Articles - Involvation

The end of management is near...

Written by Alfons Willemsen | July 2, 2015 10:00:00 PM Z

A couple of months ago I was very fortunate to be present at a presentation by the world famous management guru Gary Hamel. A very gifted presenter and storyteller with a very inspiring presentation. Messages that made me think even deeper about themes I have been working and thinking on the last couple of years. How can I help organizations to get a prosperous and bright future?

Gary Hamel’s presentation “The future of management” on YouTube gives you a good overview of his recent thoughts and ideas in 15 minutes. According to Hamel organizations that will have a prosperous future are organizations who are adaptable, innovative and engaging. In summary his statement is: “organizations fit for the future are organizations fit for people”. He also presents management 2.0 where management needs to transform from “command and control” to “facilitate”. For me this is right from the heart and it has also been discussed and written earlier in other excellent thought provoking books (John P. Kotter: Accelerate; Mathieu Weggeman: Leidinggeven aan professionals? Niet doen! in Dutch).

Putting people first is something I fully support. It is also the core value on which our new learning proposition The Value Chain Academy is grounded. We believe that enabling a continuous learning environment ensures that people can and will develop themselves. Only because of this continuous development people will bring their “engagement and creativity” to work and it will help their organizations to excel, change and flourish.

For everyone who is wondering about the future like me and who in addition is a workaholic who not only reads the new Jo Nesbö or Harlan Coben during holidays but also management books…. : get inspired this summer by the book “The future of work” by Jacob Morgan. It inspires you and makes you think. Especially the infographics are very illustrative and give a nice overview of current trends. Take certain chapters near the end of the book with a pinch of salt (stretching it a bit too far..). But sipping on a good glass of Sauvignon Blanc at a Mediterranean terrace the ideas will start to reflect on your own future…

Enjoy the summer!