Sunday, January 30, 2011

Don't be a Control Freak

Here's a great quote from Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric.
The old organization was built on control, but the world has changed. The world is moving at such a pace that control has become a limitation. It slows you down. You’ve got to balance freedom with some control, but you’ve got to have more freedom than you ever dreamed of.
This is another one of those tensions that we need to manage. Daniel Pink makes the case for autonomy, purpose, and mastery as our prime motivators in knowledge work. When we try to control people, we will not get the creativity and innovation that will drive our organizations to better performance. On the other hand, we also need to measure the impact of our work. Freedom needs to be maintained within a structure of mutual accountability and measured results.

Hat tip to Matt Perman

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