I came across these today on Joel Spolsky's excellent website,
joelonsoftware.com
Forum members may find his thoughts on "intrinsic" and "extrinsic" motivation useful. Here are the URL's for the specific articles on
"Command and Control" management, "Economics 101" Management, and "Identity management" methods.
[url]http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/08/08.html[/url]
[url]http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/08/09.html[/url]
[url]http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/08/10.html[/url]
What do you think?
-Dave Duff
Management Methods from Joel on Software
Well, I think Joel doesn't know what he's talking about regarding the military. I do agree that command and control don't work as well as other techniques in the corporate world, but his examples and conclusions from the military are just wrong. There is very little command and control leadership in the military, and no military leader thinks that's the way to get the best out of a group. Yes, some compliance is necessary, but you'll note that our soldiers in harm's way lately are volunteering to go back to serve in combat because of their bond with their brothers.
It's this kind of discussion - muddled, apples to oranges comparisons, with little regard to mission and methods - that makes folks misunderstand and then mistrust the military.
Mark
Management Methods from Joel on Software
As someone who does builds "Command and Control" systems ... I think there is a lot of confusion in using that term as it applies to people and team management.
As someone who has only served in service to those in the military, I can say I have not seen many of the issues outline in the article, actually playing out in the military IT areas I work in. - Steve