Models & misadventures : the perfectible machine fallacy
Purpose: The author argues that the model for the management of the U.S. economy and businesses – one that assumes that they can be run like machines –is producing outcomes that neither were anticipated nor are desired. Design/methodology/approach: The model of a perfectible machine needs to be supplanted by a model of a complex adaptive system in order to turnaround the performance of the economy and its companies. Findings: In businesses, unrestrained pursuit of efficiency has had an unexpected and unintended effect. Practical implications: One important way to design for complexity is to adopt multiple internally contradictory proxies for success. Originality/value: Offers a critical insight for corporate leaders: The U.S. economy is not a perfectible machine: it is a complex adaptive system. Companies are not perfectible machines: they are complex adaptive systems. To produce better outcomes, leaders need to design for each element – complexity, adaptability and systemic nature.
Year of publication: |
2020
|
---|---|
Authors: | Martin, Roger L. |
Published in: |
Strategy & Leadership. - Emerald, ISSN 1087-8572, ZDB-ID 2039442-1. - Vol. 48.2020, 5 (05.10.), p. 3-8
|
Publisher: |
Emerald |
Saved in:
Online Resource
Saved in favorites
Similar items by person
-
The future of the MBA : designing the thinker of the future
Moldoveanu, Mihnea, (2008)
-
The opposable mind : how successful leaders win through integrative thinking
Martin, Roger L., (2007)
-
Das Zeitalter des Kundenkapitalismus
Martin, Roger L., (2010)
- More ...