The essay begins with a brief introduction of Charles Handy's professional background as a former professor from the London Business School. Now, he is an independent writer and educator working for different organizations ranging from business, government, and health. He wrote a book, The Age of Paradox, which became one of the best business books in 1994. .
The essay continues, indicating that organizations used to be similar to a machine, able to design, measure, and control. It has transformed away from machine to a form of network. The organizational language is no longer engineering and management, but politics. The essay then is divided into three parts: The Language of Politics, A Distributed Leadership, and The Necessary Attributes. .
The Language of Politics.
The author indicates that things have changed and so has the language in the organization. Words are rephrased to be more political, such as "options" instead of "plans" and "possible" instead of "perfect." It further describes the meaning of subsidiarity, earned authority, and virtuality. In the subsidiarity paragraph, I agree with the concept that the "higher-order body should not assume responsibilities that could and should be exercised by a lower-order body." It is holding individuals accountable for their own actions. Until individuals become accountable for their share of the responsibility an organization will never function as a unit. In the earned authority paragraph, I agree that leaders in today's organization have to prove their competence since we have a more autonomy workforce. The title and the role of the leaders have no weight until he can prove his competency. This competency comes with time and experience. In the virtuality paragraph, I agree that the organizations today are widely dispersed. Most places have more contractors than full-time employees. .
A Distributed Leadership.
I agree that our workforce is made up of a more distributed environment.