Dennis Bakke "The Decisive Man" May 29th, 2017
As is usually the case, Dennis Bakke's book The Decisive Man. How to build an organization of the future where everyone makes decisions” is actually called The Decision Maker.
Unlock the Potential of Everyone in Your Organization, One Decision at a Time- "Decision maker. Unleash the potential of everyone in your organization, step by step (or: not all at once)." But, contrary to established practice, our translation even more accurately reflects the essence of the book, with the exception of the term "organization of the future", there is not a word about it.
The plot of this business novel is even simpler than that of this genre: two managers become successful entrepreneurs and buy an average company, which they make very good by giving all employees the opportunity to make any decisions.
The main principles of the approach preached by the author are as follows:
Every person is unique. Justice does not imply absolutely equal treatment of absolutely everyone. For some it is important to have more free time, others need a higher salary, so it makes no sense to apply the same reward system to each employee: everyone has different interests and needs. We treat everyone as a person, we use motivation and reveal their potential.
Every person is capable of creativity to work. Faced with a problem, people find ingenious solutions. They don't need to be told how to act all the time. Moreover, those who are closest to the situation often have more opportunities to find the optimal solution. When we allow people to be creative with problems, they often come up with an option that can never be found with just rules and instructions.
Every person is capable of learning. Starting to work after university, people do not stop improving. Everyone is capable of self-learning, especially if they are faced with a difficult, interesting task - and even others can be taught.
Every person makes mistakes. Everyone has areas of knowledge in which he is incompetent. And sometimes people just make the wrong choice. To work with maximum efficiency, almost everyone needs the help and knowledge of colleagues.
Every person loves challenges. Humans are not robots: they are not born to do the same thing over and over again. People like to cope with difficult and extraordinary tasks.
Every person wants to contribute. Anyone has something unique to offer, and everyone loves being part of a big cause. People perform at their best when they know the world is a better place because of them.
Each person is responsible for their actions. And everyone should be responsible for the consequences of their decisions.
Every person is capable of making important decisions. Leaders are not the only people in an organization who can be expected to make big moves. When the decision-making process is not usurped by management, but reasonably distributed among all employees, the quality of the actions taken, the satisfaction of employees, and the efficiency of the company as a whole increase.
Who Should Make the Decisions
[...]
proximity to the problem. Which employee is closest to the problem? Is he deeply aware of the context, the details of the situation, does he understand the big picture?
Point of view and perspective. Proximity to the problem is important, but the point of view is no less significant. Sometimes the ability to look at a problem from different angles is more valuable than knowing the details.
An experience. Does the employee have experience making similar decisions? What were the results of the steps he took?
Wisdom. What decisions does this employee make in other areas? Does he make good choices? Are you confident in this person and his abilities?
Why in a system where any employee can make any decision, managers and what do they do? Let it remain a little secret.) Come on, okay, I'll tell you. The main task of the manager is to choose the one who will make the decision and from time to time check that the acceptance algorithm, which is based on the principle of "consult with everyone", has not been violated.
Actually, there is nothing more to add. Is it worth mentioning that the author, according to him, himself introduced these principles in two large companies and from personal experience convinced of their effectiveness.
As a business novel, the book is so-so: the employees of the company are all kind of infinitely positive, ready for changes, they can be persuaded to do anything, and they quickly understand everything and come to the authorities themselves to tell why their position is no longer needed. And the bosses are even better - they don’t fire anyone for any mistakes, but introduce a system of bonuses and give employees even more powers.
To summarize: this book is one idea that I personally like, but the pitfalls that accompany it are not even mentioned in the book. You can read, but you will not get answers to any serious questions.
May 27, 2017Decisive person. How to build an organization of the future where everyone makes decisions Dennis Bakke
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Title: Decisive Man. How to build an organization of the future where everyone makes decisions
About the book “The Decisive Man. How to build an organization of the future where everyone makes decisions" Dennis Bakke
This book is a business novel based on the experience of Dennis Bakke, in which he shows how delegating decisions to people who are "in the field" can change your company. The book will help you unlock the potential of each of your employees.
Published in Russian for the first time.
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Dennis Bakke
The Decision Maker
Unlock the Potential of Everyone in Your Organization, One Decision at a Time
Published with permission from Pear Press and Perseus Books, LLC, a subsidiary of Hachette Book Group, Inc., acting jointly with PROJEXINTERNATIONAL LLC and Alexander Korzhenevski
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright holders.
© 2013 by Dennis W. Bakke First published in the United States by Pear Press. Published by arrangement with Pear Press (USA) via Perseus Books (USA) and Alexander Korzhenevski (Russia)
© Translation, edition in Russian, design. LLC "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber", 2017
Dedicated to Eileen Harvey Bucke, my love, the joy of my life and the best friend in the world.
Introduction
To truly understand the essence of a company's culture, it is necessary to understand how decisions are made in the organization.
Do leaders trust team members? Are those affected by the problem given the right to decide? Are employees in control and accountable for their actions? And the main question: who makes decisions in the company?
Nothing affects a company more than the decisions that its employees make.
This is well known to all successful entrepreneurs. And as part of any business course, the decision-making process is studied in detail. Almost a hundred years have passed since Harvard invented the learning format based on real situations (cases), and this method is still widely used. Why? With the help of cases, students get the opportunity to be in the role of employees of companies making one or another choice. During the two years of the Harvard MBA course, students study and work on more than 500 cases. Nothing is more conducive to professional and personal development like getting your own experience. It is obvious that solving problems in real life more important and more exciting than working with learning situations.
