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PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY: Overview | ![]() |
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In this Overview, I'll try to acquaint you with the main ideas of this book. First, by way of an example, intended to exemplify almost all of this book's main ideas. The example is a simplified version of the life cycle of a company. It portrays the life cycle's four stages of development: conception, start-up, growth, and maturity. These four stages should be recognizable in many levels of organized human endeavors, at the company or product line level or, even, just the life cycle of a committee's work or of a project, large or small. This sequence of distinctive life cycle stages was, in fact, the wellspring of the discovery of this endeavor theory. About any theory, it seems fair to ask, "So what?" The response to this is that this theory lends itself to a process of making the management of endeavors more rationalized. That brings with it all the advantages of rationalization including identification of changing needs, confidence and alignment in analysis, decisions, and actions which, together, lead to a fuller realization of ideas and, presumably, greater progress and prosperity. Your endeavor, or any endeavor, can then be evaluated, guided, and executed systematically as never before. You will be given examples in several fields at several scales intended to guide you and let you test the particulars of both theory and practice. I conclude with the kinds of outcomes you should expect. Then you can decide your own answer to: "Is the climb worth the view?" Before
answering, though, consider this: Progress and prosperity on the
grandest scale has been made by collapsing numerous emperical
experiences into a single theory. In one sweep, a good theory
enables thousands of instances to be abstracted and manipulated
systematically, even in concert with other theories, rather than
emperically or idiosyncratically. Theory even enables what empericism
precludes: extrapolation! Extrapolation beyond experience enables
landing on the moon, flying faster than sound, building nuclear weapons,
inventing a "miracle drug," ... not to mention everyday
conveniences like mobile phones and networked computers. And,
consider that the theories of the Scientific Revolution almost half a
millennium ago formed the foundation of the technological and economic
development of the West. Right now, we are, I firmly believe, in the
throes of a second wave of theories which will form the foundation of a
Biotic1
Revolution which will become the foundation of a global biotic
development from which much, possibly most, will eminate from and
benefit the Far East. As the Scientific Revolution was based on
the Scientific Method, so this new revolution will be based on
Complexity Theory and its attendant models and paradigms, of which
these writings might even be remembered as an early
It
is interesting to note that when the Scientific Revolution was in
full swing back in the 17th Century, its revolutionary
character was barely detected. 2
So it is today with the Biotic
Revolution; it's significance may not be appreciated until decades or
possibly a century from now. However, with it will come improved
understanding and management of our dreams and goals and, quite
possibly, the resurgance of the East. As
the flawed assumptions of planetary motion and mechanics became
inadequate and exposed centuries ago, so are the remedies and theories
on managing human endeavors buckling under the stresses of modern day
realities. The occasionally contradictory, situationally based, and
often irrelevent prescriptions eminating from researchers and consultants
in the field of management are surely reminiscent of the epicycles
used to explain the Earth Centric planetary motion. As in the time of
Galileo and Kepler, the world is crying out for some unifying order.
Instead, "publish or perish" faculties are bloating curricula
and the literature, not with theory, but with situational babble and
perverse mathematics that executives have to re-interpret and often
ignore and even defy in the discharge of their very real responsibilities.
By contrast these writings will reveal a consistent, coherent, template
that can be used by you as well as these beleagured executives to be the
masters, not alchemists, of endeavors.
The
basic thesis of this book is that successful endeavors, even nation
building (which we'll see in the case of China), go through four, not
an arbitrary four, but a distinct and identifiable four, stages. It
is possible to skip a stage, or even to adopt another order, but that
course is far from optimal. And, as is the case with China's arrested
development from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, the next stage can be
avoided. In fact, among head strong, domineering entrepreneurs, this is
a common tactic, but, again and alas, at a great cost to progress and
prosperity, not to mention those directly involved.
Let's
get acquainted with the four stages by applying them to the general case
of the life cycle of a company (or product line). 3
Acquaint yourself with the table below, if fact spend ten or fifteen
minutes testing it. For example, check out the "STORMING" column.
Does that seem to capture the essence of the entrepreneuring or innovative
phase of a company (or a product development)? 4
The key point is that as you progress from one stage to the next, you
must change how you operate! Not just at the surface, but for best
results, through and through. And, those fluent in either being specialists
with strong biases in one or two of the stages or for those fluent in shifting
from one stage to the next will make the greatest contributions.
