The Management Mythbuster
By: David A. J. Axson
Published: February 2, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 368pp
ISBN: 9780470463628
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
"There are only two problems with the theory and practice of management today. We take the topic far too seriously, as the rows of earnest tomes in the bookshop testify, and we are too trusting. The body of commonly accepted wisdom is huge, and most of it is junk", writes management thought leader, speaker, and President of the Sonax Group, David A. J. Axson, in his provocative and thought provoking book The Management Mythbuster. The author takes a fresh and often humorous perspective on the most frequently voiced conventional management wisdom, and describes how much of what is taken for granted, is often very wrong and in need of some serious revision.
David Axson dispenses with any reverence for standard management practices which he describes as unable to cope with the fast changing market conditions of the twenty-first century. The author points out that outdated management techniques, if they were ever indeed valid, are simply of no value in a globalized and technology based world economy. They may even be counter-productive and causing an even faster demise of many corporations. For David Axson, the financial meltdown of 2008 was a clear indication that generally accepted and applied management principles were not only wrong, but also major contributors to the crisis in the first place. The well established management practices were helpless to better manage risk and uncertainty in a diverse and rapidly changing economy.
David Axson (photo left) points out that the standard management concepts were never even intended for twenty-first century management conditions in the first place. Because these management ideas were considered to be working well in more stable economic times, they were considered to valid for all conditions by their practitioners. As a result, they created a false sense of security because of their familiarity and seeming effectiveness. When the economy became globalized, and technology changed the face of business, the trusted management tools were worthless in the face of rapid change, volatility, and complexity of the modern economy.
David Axson describes six systemic management problems:
* Strategic plans are of little use in times of great volatility and uncertainty
* Operating plans and budgets provide a false sense of security
* Management reporting is driven by obsolete view of the world
* Incentive compensation rewards [poor performance and penalizes outstanding performance
* Investments in staff education have been inadequate and misdirected
* Technology has failed to improve and in many cases has reduced the effectiveness of management
For me, the power of the book is how David Axson takes a systemic approach to dispelling what he considers the most persistent and dangerous management myths. His book is a wake up call to any managers and executives who believe it's still business as usual. As David Axson describes, with humor and and in a very irreverent manner, the standard management practices are out of date in today's rapidly changing global environment. Instead of simply making incremental changes to existing management concepts, the author suggests a thorough reexamination, and a necessary discarding of many current fads and popular ideas. David Axson suggests that even basic common sense has been removed from management thinking, and has been replaced by conformity, standardized procedures, and ego based decision making.
I highly recommend the landmark, and must read book The Management Mythbuster by David A. J. Axson, to anyone seeking an entertaining book on bringing common sense and fresh thinking to the theory and practice of management. It's time for a complete reinvention of management theory and practice, and this book is a much needed eye opener for many managers.
Read the groundbreaking and idea transformational book The Management Mythbuster by David A. J. Axson, and discover the often unsettling truth, that everything that one may have taken for granted as fact, is now proven very wrong. Discover how real wisdom and clear thinking can work in the twenty-first century global and highly technological economy, and why it's critical to discard the obsolete ideas that were the root cause of the recent economic problems.
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