However, outside of business school, few leaders are able to delegate decision-making power to employees and take full advantage of the opportunities that arise from this. Most often, team members are required to strictly follow instructions. And then the work gets boring. There is another situation: the principle of collegial decisions operates in the company, which assumes that everyone expresses his opinion on a specific problem, but the final choice is still made by the leader. In this case, the creative and intellectual potential of the team is also not used. I propose to approach the organization of decision-making in a completely different way. In a company where the corporate culture encourages a person to act independently:
The manager chooses the employee who makes the decision;
The employee must collect opinions and consult with colleagues (including the manager);
Not the leader, but the employee makes the final decision.
And in AES, electro energy company with a staff of 27,000 people and offices in 27 countries, and then in non-profit organization Imagine Schools, managing largest network independent schools in the United States, I have been fortunate enough to organize the work in such a way as to give thousands of employees the right to make decisions and bear responsibility for them. My approach is simple: team members should be treated like people, not like robots. By delegating the right to make decisions and control the situation, leaders reveal a huge creative potential in employees.
The Decisive Man tells a fictional story, but it largely reflects my experience. The ideas that completely changed AES and Imagine Schools can transform any company. I'm describing heroes that don't exist, but passions and challenges are a reality for many companies. The proposed approaches directly affect financial indicators: Modern research confirms this. Corporate culture, stimulating decision-making, contributes to the growth of the company's profitability. But it's not just the numbers. The main theme of the book is people: what exactly makes them get involved and work with full dedication; what they can achieve if they get freedom and take full responsibility for their decisions.
The Decisive Man is based on another idea: each of us able to make good, right decisions. This story is not only for executives, but also for managers and bosses of any level who need to maximize the potential of their team.
Wherever you are in the organizational hierarchy, change can start with you.
How bad is it?
Tom Anderson saw white puffs of smoke above production shop and hurried to the scene of the accident; he still didn't understand what had happened.
The machine was not just broken or broken - it seemed that the explosion completely destroyed it: a hole gaped in a pile of crumpled metal, broken glass crunched underfoot.
Tom's partner, Jim Travers, was already here.
- How bad is it? Tom asked.
Jim shook his head.
- Not repairable. We have insurance for such cases, but how to restore everything? He looked towards the workers.
Tom looked back. It is hard to believe that the equipment was practically not damaged by the explosion. But now it did not work - as well as the people standing in small groups between the machines.
Tom and Jim only two weeks ago came to the company "MedicTech", which was engaged in the production of medical equipment; they bought shares in it, investing all their personal savings. Helen Harris, one of the wisest and most experienced investors in the industry, also invested in this business, knowing full well Tom and Jim's previous successes. They have already managed similar companies, however, without a share in the property. The business plan drawn up for MedicTech by the new owners did not involve significant expenses. And now, mentally comparing the main indicators, Tom came to the conclusion that they could not stand a long downtime.
Jim sighed.
At least everyone is alive.
It was only now that Tom realized that he was so scared for the equipment that he didn’t even think if everything was in order with the people. Unbelievable, but everything is really intact.
“It can’t be,” he said, looking at the wreckage of the machine. If the metal could not stand it, then the person nearby had no chance at all. - What about the worker? Or was he wearing a bulletproof vest?
Jim shook his head.
“He just wasn't here.
Tom's heart skipped a beat. As soon as they started working at MedikTech, the partners realized that the company had problems with discipline. They decided to look at this as an interesting opportunity: a great team was producing a good product, but so far neither the abilities of the employees nor the potential of the product line have been used to the fullest. Tom and Jim hoped to use their managerial skills and experience to quickly improve the efficiency of the company. Anyway, those were the expectations. The business plan envisioned changes leading MediTech to the title of "Best Employer." They have already installed a couple of old beautiful pinball machines in the lobby, equipped a tiny kitchen and even organized the delivery of free tasty food for employees. But the problem didn't seem to be solved by pinball and food.
Why wasn't the worker there? Tom wondered. – Where was he?
About the book
As a student at Harvard Business School, Bakke made hundreds of decisions using the case method and learned two things: decision making is The best way develop people; and it doesn't have to end in business school. He distributed...
Read completelyAbout the book
A business novel about how you can change a company for the better by enabling employees to make their own decisions.
Who makes important decisions in your company? Strategy, product development, budgeting, salary - usually such important decisions are made by leaders. That's what bosses are for, right? But perhaps the boss is not the right person to make such decisions.
Dennis Bakke came to this conclusion and with his help built the energy company AES with 27,000 employees in 27 countries (described by Frederick Laloux in his book "Discovering the Organizations of the Future" as an example of a "turquoise" company of the future). And then he used it again, founding Imagine Schools - the largest non-profit network of charter schools in the United States.
As a student at Harvard Business School, Bakke made hundreds of decisions using the case method and learned two things: Decision making is the best way to develop people; and it doesn't have to end in business school. He distributed decision making throughout his organization, fully involving people in the process at all levels. Today Bakke empowers thousands of people to make decisions that really matter.
This book is a business novel based on the experience of Dennis Bakke, in which he shows how delegating decisions to people who are "in the field" can change your company.
The idea is very simple. The results are impressive.
This book will help you unlock the potential of every person in your company.
Who is this book for?
For managers and leaders.
about the author
Dennis Bakke is the founder and former president of AES, a Fortune 200 global energy company described by Frédéric Laloux in his book Discovering the Organizations of the Future as an example of the "turquoise" company of the future. Bakke was AES President from 1994 to 2002. Co-founder of Imagine Schools. Author of several business bestsellers.
