Just about every day, we experience unmanaged instances of failed leaders and organizations, some with small and negligeable effects, others with disastrous consequences.
While that might not surprise casual observers, it highlights the chicken and egg problem. Wrong leaders detour management which in return deteriorates over time, causes infected cultures and, eventually, leads to failures.
But where to start? We note that ‘unmanaged’ is reality, not the norm, but also not an infrequent occurrence. Failures happen, and organizations muddle through regardless. We conclude, the adoption of good management is low and varies widely. It is stuck in the past and has lost its impact. Where the fix of wrong leaders is simple, boards need to act on their responsibility, the fix of management is hard work.
Good management positively correlates with higher profitability, growth, and productivity. It’s human, holistic, unique, emergent, diagnostic and interactive, and it can be a competitive advantage.
For years, we have made the case in our books and blogs: People-Centric Management (Michel, 2013) and Agile by Choice (Michel, 2021) offer the human attributes. The Performance Triangle (Michel 2013) establishes a holistic perspective. Better Management (Michel, 2022) creates competitive advantage. The Transition of Organizations (Michel and Nold, 2023) guides emergent development, and Patterns of Mastery (Michel, Nold and Anzengruber, 2025 expected) offers typologies and the steps to mastery. We have published our research finding in various journals and presented our case at many conferences.
But good management is not readily adopted because we assume it’s good, we know better and, therefore, underinvest.
'Unmanaged' (not managed) is no option. Getting out of ‘unmanaged’ requires the adoption of good management practices and their adaptation to meet the needs of people, the specifics of the organization and its context.
Diagnostic Mentoring and Management Design provide the diagnostic and interactive methodologies, and with Organization Twins with the AI-based Management Toolkit the tools to get there fast. For organizations that take that route, management turns into a true competitive advantage.
Better management leads to superior outcomes. 'Unmanaged' is no option. The evidence is overwhelming. Organization Twins reduce the costs, increase the speed and limit the risks of any development project.
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