Friedman was a prisoner of his time. It was when Edward Shils wrote about Center and Periphery. Both saw the world as homogeneous where the leaders of organizations where the leaders of society. They represented all of us. They believe that what was was true on the inside was true on the outside. As a result, business became fixated on preserving the interior structure of the organization. This became even more pronounced in the 1980s when Jack Welch turned GE inward as a generator of financial assets.
As an organizational consultant beginning my work in the mid-1990s, I saw many "leaders" sticking their heads in the ground so that they didn't have to deal with the reality that the world had already become heterogeneous. It ultimately brought the end of my practice after the Recession because these leaders thought the world was going to turn inward or in the language of the day, back to normal. We are still not and neve will be back to normal.
Without a real understanding of context, meaning the exterior world of the business, leaders are lost and seek sychophantic subordinates to maintain the illusion of normalcy. In the competitive landscape of today, people will leave and go where they have confidence that the company's leadership is living in the real world. Instead of following the money, we should follow the people.
Friedman was a prisoner of his time. It was when Edward Shils wrote about Center and Periphery. Both saw the world as homogeneous where the leaders of organizations where the leaders of society. They represented all of us. They believe that what was was true on the inside was true on the outside. As a result, business became fixated on preserving the interior structure of the organization. This became even more pronounced in the 1980s when Jack Welch turned GE inward as a generator of financial assets.
As an organizational consultant beginning my work in the mid-1990s, I saw many "leaders" sticking their heads in the ground so that they didn't have to deal with the reality that the world had already become heterogeneous. It ultimately brought the end of my practice after the Recession because these leaders thought the world was going to turn inward or in the language of the day, back to normal. We are still not and neve will be back to normal.
Without a real understanding of context, meaning the exterior world of the business, leaders are lost and seek sychophantic subordinates to maintain the illusion of normalcy. In the competitive landscape of today, people will leave and go where they have confidence that the company's leadership is living in the real world. Instead of following the money, we should follow the people.