The first stage, FORMING, calls for you to try to project yourself into the ideal environment to "create & promote." Your best creativity may well come in the shower. Completely insulated from interruptions and the cares of the world. And, there may be nothing better than a "soap box" or a podium for you to promote your idea. But, the management rules for this stage of an idea's actualization are radically different than the next and subsequent stages. Now, you are a visionary ("The Sky's the Limit") with risk in outward denial in the pursuit of followers, followers with cash or talent. When you get them, you're done with this stage. The second stage, STORMING, calls for you to "struggle & win." Your ideas will be subjected to a battle of wits and your adversaries will be threatened by your prospective success. You are determined to overcome all the challenges (aka, risks) much like the leader of a commando leader (with a "Fire in Your Belly"). Clever, quick, surgical, and innovative. You are unrelenting in your "selling" of your "design." After many battles, finally the war is won and your "design" dominates the field. In management circles, this is called the "Dominant Design." 7 Just like a commando unit, the management style has to be "character based"; the cost of checks, balances, concensus, is just too high. You trust or your die. Initiative rules. This is entrepreneuring. It is fun, fast, and dangerous. The hardest transition comes next. The third stage, NORMING, calls for a sea change in culture. To "plan & build" requires abandoning the checkless, free-wheeling culture of the commmando unit and adoption of a systematic, scaleable, regimented culture like a regular army (time to "Get Down to Earth"). Most innovative companies fail to make this transition, consequently their great designs are taken over by established regular armies. The management must have (at the upper levels, at least) a "chain of command" and be segmented by function, territory, or (in the case of matrix management, and/or) product line. But this disciplined, profit oriented, achieves its success when the market is saturated. That's when the next item of sale costs more to sell than to adjust and sell. Then it is time to move onto the next stage. The
last stage, PERFORMING, is a time to "observe
& adjust." The discouragement of change, must
way to the encouragement of adjustment; adjustment to tastes, times,
and an ever changing context (just "Go with the Flow").
This requires constant awareness and feedback. Theory is weak;
empericism rules; dogma has no place. The model is the benign local
police: ever aware, anxious to serve, always adjusting to community
norms and practices. For the business, the eye is on cash flow and
no big investments are necessary or sought. This is a time of
"cashing in" and "integrating into life" the
original idea. But, alas, it will "run down," become
messy and cumbersome (like Microsoft's Operating System) and the
time will be ripe for a new idea to come along and advance the world
with a new idea. Thusly, beginning the process of Progress and
Prosperity all over again. In order that you can apply this Theory to managing endeavors that concern you, I will give you the understanding and tools to answer essential questions, such as:
Keep in mind, the little word "endeavor" in the first question above can be anything from your personal development to running a country! In the course of just this Overview, I cannot do justice to the full scope of this endeavor theory, but I did follow it through the case of a company's life cycle. In doing so, it should be clear that even the particulars apply to a product's life cycle. With the appropriate generalizations, the the endeavor theory applies to an as yet undefined or discovered class of Complex Systems from corpuscles to civilizations. To become a master of endeavoring, I recommend you read the entire book.
Click here to see the Actual Framework
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| 1 |
Geyer, Robert, and Rihani, Samir. 2004. The
Death of Order and the Dawn of Complexity. Pre-publication. |
| 2 |
Cohen, I. Bernard. Revolution in Science.
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985). |
| 3 |
There are similar frameworks for each level: Country,
Company, Committee and Career. There also some esoteric or fanciful
frameworks for: Civilization, Cranium, and |
| 4 |
The "Success Measure" is a measure of your
progress towards the Goal, and in the STORMING stage, it answers the question,
"How goes the struggle?" Market Saturation means it's time to start
offering different models by making adjustments to the original |
| 5 |
MBTI refers to the Myers-Briggs personality Type Indicator
based on the work of Carl |
| 6 |
Taken from the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument based
on the work of Roger |
| 7 |
Abernathy, W. M. and Utterback, J. M., 1978.
Patterns of Industrial Innovation, Cambridge, Massachusetts:
MIT Press, Technology Review. Cambridge, MA, |
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Source: http://cha4mot.com/progress-and-prosperity/Chapter00/Overview.html Copyright © 1995-2006 by Cook-Hauptman Associates, Inc., all rights reserved. |
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