Eat Less Exercise More for that Lean, Mean Corporate Machine

Summary

The article suggests that the principles of "eat less, exercise more" for personal fitness can be paralleled with the management theory of "do more with less" to create a lean and efficient corporate culture, emphasizing simplicity, continuous learning, and adaptation.

Abstract

The article draws an analogy between dietary discipline and corporate management, proposing that both can be distilled to essential principles. It critiques the abundance of diet books that extend the simple idea of "eat less, exercise more" for commercial reasons. Similarly, it discusses Matthew Stewart's view that management theory, despite its complex fads, can be simplified to "do more with less." The author, however, acknowledges the need for balance to avoid negative consequences like burnout. Tony Manning's book is referenced to support the idea that competitive advantage comes from focusing on simplicity and less is more. Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline" is also highlighted, advocating for systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning as the foundation for a continuously learning and lean corporate culture. The author reflects on personal experience with culture change programs and stresses the importance of maintaining management discipline to prevent relapse into inefficient practices.

Opinions

The author believes that the essence of diet books can be reduced to "eat less, exercise more," despite their tendency to be overly extended for commercial purposes.
Matthew Stewart's perspective on management as a neglected philosophical sub-discipline is presented, with a critical view of management practices and theories from Taylor's Scientific Management to modern-day.
The author disagrees with the fear of "do more with less" leading to unsustainability and burnout, arguing that when not taken to extremes, it is an effective strategy for corporate efficiency.
Tony Manning's view that simplicity and focus on core principles are key to competitive advantage aligns with the author's argument for a "less is more" and "simpler is better" approach in management.
Peter Senge's "The Fifth Discipline" is favored by the author for providing a durable framework for building a learning organization, which inherently supports the creation of a "lean, mean corporate machine."
The author points out that the failure to maintain newly achieved corporate efficiencies, akin to yoyo dieting, is due to not engaging a management coach, and this can lead to regression to less efficient practices.
The article suggests that crisis can be a catalyst for organizational change, as it reduces resistance to new management methods and away from traditional Taylorism.
The author poses a reflective question to leaders about their approach to achieving a "lean, mean corporate machine" through disciplined management practices.

So many diet books can be reduced to four words, “eat less, exercise more”.

Badlands Goat in 2008 © Ian Beckett

Of course, this may achieve your desired beach body but would leave the author bookless and broke — so most books are bulked out to around 200 pages and promise to help you achieve the same outcome by selective food group consumption or abstinence.

Yesterday, I read a 2006 article from The Atlantic by philosopher Matthew Stewart, The Management Myth, who claims that management is a sadly neglected sub-discipline of philosophy. He trawls through the history of management with mostly negative assessments of practice and theory from Taylor’s Scientific Management to the present day.

His comment, “Each new fad calls attention to one virtue or another — first it’s efficiency, then quality, next its customer satisfaction, then supplier satisfaction, then self-satisfaction, and finally, at some point, it’s efficiency all over again”, has me thinking of if management theory can be reduced to four words like our diet books, “do more with less” . This is a good start but, management practitioners fearing starvation are quick to point out the pitfalls and limitations of such a strategy, with “unsustainable” and “burnout” being claimed consequences.

I’m afraid I have to disagree with this position since, when not taken to extremes, “eat less, exercise more” can get you your desired beach body; likewise, “do more, with less” can achieve the desired “lean mean corporate machine”.

This is consistent with Tony Manning’s book What’s Wrong With Management And How To Get It Right, where he seems to agree with my linguistic reduction when he claims, “The good news, though, is there’s compelling evidence that the way to build your competitive advantage, capture and keep customers, and stay ahead in the profit game lies in what you may already know but just don’t focus on. If you want to be a serious competitor today and tomorrow, less is more and simpler is better”.

I prefer Peter Senge’s perspective in The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, which has survived the test of time where he espouses five disciplines:-

· Systems thinking · Personal mastery · Mental models · Building shared vision · Team learning

My bias is probably due to using the five disciplines in my MSc thesis while deploying the AT&T Network Systems culture change program in Ireland — familiarity breeds contentment.

With these disciplines, he provides the foundations I have used to build a continuously learning corporate culture, which, by default, facilitates the desired objective of becoming a “lean, mean corporate machine”.

The failure of some of my customers to engage a management coach to maintain the newly achieved “corporate beach body” is akin to yoyo dieting, where I am pulled back to reengage the team with their fitness objectives.

Changing a company is easier in a crisis, as there is less resistance from managers who are used to using traditional tools and structures evolved from Taylorism, which is more effective in organising activities rather than managing outcomes.

As a leader, how do you plan to “eat less and exercise more” to achieve your “lean, mean corporate machine”?