The Management Imperative
by
Anton van den Berg
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Anton van den Berg on Smashwords
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
First Published in South Africa 2010
The contents of this book is copyrighted under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty.
The right of Anton L van den Berg to be identified as the author of this work is uncontested and therefore asserted.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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People, Resources, Money and the world
What is the value of a person?
How Life Really Works – Short Thoughts
Give them a light, a fan and a siren
Accountability and Responsibility are not the same
Process, Production and other nice words
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Introduction
Management is not the exclusive domain of business executives. If you are a person that needs to get the children to school on time, dressed, fed, packed and prepared; you do management on a significant level. This book should apply equally to the care giver or the executive.
This book is not intended to show up theoretical studies. Theoretical study requires moderation or at least support of viewpoints. Whether it is qualitatively or quantitatively based, theory requires base referential integrity, a clearly defined problem statement attached to a clear methodology by which proof or disproof of a specific viewpoint can be provided. In this forum the author can simply state something and it is up to the reader to evaluate the correctness of the statement.
The weight of evidence or proof resides almost on a basis used within some legal systems. If the weight of proof enters the realm where it attains a high level of probability, this book will leave it there. The reader will be in a position to evaluate these topics for him or herself to a point on non applicability or to beyond reasonable doubt.
It is not intended to be used as a method either. Just like dealing with alcoholism the first step is acknowledgement after which raising self awareness, setting of shorter term goals and continuous monitoring has to occur. Considering this, some readers might feel that this book does not offer any substantial help, however raising awareness is the only help that will stand the test of time in most of the topics covered.
As to how the book was compiled, I placed my thoughts as and when they occurred moving through the different chapters where the thoughts lead me at the time.
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People, Resources, Money and the world
What is the value of a person?
It is really difficult to encapsulate this. Like an exquisite dish is more than the sum of its parts and it is the subtle blend of ingredients that combine to produce something extraordinary, humans are made like this.
Probably the most difficult thing for each person to understand is just how special, extraordinary and wonderful you are. I promise to try and show some of it, but I will fail as each of us has an innate capacity that exceeds our wildest dreams. Whether you believe that you are created, re-incarnated, gifted life from the universe or simply conceived, each has the following in common.
The worst mathematical case scenario is your mother had sex with your father once and you were conceived (this would include artificially inseminated people as well). At the point of ejaculation millions of sperm were released and raced against one another to hit the jackpot; a ready and fertile egg. This means that you are the winner in a race against a minimum of 18 million of competitors even before you drew your first breath. That is a staggering number. How much is 18 million?
To try and illustrate; the average person has an average heart rate of between 60 and 80 beats per minute. Let us take 70 as a number, which means that your heart beats slightly faster than once a second. To show how much 18 million is, it will take your heart 257143 minutes to beat 18 million times, which is 178 days. That is almost 200 days and almost 50% of a year (48.9%). Just think about it while you sit there and feel your heart beat.
You are a winner of staggering proportions. Now if you consider that your mommy and daddy had taken a couple attempts at this conception thing, every occurrence you are willing to add will double the 18 million. That should make you a winner in the range of Gazillions upon Gazillions.
So mathematically you are the victor against absolutely staggering odds. Does that make you feel better? Not yet?
As of June 21, 2008, the world's population is believed to be 6,704,845,726. It is physiologically impossible (even for twins) to have an exact duplicate or even an approximated duplicate of yourself in that number. That makes you pretty unique don’t you think. That is only the current population. There has NEVER EVER been anybody like you in the history of this planet (re-incarnate believers have to concede here that at each re-incarnation the body is different and the experiences and exposure are unique to that incarnation). Do you think we can even guess how big that number is? I can tell you – WOW!!!!!! That’s how big.
So you are unique to an absolutely staggering degree. Does that make you feel better? Not yet? If this does not make you feel special in some way or form, I will probably not be able to impress you with anything else.
So you are a winner and pretty unique, so what? How does that attach value?
If you consider that you have a unique perspective on life, love and anything else and that you represent a unique thought pattern coloured by not only the chemicals splashing around in your brain but also your unique experiences and exposures in life, you should believe that you own absolutely unique answers to the most difficult questions facing mankind today.
Just remember this is also true of every person you encounter.
What separates humans from animals? Is it the superior brain in terms of size and complexity, our capacity to award perspective or is there something else? We know that plants respond to music and that certain primates can distinguish themselves from others and we know that dolphins have complex social patterns and sophisticated communication skills. Religious people and re-incarnates will immediately refer to the soul as the distinguishing factor, but the primary aim of the soul in both these cases is to experience life filled with growth in areas like empathy, compassion and care. These are traits that can be observed in many animal species, so it sort of leaves us with very little in terms of separation from the animal world.
I don’t think it is important to separate us from the animal kingdom at all. Whether we are products of creation or evolution, here we are. In basic construction we are biochemical machines programmed to achieve very basic things:
Survival (Preservation of self)
Territorialism (Ensure the growth of offspring)
Reproduction (Preservation of Species and DNA diversity)
Competition (Natural selection and Control of Territory and Resources)
Quality of life and Group-forming (Improving Chances of Survival)
These values are true of the most basic of life forms and we are not different from them except for one thing. We can choose to enjoy the trip.
