Abstract
Organizational Myths is a conceptual paper that examines how, as a result of largely being unaware of and ignoring the of organizational behavior, managers unintentionally fail in most of their improvement efforts. This failure rate is confirmed by numerous studies, e.g. Kotter (1996). An understanding of dark side issues provides for a deeper understanding of organizational resilience, and enables managers to deal more successfully with the complexity of organizational life, learn from success and build on failures. These insights apply equally well to for-profit and non-profit organizations of all kinds. The ideas developed in this article are based on over 30 years of international consulting experience, interviews with managers in diverse companies and organizations, and extension of basic findings in behavioral economics.
Highlights
A good deal of current theory and practice in Human Resource Management (HRM) derives from what might be termed naïve human relations' assumptions.Many of those advocating “excellence”, “good to great”, re-engineering and six sigma, to name but a few recent management trends, tend in their work, frequently, to hold powerful though unexpressed and unaware values that affect their "programs" as well as themselves
The fervor with which the industrial world and management adopted “quality” and Total Quality Management (TQM) was based more on faith than evidence. This example illustrates the tendency to assume that HRM practices will naturally result in positive desired change
The simple answer to this failure is that organizational change is complex and anyone knowledgeable about Complexity Theory is well aware that complexity is never linear
Summary
A good deal of current theory and practice in Human Resource Management (HRM) derives from what might be termed naïve human relations' assumptions. Other aspects of human interaction and organizational life that involve "negative" emotions and attributes have been neglected, given only lip service attention, or are in subtle ways denigrated. The failure to openly address the dark aspects of HRM programs I believe has been, and is, the source of a severe limitation in the understanding and implementation of such programs and of organizational resilience This is not to say that I am either pessimistic in my views or that I believe successful organizational change cannot be achieved.
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