Individual Blog Week 1

In this session, we were introduced to evidence-based management. Once you know what it is, it is important to know how to use evidence-based management effectively. In order to do so, one needs to know poor decision practices, how to recognize them, and then avoid them (Pfeffer-Sutton, 2006). I believe this is very important because it lays the foundation of the future, therefore in my opinion it is one of the most important concepts of this session. Understanding poor decision practices, is taking into consideration the actions that are proven to be harmful to businesses, accepting these, and not thinking you as a manger with years of experience know better. For example, in the text casual benchmarking, doing what seems to have worked in the past, and examining deeply held yet unexamined ideologies are areas that should be recognized, and then avoided. For example, if you think of Nordstrom, who is known for their customer service as well as their commission and hourly wage system. Many department stores believe that they could change their payment system to commission, which would result in an increase of sales. It is the idea to copy tactics that work, but instead management should be coping the thinking, or the philosophy of the organization instead of one of their ideas. Just as the text, “Hard Facts Dangerous Half-Truths & Total Nonsense” states that “Toyota’s success is not a set of techniques but it’s philosophy” (Pfeffer-Sutton. 2006). It is Nordstrom’s culture that brings them success, not tactics. Being able to avoid these poor decisions is essential when creating the right perspective while managing a company. Since evidence-based management is defined as a way of seeing the world and thinking about the craft of management, one must use proven facts and logic to do their jobs better. Therefore recognizing these poor decisions, which are fact base, is a great first step in becoming a more logical manager, and not relying on ones own ideas and opinions to become a CEO hero. Having this skill is a sign that the appropriate management style can be achieved. It is  clear that I do not question the validity of this concept. There are countless examples of where benchmarking, relying on the past, and false ideologies have destroyed companies, and many managers careers and reputations. It is interesting to see how many companies ignore these decisions, and continue to forget that times are changing and a structure or tactic you employed at your previous job five years ago might not work in present day at a different company. For me, this is a warning sign. Do you agree that all managers should avoid benchmarking, past ideas, and ideologies? Or do you think that if used the right way it could benefit the company, and consumers?

I also found that the concept of wisdom is extremely important when trying to manage. A manager could follow all of the guidelines put forth, yet there could still be something missing. That is the attitude towards the business. This is where wisdom shines. I would define wisdom as the ability to judge what is right, true or lasting. Wisdom is explained in our text as "knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know" as suggested by Plato. For example, mangers use wisdom even when they are not completely qualified to make a decision. Having wisdoms allows managers to make decisions based on what they know, and from that experience gain the unknown along the way, making you a better person, and leader. The wisdom of the manager is then transformed into the attitude toward the company. If a manager has wisdom, it will be obvious by evaluating the work, the culture of the company, and the happiness of the employees and consumers. It shapes how people think, act and feel. It is essential in my opinion because having wisdom allows the leaders mind to be open to facts or ideas that they did not know, leading to a more successful business. Having the ability to have faith in something or an idea that is not based off of ones own experience or opinion is extremely important, and wisdom is the key to this. I always wonder, how can we determine if someone has wisdom? Are their different types of wisdom? I truly believe that wisdom is a positive and could never have a negative impact on a company. Do you agree? What makes you feel this way?

I found a management recommendation on Harvard Business Review  in which I find to not use much evidence-based information. This blog discusses a leaders role when facing conflict, and the difference between hot and cold conflict. I found that it was all based off of personal opinion and experience. There is a whole section that is describing the author’s accomplishments and work experience, which is the base for his recommendation. I would have liked to see examples of success stories from different companies, or HR departments that support the guidelines presented by this author. Even evidence of case studies done on behavior and work place culture would have helped the management recommendations. But instead there is no reference to any information, other than his own experience. Chris Edmonds is a good example of reaching out to get some information, he shares his secrets of being a great boss.  He used his experience to gather information from large pools of people all over the world. He is creating his own experiment and gathering data to find five secrets to be become a great boss.

I feel that I have taken a lot from this first session. I believe that I have created a foundation in my mind for the rest of the class, and have been given a taste of what’s to come. I now know what to look for and what to avoid, steps to actually use evidence-based management, and what perspective a manager should have. This will all lead to a successful analysis of management styles, and allow me to offer recommendations of substance. I hope to be able to identify weaknesses and strengths of certain management, and be able to determine if their data is reliable, if it is sound, and what they could be doing better, to benefit the company has a whole.