Why Managers Matter - Financial Times Book Recommendation
10/31/2022
What to read this month, according to Financial Times: ‘Why Managers Matter: The Perils of the Bossless Company.’
Business people are being bombarded with a bewildering array of schemes for how to be a boss and make an organization tick. There is currently a lot of hype around so-called "bossless" companies—companies based on employees who self-manage and spontaneously collaborate on projects in wacky office settings without the need for managers and oppressing hierarchies.
This message is highly problematic, according to Nicolai J. Foss, professor of strategy at CBS and Peter Klein, professor of entrepreneurship and chair of the Department of Entrepreneurship and Corporate Innovation at Baylor University.
Their new book ‘Why Managers Matter: The Perils of the Bossless Company’, is on Financial Times monthly what to read list.
Fads on bossless companies, flat hierarchies, and so on ironically often lead to micromanaging and, sometimes, to disaster. Companies and societies need authority and hierarchy to coordinate work, including creative work, says Foss and Klein. And, counterintuitively, Foss and Klein show how the creative use of authority and hierarchy helps companies to be more agile and flexible, enabling educated, motivated people and teams to thrive.
»We are very pleased that FT has picked up the book, and pleased that the book seems to resonate with so many. But, we do think it speaks to real concerns. Many people in business are fed up with bosslessness and self-management that they can see often don't work, which produce frustration and, perhaps, quiet quitting«, says Nicolai Foss.
See the full list from FT here.
The page was last edited by: CBS Leadership Centre // 01/25/2024