HUMANISTIC MANAGEMENT
Most of what is valuable in management theory today comes from humanistic psychology. It is a field in which we have been particularly active. This activity has concentrated mainly on two areas; how do you set up an organisation to function well, and how do you cure an organisation which is not functioning well?
When it comes to setting up an organisation, we have found that a hierarchical organisation (often called a bureaucracy) tends to be destructive of the people in it, and also tends to be much too rigid in a fast-changing society. So we have been much concerned with the alternatives to hierarchy such as a matrix organisation, network organisation or semi-autonomous work groups. Where for some reason a hierarchy has to be retained, we prefer a flat hierarchy to a tall hierarchy - in other words, three levels rather than fifteen levels.
An organisation of less than 200 people hardly ever needs to be hierarchical, and the vast majority of organisations in this country have less than 25 people in them, in terms of permanent employees.
In a non-hierarchical organisation it is much easier to get relationships of openness and trust. With such relationships, communication becomes easier. With good communications, rumours, misperception and paranoia can less easily blossom. This in turn leads to more openness and trust. This sort of virtuous circle brings about what we call a high-synergy organisation. Synergy is the two plus two equals five principle, where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
In such an atmosphere, conflict resolution is relatively easy rather than extremely difficult, and we think it is important to teach the skills of conflict resolution to all those who may need it. Good conflict resulution helps people to change and develop.
When it comes to healing a sick organisation, a humanistic consultant may be called in. The approach we take is called organisation development. We treat the organisation as if it were a client in therapy, and ask the question - "where does it hurt most?"
Usually we start at the top and work down, because the people at the top have the most power to obstruct any solutions they don't agree with, and also because if they change the others are more likely to take the change process seriously. We interview each member of the ruling group (not usually more than 12 people) separately. We report back at a general meeting (which often continues for one or two days) at which some of the issues are resolved, and action plans set up to deal with the outcome of those decisions.
Then the process is repeated with the next layer, and the next, until everyone has been involved. This is a very successful approach which has been well researched.
It is sometimes said, by people who who have not really been into the matter, that the humanistic approach is too soft and too people-oriented, but in fact humanistic consultants always emphasise the importance of doing justice to the task as well as to the people involved. It is important not to confuse the humanistic approach with the "human relations" school of management theory which flourished in the 1930s.
BOOKLIST
Allen, Robert F (1980) Beat the system! McGraw-Hill, New York. The best book yet written on the built-in norms within organizations, and how they need to be changed if people's actions are to change.
Argyris, Chris (1986) Strategy, change and defensive routines Pitman, London. One of the best humanistic consultants, continually challenging and rethinking orthodox approaches.
Boydell, Tom & Pedler, Mike (1981) Management self-development Gower, Aldershot. A very good set of essays on different aspects of the matter.
Fisher, Roger & Ury, William (1986) Getting to Yes Hutchinson Business, London. One of the key contributions of humanistic psychology was the idea of conflict resolution, and this book has become a classic.
French, Wendell L & Bell, Cecil H (1984) Organization development (3rd ed) Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs. A humanistic classic, now updated, one of the best texts. Really tells you what it is all about.
Handy, Charles B (1985) Understanding organizations (3rd ed) Penguin, London. A marvellous book on every aspect of management theory. Not exclusively humanistic, but doing justice to that viewpoint.
Herbst, Philip G (1976) Alternatives to hierarchies Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden. A sophisticated examination of other ways of organizing.
Huczynski, Andrzej (1983) Encyclopedia of management development methods Gower, Alkdershot. Out of all the many methods described in this book, the vast majority come from humanistic psychology.
Kanter, Rosabeth M (1985) The change masters Unwin, London. Rosabeth researched communes in the 1970s, and is now one of the highest-paid consultants in the US. Her views are listened to by the biggest organizations, and they are humanistic.
Kennedy, Carol (1991) Guide to the management gurus Business Books, London. Fourteen out of the 33 names listed are humanistic in outlook.
Massarik, Fred (ed)(1990) Advances in organization development (Vol.1) Ablex, Norwood. Fifteen essays giving updated knowledge in different areas of theory and practice, edited by a prominent AHP member.
Owens, Robert G (1987) Organizational behaviour in education (3rd ed) Prentice- Hall, Englewood Cliffs. Application of humanistic thinking to educational establishments as organizations.
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Association for Humanistic Psychology