюбной. The business was very serious and boring. Но для меня бизнес - это идеи, развлечения, восторги и празднования».

Объектами одержимости Уэлча стали дьявольские близнецы - бюрократия и иерархия.

In the 80s. he destroyed the hierarchy. «In the 80s. we have canceled the management structure layer by layer. We broke one wall after another. Walls separating our functions. We've downsized. Once we did this, we found, first at the management level and then within the organization itself, that people who were given free rein, who were trusted and