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By Dan Pontefract, 07/21/2010 3:06 PM

Whether or not it was a rhetorical challenge, I’m taking Henry Mintzberg up on his ask, somewhat, in his book Managing and recommending an adaption or perhaps an enhancement to his “Model of Managing”.

Perhaps he will utilize it in an updated book release. Perhaps.

First to Mintzberg and the “Model of Managing”. In principle, I agree with the archetype and the following definition:

“managing takes place on three planes, from the conceptual to the concrete: with information, through people, and to action directly”.

I do however believe that it’s the separation of information, people and action into the three planes that causes some issues.

Mintzberg goes on to state that:

“It is this dynamic balance that renders futile the teaching of management in a classroom, especially one role or competency at a time. Even mastering all the competencies do not a competent manager make, because the key to this work is the blending of all of its aspects into this dynamic balance.”

What’s missing, however, is the relatively new managing behaviour that I will refer to simply as collaboration. I’ll probably have to write a book about this soon, but for purposes of this blog posting I’ll juxtapose Mintzberg’s model with my own adaptation of his work.

Mintzberg’s model segregates 3 key planes: information, people and action. I believe there are two key planes (collaboration and action) and that these are bound by information and people. That is, managers must collaborate and take action with information and people.

Collaboration is the practice of linking, leading, communicating, connecting, scheduling and framing people and information each and every day through action.

Action is taking those same people and pieces of information and deciding whether to do, delegate, demonstrate or deal.

Collaboration occurs in formal, informal and social ways utilizing face-to-face interactions as well as virtual/asynchronous means to act, be it with people or information.

Action also can occur in formal, informal and/or social ways; the key tenet being it happens with people and information.

Do you agree? Disagree?

Bloggers Note: I normally try to blog weekly, but in the months of July and August, you’ll have to bear with me as I’ll be posting only once per month.

Comments (5)

By Dan Pontefract, 05/29/2010 11:01 AM

Regular readers know that I’m passionate about three key areas: leadership; learning & enterprise 2.0.

As a lifelong educator, married to one as well, and possessing a young brood already immersed in a 2.0 world, we strongly believe in raising our children to be collaborative, transparent, honest and innovative.

But, alas, I’ve recently developed petulance for one of the world’s finest creations … Facebook.

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg has arguably founded one of the most collaborative and people connecting applications in recent history. According to CheckFacebook.com there are well over 450 million registered users worldwide. According to Google, Facebook now occupies the #1 visited website with 540 million unique visits in April, 2010 (after removing Google itself from the research).

Aside from the recent Facebook privacy flak, there is not a burning platform for Mr. Zuckerberg, Ms. Lori Goler (VP of Human Resources and Recruiting) and Mr. Elliot Schrage (VP of Global Communications, Marketing and Public Policy) to deal with, there is a raging inferno.

Bullying and Facebook.

It needs to be addressed … by Facebook.

With such a commanding head start as the platform in which people are sharing, collaborating and connecting, it is appalling (given countless examples) that Facebook does not take the stance to ensure its users (particularly those in the 10-18 year old range) are more educated and aware of cyber-bullying.

Recent examples involving Facebook & bullying, from 3 different countries include, but are not limited to:

• Facebook Bullying Case Goes to Court – Nova Scotia, Canada – May 25, 2010
• ‘Facebook Bully Probe’ After Death – Birmingham, UK – May 22, 2010
• Mom Has Strong Words About School Bullying – Florida, USA – May 26, 2010

A review of Facebook Principles makes no mention, whatsoever, of ethics or social expectations but it does state:

Achieving these principles should be constrained only by limitations of law, technology, and evolving social norms.

What, may I ask, is ‘evolving social norms’ and how can something that is evolving be the definition of your Facebook Principles?

There is, however, a “Defined Statement of Rights & Responsibilities” for which I applaud Section 3 (Safety) Subsection 6:

You will not bully, intimidate, or harass any user.

Frankly, both the Facebook Principles and Defined Statement of Rights & Responsibilities do not fit the task at hand. More must be done by Facebook to help the 10-18 year old age bracket be aware of the dire consequences of bullying, particularly cyber-bullying and particularly due to the fact Facebook has, more or less, become the de facto place for these assaults to occur.

Mark, Lori, Elliot … I implore you to get in front of this inferno. Do not leave it solely to local school boards, local governments or community/N-F-P organizations to fight the blaze.

Our kids do not yet possess the cognitive ability to distinguish social 2.0 norms in a 2.0 world; they need guidance, assistance, best practice and collaborative education to do so. Proven by Leslie Sabbagh with her piece entitled The Teen Brain, Hard at Work; (August/September 2006; Scientific American Mind), the prefrontal cortex is one of the last areas of the brain to mature. Thus, an immature prefrontal cortex is thought to be the explanation for why adolescents show poor judgment, an inability to think before they act, and as a consequence, bad decisions being made.

This phenomenon is all the more exacerbated in the Facebook era. This is why cyber-bullying on Facebook is occurring; we need to rethink the plan.

Steps to take, if I were Mark, Lori and Elliot:

• Lead: get in front of this issue and begin leading – make it a part of the Facebook DNA
• Educate: you not only have a collaborative platform, you have a learning platform. Begin educating your users specifically related to Facebook bullying, consequences, etc.
• Collaborate: work with your millions of 10-18 year old users on the right strategies to implement

In the meantime, and until proven otherwise, my 7, 4 and 3 year old won’t be setting foot on the Facebook platform.

But Mark, Lori and Elliot, I offer my hand in assistance.

Comments (0)

By Dan Pontefract, 05/22/2010 11:22 AM

Perhaps prescient Churchill was not only referring to Russia, but the pending organizational cultural shift that beckons today’s companies and institutions.

Perhaps the riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma can be thought of as the relationship between leadership, org structure, learning and Enterprise 2.0. The riddle is that the components are inextricably linked.

Grow up. Deal with it.

Those of you on the learning side of the house need to embrace and understand the technology and leadership implications. Those of you solely focusing on leadership, need to see how learning and technology are key to the puzzle. And those that think it’s only a technology solution, fail to see that it’s the leadership, learning and org structure components that make the technology useable in the first place.

On May 8, 2010, I wrote about “The Holy Trinity: Leadership Framework, Learning 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0“. There was also some great dialogue between myself, Harold Jarche, Jon Husband and Thomas Stone.

I’ve recently realized, however, that in addition to my professional network (Harold, Jon, Thomas and many more) there are/were four books that helped me unravel the riddle, mystery and the enigma. Perhaps they too could help you in your quest for an organizational culture shift; an org that becomes more efficient and effective in the many facets of operating in the year 2010 and beyond, and that includes the contrivances I point out above.

I share with you now the four books (when put together) that could assist you in your thinking; how, when you combine the new org structure, leadership practice, Learning 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 components, you will create a more productive, engaging and connected workforce:

Clearly there are other books out there, but when combining the four I describe above together, I believe you have a very solid recipe and start towards unravelling your riddle, mystery and enigma.