WLTM: Romantic Managers

Say "romantic economist" and you're likely to elicit the same reaction as you would if you said "creative accountant". While we may need both economists and accountants, we hardly associate either with the fluffy side of life.

Richard Bronk in his book, The Romantic Economist: Imagination in Economics, makes a strong case for economists in particular to stop relying on the usual metaphors and language that currently describe their discipline.

Like management, economics too is littered with metaphors, concepts and frameworks drawn from mechanics and early physics.

Management science for instance tried defining the job of managing almost entirely through the language of mathematics. Based on this some organisations even assumed that only highly numerate managers could expect to succeed in their profession.

Now though, managers, and indeed economists need to follow the lead of literary people and use more intuition and be more willing to go with their feelings.

To be a Romantic Manager you need to be someone who, while not ignoring the value of metrics, decision theory, or statistical analysis, is also happy to follow the logic of viewing your organisation as like a living organism, a complex adaptive system (see also Managers, Embrace Your Future: Uncertainty and Risk)

What will it mean in practical terms then to be a Romantic Manager? There are at five important new management behaviours you will need to adopt.

1. Simplicity versus Complexity. The familiar notion that the secret of successful management lies in always keeping things simple must give way to seeing the world through a lens of complexity. Not only are many situations not simply black and white, but often have hidden depths and nuances that can radically affect the outcome of decision making, planning and problem solving.
2. Certainty versus paradox. Romantic Managers need not always appearing sure of what they are doing. They recognise that the organisational environment is stuffed full of ambiguity, uncertainty and paradoxes that must be resolved or contained.
3. Clarity versus Good Enough. Much of traditional management is also about getting clear on everything, making sure you know exactly what you are doing and how you are going to do it. The Romantic Manager realises that the world is not really like that. It is often impossible, for example to get absolutely clear on some courses of action and that what is needed instead is merely a good enough vision.
4. Optimism versus the Dark Side. In many organisations the way you get on is by adopting a relentless and often draining form of optimism. In such places pessimists do badly and receive scant attention from those in authority. The Romantic Manager accepts that there is a shadow side to every organisation, and indeed to every person. Ignoring this shadow side can be disastrous, for example, sweeping evidence of fraud under the carpet or rejecting warnings about the dangers of a particular course of action.
5. Big bang versus simple linked systems. The Romantic Manager has no illusions that the big bang approach to solving organisational challenges makes sense. In complex adaptive systems you cannot expect massive upheavals to produce either predictable or even desirable results. Take the current project to computerise NHS records. With a sad shake of the head, the Romantic Manager would regretfully predict that it is unlikely ever to work effectively and it would be far better tackled in smaller, linked projects, each of which would deliver added value on its own.

For some, the notion of the Romantic Manager will seem a step too far in the evolution of managerial practice. For others though it will allow them to create pictures of reality that make more sense than the often sterile assertions of those currently in charge of organisations.

(Pic: aussiegall cc2.0)