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Management is an essential aspect of modern working life, but it can sometimes be taken rather too seriously by commentators and business analysts. For many people this is an unfortunate tendency and for them Steve Morris has written a wise but humorous book about management fads--past and present.
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The Handbook of Management Fads Steve Morris Survival in business… without taking yourself too seriously Blank page The Handbook of Management Fads Survival in business… without taking yourself too seriously Blank page The Handbook of Management Fads Survival in business… without taking yourself too seriously Steve Morris Published by Thorogood Limited 12-18 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1W 0DH. Thorogood Limited is part of the Hawksmere Group of Companies. © Steve Morris 1998 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. This report is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed upon the subsequent purchaser. No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any material in this publication can be accepted by the author or publisher. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 85418 077 0 Printed in Great Britain by Bookcraft (Bath) Limited. The author Steve Morris runs his own company providing management consultancy services specialising in publishing, training and development. He has worked extensively in the UK and abroad with blue-chip companies including Visa International, TSB, Lloyds, 3M and Shell International. He has a special interest in management practice and has written extensively on management related issues. Thank you I would like to thank the Burton Morris team who worked with me on this book. Phil Rigg added some cool elan to a dangerously over-heating text. Graham Willcocks added lots of words, a lot of the wisdom and some good jokes. It’s because others were involved in the book that I sometimes lapse into the Royal We. Blank page Contents 1 What’s your affliction? ................................................................1 Not again or words to that effect .................................................2 A fad is born..................................................................................2 Perceptions of status ...............................................................4 Status plus empowerment ......................................................5 Why enter the dragon’s lair? .........................................................8 It looks like a duck ..................................................................9 Why do we need management fads?..........................................12 Fear and loathing ........................................................................16 2 An anatomy of fiddle-faddles ...................................................19 Fad spotting for beginners .........................................................20 The fad life cycle .........................................................................20 Faddish language ........................................................................22 The elements ...............................................................................24 Varieties of fiddle ...........................................