lap0530's Full Review: Richard Farson - Management of the Absurd: Paradox...
Management of the Absurd
As a management consultant with more than twenty years of experience, I am faced with the unsettling reality that in my field everything works and nothing works. What I mean by that is virtually any technique or approach to change managerial behavior and improve organizational performance will work--in the short run. And every one of these techniques or approaches over time will fade and disappear, leaving no trace of its ever having been tried.
The managerial response to this paradox, based on conventional wisdom, is to try some other technique on the assumption that it is better or more correct than the previous approach. Over the years, the management bromides have included management by objectives, quality circles, total quality management, re-engineering, and now the learning organization and systems thinking. But all these implemented as techniques produce the same results: short term gains followed by long term disillusionment and dissolution.
What is going on here? Could conventional management wisdom be wrong? Richard Farson thinks so, and I think he’s right. Farson’s unconventional approach to leadership operates from a different set of assumptions than the traditional rational model. In his view, human behavior and its organizational manifestation are replete with complexities and paradoxes. Because of this, approaches that simplify behavior and offer a series of prescriptive steps to success are doomed to ultimate failure because they do not comprehend the absurdity of the situation.
Some Definitions
A paradox is a seeming absurdity. The natural human inclination when confronted with a paradox is to seek to resolve it. Farson’s approach is to embrace the absurdity and to seek to understand the truth contained therein. By embracing paradox, one sees the organization and its members for what they are: complex, political, and often absurd. It should be pointed out that absurdity is not stupidity. Stupidity is a lack of competence or an intransigence. Absurdity, on the other hand, arises from the essential nature of the situation and presents a dilemma. Stupidity is a problem--a big problem. On the other hand, absurdity produces behavior that is seemingly irrational, the opposite of what one would predict. But it is not stupid. Absurdity produces dilemmas, not problems.
These dilemmas cannot be resolved rationally. The paradox cannot be predicted, controlled, or prevented--only managed. In this sense management means “coping with,” not overcoming. Most management and leadership books tell the reader something to do, but Farson tells the leader to think. And so, the management of paradox in leadership involves thinking in a different way contrary to the common wisdom and just as often not taking action as doing something in the face of paradox.
Some Illustrations
Perhaps the best way to expose Farson’s contrarian views is to illustrate them. He states his observations of absurdity declaratively, fully aware that the paradox demands explanation and illustration. The statements are often jarring or irritating to the reader because they are so opposed to the typical view.
For example, most of us are taught and accept without question that we learn from our failures and the successes of others. An application of this conventional wisdom is the creation of seminars and motivational lectures in which others who are successful tell us how they did it, so we can emulate their success. Farson states the opposite--we learn from our successes and from other people’s failures. Attending such a success seminar actually depresses us rather than motivates us, because we can’t relate, and may be jealous of the others’ abilities and performance. But when we learn of others’ failure (especially those of an expert), we can relate. We empathize with others when they express their own vulnerability, and can learn from their failures.
As another illustration, Farson points out the powerful effect of the dilemma of rising expectations--the better things are, the worse they feel. Common wisdom holds that organizations needing the most help are the ones that seek and benefit from help. But the paradox is that the organizations (and people) needing the most help resist it the most, while those organizations and individuals who are healthiest are the ones seeking the most assistance.
A third illustration involves the paradox of leadership. There are no leaders, there is only leadership. Farson cautions against the great enemy of organizational effectiveness, the stereotypical image of a leader. The powerful leader who takes charge robs the organization of its own power. This, according to Farson, is dysfunctional. The leader becomes a micromanager, overcontrolling and over-responsible while the group becomes less productive. According to Farson, leadership is ultimately defined by the group and the situation, not by the personal characteristics of the leader. The same person who is a leader in one situation could be a follower in another.
Management of the Absurd continues in this vein, setting conventional wisdom on its ear while explaining the all-too-obvious truth that most of what we call good management technique does not really work. By examining paradox, Farson tells the reader why planning is an ineffective way to bring about change, why praising people does not motivate them, and why we think we want creativity or change, but we really don’t.
Critique
This short (172 pages in paperback) book is divided into 33 very short chapters of around five pages each. The book is a fast read, but unlike many management texts, it is not simple or simplistic. The initial reaction to Farson’s statements is one of shock, disbelief, or even denial. The more vested one is in the common wisdom, the stronger the reaction. Metaphorically, one needs to take small bites of these paradoxes and chew them thoroughly before they can be swallowed.
Farson is eminently qualified to write this book. He is a psychologist who studied with the late Carl Rogers. Farson has been a professor, an academic administrator, and a CEO. His contrarian views were shaped by his association with Rogers and social psychologist Alex Bevelas. His inspiration to examine the absurdities of management was, as he readily admits, based directly on the post-World War II movement in drama collectively known as the “Theater of the Absurd.” These playwrights criticized traditional drama for its oversimplifications and its unwillingness to examine the complexities, irrationalities, and paradoxes of human existence.
This book, which became a Business Week bestseller, is not a typical management text. It is not a call for action, but for inaction. Rather than tell the reader what to do, Farson encourages him or her to think. By facing the dilemma produced by the paradox and by embracing the absurdity of the situation, the reader comes to agree with Farson that the only cause worth fighting for is a lost cause. And the apparently lost cause in management is the attempt to stop researchers, consultants, and business executives from coming up with simple nostrums that others can follow to become successful. Not only do these approaches not work in the long run, paradoxically they may be worse for the organization and its members than the approaches they figured out based on their own wisdom.
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