From Dan Pink’s TED talk on “The Surprising Science of Motivation”:
“In the 20th century we came up with this idea of management. Management did not emanate from nature. Management is not a tree it’s a television set. Okay? – Somebody invented it. And it doesn’t mean it’s going to work forever… Traditional notions of management are great if you want compliance. But if you want engagement self-direction works better.”
Pink also introduces parts of his “new operating system for our businesses” based on autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
The specifics of Pink’s new operating system are interesting – but I think as values they are almost universally accepted. More interesting is the acknowledgment that you might install a new operating system into organisations to replace ‘management’ itself. This idea has been the premise of MWT from its inception (see here and here for example).
The general principle of the MWT Model is to replace planning, monitoring, and controlling with collaboration architectures, technology-enabled markets, and operationalised brands. The MWT Model also positions management as a technology rather than a class of individuals.
In a sense, Pink’s new operating model fits into the MWT Model by acknowledging management as a technology, replacing it with something else, and operationalising an internal brand based on the values of autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Awesome!
Watch the full video below:
;