“When we take the concept of management off its pedestal, we can see it for what it is: a technology for organising people into productive capacities. The thing is, this technology is from the 1850s, and we don’t use too many 19th Century technologies anymore, do we? We’ve upgraded most of them. Even though the technology of management is still one of the greatest technologies humankind has ever invented, it’s a technology with a singular purpose — compliance. Management is designed to get people to do what you want them to do, the way you want them to do it. The truth is we still need compliance in our organisations. But more and more we need engagement, and 3 engaged employees out of 10 just isn’t working anymore. If you really want engagement, rather than compliance, you’ve got to use a different technology — the technology of self-direction.”
