Resource Management Innovations

Welcome to Book Bytes: An Introduction

Hi, and thanks for your continued interest in all things RMI. Welcome to Book Bytes. A whole new category where we’ll take a look at some of the texts I use in the classroom, in my consulting practice … and those that remain dust free on my bookshelves and beside my chair in the study. The Study is also that place that my family affectionately refers to as The Shrine. Having begun my career in the Canadian Armed Forces I have some memories that surround me in my study, which bring me great comfort of (very) good and meaningful times past … and ‘connectivity’. That thread of continuity that weaves through the ages & stages of your life and brought you ‘here’. I’m sure you are (or will be) a better judge of that than I as you navigate the blog and see (hear?) the common denominators that have transcended the better part of four decades in my life experience. My sincere attempt in the blog (book bytes specifically) is to provide a helping hand in the sift & sort of navigating the management & leadership texts that generate what the publishing houses consider ‘anchor income’. Anchor income is a subject area (like cooking, diet & self help) that is pretty much guaranteed sales, simply because of either the category or author, or both.

So how topical and relevant is the subject of ‘leadership’? A Google search of the word nets 228 million hits. Do you suppose we have something to say on the subject? Curiously, at a time when just about any constituency is asking the question “where have all the leaders gone”? Why is it we seem to know so much about a subject, yet its practical application seems to elude us? That is one of the convictions I have held as long as I can remember. Maybe that’s why my library is stacked the way it is. That too is the subject of my 3rd, 4th and 5th year university class. That has also likely fueled my predisposition in stating either in class or on a client site … “I don‘t care what you know, I care what you can do”. That … has led to one particular teacher, who consistently over the years has failed to disappoint. I may not have everything he has ever written, but I bet I’m close. (Curious?)

You know from personal experience that not every enticing title bears up under the weight of a full read … and those aren’t what I want to spend my time on in this blog. This isn’t Ricks ~ Rants … and it won’t be so much a review as it will be a sharing of what has really helped me along the way. (Mine is a very practical theology … once considered the queen of all sciences). Maybe that qualifies as a review? I don’t know. For the record, a review is not our objective or agenda. What we will do, is share our observations and most importantly our applications.

My desire with Book Bytes is to share with you … what I wish someone had (or did) share with me. All the helpful bits, without the nuisance of having to wade through the ‘stuff’ to get there.

I think lifelong learning is key to ‘being able to’ be aware, understand and live with peace and grace. “Seek Wisdom” King Solomon said. Followed in context of course with discernment … now what do I ‘do’ with the information I now have. Wisdom and discernment was never intended to be elusive or frustrate us. It was always to be a natural element in growth. “Too soon we get old. Too late we get smart”, my Grandma would tell me. In a previous blog I referenced a great quote from a Globe and Mail writer … “we are drowning in data, and starving for wisdom”. That seems to be a common theme I hear.

I have never met anyone who knowingly, willfully chose to do the wrong thing. A buddy of mine would often lament … “I want to do the right thing, can somebody please tell me what the heck the thing is?” How is it, we could come to have all this data and so little understanding of how to apply it. Well, that has been a bit of a quest of mine.

That is the intent of Book Bytes. I’ll share my own path, some experiential learning’s along the way … and the applied lessons that resulted. Sometimes the learning hasn’t been so much an answer as it has been an even better question. I like that. It still counts as progress … while the tension of the unanswered remains. It spurs us on.

Such is my experience with a fine man and a gentleman by the name of Peter Drucker. Drucker’s thinking, his theories and his ‘applications’ were introduced to the broader community in this BusinessWeek cover (Circa 1966).

I think of all the teachers, researchers, biographers and writers who have influenced my life and my walk over the years, none have more so than Peter Drucker. I find myself returning to his writing time and time again. He is considered the father of modern management. In my mind this takes nothing away from the work of the ancient Pharaohs of pyramid engineering fame. I am sure the architecture and engineering schools of the day had skilled and experienced practitioners at the front of the classroom, but that was largely an oral tradition. Not much was available for libraries in those days. Another reason I am grateful for all of the media of ‘this present age’.

I remember well the formal training I received in the Canadian Armed Forces in ‘leadership training’ school … which was not what you might expect. I grew up having consumed all the old WWII movies of the command centers with the big board’s on a wall or a table where mock battles were strategized, mapped, resourced and communicated to the field for execution. That was characterized as leadership. That is where strategy came together. ‘Management’ was something for the field units. We called that the ‘pointy end of the stick’. In our DND headquarters today in Ottawa there remains a unit of measure that is referred to as the ‘tooth to tail ratio’. Soldier to strategist in the vernacular. Sometimes it ‘feels’ as though we have too many suits … and not enough soldiers. I hear that lament from board room to work bench in my private practice. It plays out in every industry and profession. It ‘seems’ as though there are way too may opinions … and few who want to get their hands dirty. Getting a picture of the distinction between leadership & management?

This is where (through the years) Drucker’s theories of leadership have stood the test of time. I personally consider his work more in line with principles … as the theory has been applied and proven true. Principles that today continue to define our distinctions of leadership vs management. They include:

• Planning
• Organizing
• Controlling
• Motivating
• Delegating
• Coordinating, and
• Communicating.

We can tinker with terms and references (as ‘controlling’ sounds a little Theory-X for a 21st century society) … but the fundamental principles remain. I don’t think anybody does leadership training better than a nations armed forces. Although Canadians have and do distinguish themselves in this area, I know other countries would say the same … and this isn’t intended to be a spittin contest.

In my 30+ vocational years, I have never heard a disparaging reference to Drucker. A great clinical mind, tactician, communicator and someone who would always default to a practical application. A man well received in the board room or the shop floor.

Admittedly my training has shaped my thinking. I have also been blessed with the advantage of having been able to apply my training in 6 countries and 10 provinces. I don’t consider myself a world traveler but I have had the honor of working beside a cross section of cultures … and Drucker’s principles would transcend them all. It seems we are wired in a reasonably similar fashion … and we all want the best for our families and the communities in which we serve.

In Book Bytes you will likely hear some common themes. Hence the heads-up in this inaugural message. My intent is to bring focus, clarity and a sense of purpose as we seek to define where are we going, as we build a missional agenda to get there from here. What, precedes How. There are fundamental principles that define both that I think are equally applicable in bridge building as they are in pie making. Whether I am building a standing army or a family … the principles are transferrable. In that, this is not a business class. It’s a life class.

Cheers;

Rick @ RMI
 

Posted By: Rick Kneeshaw 2010/07/03
Categories: Book ~ Bytes