The Management of Ideas in the Creating Organization

by Tropman, John E.

• ISBN13: 9781567201680
• ISBN10: 1567201687
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-08-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

Of the three key resources important to organizations--money, people, and ideas--the least developed in corporations and organizations of almost any type is the third resource: ideas. Tropman goes beyond the popular notions of the "learning organization" to propose the "creating organization," an organization which understands that the initiation, development, and implementation of ideas is the key to organizational success in the next century. Who, for example, handles the store of ideas? Management knows who handles the money, but what about ideas? Tropman introduces the concepts of IdeaManagement and IdeaLeadership and calls them central to success at work both in the public and private sectors. "The ability to generate ideas and put them quickly into action will be the next competitive edge," says Tropman. How this works in today's organizations and how it must work in tomorrow's is laid out here. Important reading for management at all levels and for their colleagues in the academic community.

Author Biography

JOHN E. TROPMAN is Professor of Nonprofit Administration and Adjunct Professor of Organizational Behavior at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix	(2)
Gersh Morningstar
Preface	xi	(4)
Acknowledgments	xv
Part I Ideas and Organizations/Organizations and Ideas	3	(32)
1 The Energy of Thought	3	(6)
Conclusion	7	(2)
2 The Forces for Change: Diversity, Speed, and Magnitude	9	(8)
Diversity	9	(6)
Speed and Magnitude	15	(1)
Conclusion	16	(1)
Notes	16	(1)
3 The Five Cs Theory of IdeaLeadership and IdeaManagement	17	(18)
IdeaManagers and IdeaLeaders: What Do They Do?	17	(1)
Data, Information, Knowledge, and Idea Paradigms	18	(3)
The Five Cs Theory of IdeaLeadership and IdeaManagement	21	(2)
The Five Cs Conference	23	(5)
The Concert of Components	28	(3)
Conclusion	31	(4)
Part II The Fatal Glass of Beer	35	(26)
4 Pernicious Procedures: Problems of Processing New Ideas	35	(10)
A Repertoire of Resistances	35	(5)
Problems of Idea Processing	40	(4)
Conclusion	44	(1)
5 Corrosive Concepts: Drilling Holes in the Boat	45	(6)
Not Invented Here (NIH)	45	(1)
We Have Tried This Before (WHTTB)	46	(1)
What Are Others Doing? (WAOD)	46	(1)
Taking Names and Kicking Ass (TNKA)	47	(1)
If I Want an Idea from You I Will Give You One, or Just Shut Up (SU)	48	(1)
Me Boss and Leader; You Subordinate and Follower (MBYS)	48	(1)
Exit and Loyalty, Instead of Voice	48	(1)
Conclusion	49	(2)
6 Dangerous Decisions: A Race to the Bottom	51	(10)
High-Quality Decisions	51	(1)
Low-Quality Decisions	52	(4)
Conclusion	56	(1)
Note	57	(4)
Part III Helping New Ideas Along through Leading and Managing	61	(26)
7 IdeaLeadership and IdeaManagement	61	(8)
Leadership and Management	61	(2)
IdeaLeadership in the Idea-Driven Organization	63	(2)
IdeaManagement in the Idea-Driven Organization	65	(3)
Conclusion	68	(1)
8 Leading and Managing Idea Generation and Storage: The Half-Baked Ideas Conference	69	(4)
The Half-Baked Ideas Conference: Preparatory Phase	70	(1)
The Half-Baked Ideas Conference Itself	71	(1)
Conclusion	71	(2)
9 The Seven I Idea	73	(14)
The Seven I Idea	73	(8)
Conclusion	81	(6)