If you choose you can enjoy Beethoven's Symphony No 9 or if that is not your cup of tea U2’s In God's Country or … You may appreciate a ballet, a painting, a sunset, the laughter of a child or the challenge of a mountain climb. It does not matter as long as you can recognise the enjoyment of it. Without really understanding it, mourning the loss of a loved one somehow adds to the colour of enjoyment, hearing a sad song or simply watching someone doing something that will end up hurting them contributes to the colour we see as enjoyment.
If you try, you can change your perception on your life from it being a struggle into it being a mystery or colourful puzzle or a string of songs. This simple change will allow you to view everyday occurrences from a completely different perspective. Each human being has the ability and the capacity to choose their perspective or point of view. This is what I think separates us from animals. If your life has been a struggle up to now, you can change that in an instant by simply choosing to adapt your perspective. Bring me the animal that can do that.
I include this from a web page dedicated to Marianne Williamson
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” (http://skdesigns.com/internet/articles/quotes/williamson/our_deepest_fear/ 2008/07/06).
With this change in direction I would like to challenge you to relate all the stories that you have experienced in your life where any person in any culture has exceeded his or her potential. It would probably be possible to relate to some instance where an athlete excelled to a point where ambition and drive overcame ability, but how well did these persons do in all of the other aspects of their life?
If we analyse ourselves we will discover that we are at the same time extremely complex but also very predictable and simple entities. Modern humans operate in five or six discernable characteristic areas:
Financial
Intellectual
Spiritual
Emotional
Sexual / Physical
Cultural / Social
This assumption forms the basis of what is termed the “wheel of life” and works from a very simple premise. If we choose to measure ourselves in any way we simply need to apply it consistently and we will get the most surprising result. If we introduce some person to this and they had to rate themselves in terms of attaining a percentage achieved of their own potential (or what would have been realistically attainable given circumstances, or what should have been achieved at this stage of their lives or any other defined criteria) and the value is consistently applied to each of these characteristic areas, it will yield the following table.
When we express this table as a radar chart, we can quickly see how this person’s life is focussed and which areas are deemed more important than others.
From the above I can assure you that this person is not leading a happy, productive and fulfilled life. Most books that deal with us as humans will use the following word – BALANCE. The example person’s life is not in balance. If his or her chart were to be viewed as a wheel, it would find it difficult to turn and allow this person to progress.
Now for the most interesting part, if someone had to score only 2% on each of the axis and his or her results resembled a near round shape, they would be deliriously happy. This is contrary to what we tell ourselves. Work on the strong points and the weak ones will take care of themselves. We seem incapable of focussing on the weak points because we have to get ahead in our job, religion, marriage or any other specific aspect of our lives.
This makes us unhappy; when we are unhappy we blame ourselves, the government or something else for robbing us from our ability to be happy. We seem to lose contact with the reason why we started becoming unhappy and evaluate the result of a route without considering the route itself. This simple exercise may assist you in discovering the route you have chosen to attain happiness is fundamentally flawed.
If we now go back to the insert by Marianne Williamson above, we can see why we limit ourselves to what others say about us, how we perceive ourselves and how we measure up against others. The extract reinforces a simple standpoint – You can only progress to the limit you set for yourself.
We have discovered that each of us is a biological marvel able to overcome and survive against staggering odds and that each of us has the capacity to exceed our wildest expectations if we only allow ourselves to do so. Therefore I have to place the value of a person beyond what we seem to be willing and able to fathom. You are valuable beyond your own understanding not just to yourself but to the rest of us too, if you allow it.
Now for the big questions:
Are you still alive?
Why?
What are you going to do with this life?
Anger and Communication
Is it just me or do ears slam shut the moment adrenaline enters a conversation? This is the one area where all humans descend from animals and men are not from Mars and women are not from Venus.
The second aspect that should become noticeable is that there is no direct correlation between the scale of the conflict and causal substance. It therefore does not matter how important or insignificant the cause of the conflict is, what does seem to matter is how unmovable, resolute or determined the proponents to the conflict are.
The life cycle of conflict differs from most “standard” lifecycles in the aspect that it has the capacity to introduce its own fuel or life giving substance. Fire will increase in intensity for as long as there are external sources of fuel, but once these sources of fuel have been consumed it whither and dies irrespective of its size. Conflict is not constrained in this regard or doomed to the same fate and can seemingly flare forward long after the initial fuel has been exhausted.
The theoretical answer to conflict resolution resides within communication. There are numerous types, styles and techniques to resolve conflict. The basis of most of these resides within one of three families:
Bargaining and negotiation has its origin in the study of interpersonal communication, discussion and group communication,
Mediation stems from group dynamic and group decision making processes focussed around consensus,
Arbitration hails from the era of the Greeks and utilises classical deliberative and forensic speaking where a decision is made and has to be accepted.
From what was observed about conflict before the theoretical position was considered some aspects appear to be missing from the accepted methods of conflict resolution. That may be why we still have wars and freedom fighters. Aspects that are conspicuous in their absence include time, the emotive content, fallout or consequential emissions from the conflict and settlement pre-conditions.
In a conflict situation time is either a friend or an enemy. The relationship that should be clear is that the smaller the groups of participants the higher the probability that elapsed time will contribute to the resolution. Two persons involved in conflict can walk away, cool down and return later to resolve the issue rationally. The opposite can be observed where groups with varying opinions are exposed to conflict. These groups intensify their standpoint and entrench their viewpoints as time progresses which escalate the conflict.