Part IV Helping Ideas Along through Team and Decision Leadership and Management	87	(34)
10 Leading and Managing the Team Meeting Process	87	(14)
Why Things Go Wrong in Team Meetings	87	(2)
How to Make Things Go Right: Six General Principles of the Team Meetings Game	89	(2)
Twelve Rules for High-Quality Decisions	91	(7)
Conclusion	98	(1)
Notes	99	(2)
11 Leading and Managing the Team Decision Process: Players on the Team Actors in the Drama	101	(8)
The Team Captain Position	102	(1)
The Team Participant Position	103	(1)
The Recorder Position	104	(1)
The Consultant Position	105	(1)
Other Positions	105	(1)
Roles	106	(1)
Conclusion	107	(2)
12 Leading and Managing the Team Decision Process: Decision Rules	109	(12)
The Decision Mosaic	109	(1)
Decision Elements	109	(1)
Decision Crystallization	110	(1)
Decision Rules	110	(5)
Conclusion	115	(6)
Part V The Power of 11: From Art to Part-From Concept to Customer	121	(130)
13 Creating the Idea-Driven Self	121	(8)
Organizationally Energized	122	(1)
Dual Time Focus	123	(1)
Ensemble Intelligence	124	(1)
Emotional Control	125	(1)
The Question Mark	126	(1)
Conclusion	127	(1)
Notes	127	(2)
14 Creating Idea-Driven Skills	129	(22)
Intellectual Skills	129	(9)
Interpersonal Skills	138	(3)
Mixed Skills	141	(4)
Organizational Skills	145	(5)
Conclusion	150	(1)
Notes	150	(1)
15 Creating Idea-Driven Styles	151	(10)
Personal Style	151	(4)
The "Elements of [Good] Style"	155	(4)
Conclusion	159	(1)
Notes	159	(2)
16 Creating Organizational Subculture	161	(16)
What Is Organizational Culture?	161	(1)
Kinds of Assumptions	162	(1)
Kinds of Values: Global Differences	163	(2)
Kinds of Values: The Clash in Culture/Subculture	165	(7)
Managing Values and Their Conflicts: Cultural Mixing and Phasing	172	(3)
Kinds of Artifacts and Creations	175	(1)
Managing Artifacts and Creations	175	(1)
Conclusion	175	(2)
17 Creating Idea-Driven Strategy	177	(10)
What Does Strategy Look Like?	177	(1)
A Cacophony of Criticism	178	(1)
The Strategic Quartet	179	(1)
Types of Strategy	180	(1)
Strategic Dicta	181	(4)
Conclusion	185	(2)
18 Creating Idea-Driven Structures	187	(22)
Precipitating and Predisposing Pressures	187	(1)
Structural Problematics	188	(3)
What's New?	191	(5)
Idea-Generating Structures	196	(1)
Using the Macrostructure to Generate Ideas	197	(2)
Using the Mesostructure to Generate Ideas	199	(2)
Using the Microstructure to Generate Ideas	201	(3)
Creating and Using Evaluation Structures to Generate Ideas	204	(3)
Conclusion	207	(1)
Notes	208	(1)
19 Creating Idea-Driven Systems	209	(8)
Three System Processes: Flow, Exchange, and Transformation	210	(1)
Establishing Idea-Generating Systems	210	(4)
Establishing Informal Systems	214	(2)
Conclusion	216	(1)
20 Creating an Idea-Driven Staff	217	(10)
The Staff of One	217	(1)
Staff as a Resource	218	(8)
Conclusion	226	(1)
21 Staying Ahead of the Curve	227	(16)
The Two Dimensions of Change	227	(1)
Tensions within Cultural and Structural Systems: Cultural and Structural Cacophony	228	(1)
Tensions between Cultural and Structural Systems: Cultural and Structural Lag	228	(1)
Changes in Social Structure	229	(6)
The Organizational Advantage	235	(1)
Changes in Social Culture	235	(7)
Conclusion	242	(1)
22 Creating Change and Supporting Shift	243	(8)
Strategic Techniques for the IdeaManager and IdeaLeader	243	(7)
Conclusion	250	(1)
References	251	(8)
Index	259