TC0002: Defining our Terms

One of the characteristics of any profession is that it has its own language.  It is that language that allow for rapid communications.  Doctors, lawyers, cops and soldiers all have their own way of speaking and distinct terminology.  It is important that we have that same ability to communicate volumes with a single word by defining the language of leadership and decision making.   Most importantly, we need to figure out where the term “management” fits in this discussion.  

As important as leadership is, it is not the alpha and omega. Other skills are also necessary.    In the military, the term management has acquired a pejorative connotation.  It is considered the antithesis of leadership.  “We manage things and we lead people”.  The belief is that leaders are heroic figures while managers are cold-hearted automatons with green eyeshades. 

This is a novice’s view and does a disservice to the study of management.  That being said, many distinguished authors have taken up the Management/Leadership argument.  Bennis and Nanus make a point of describing dysfunctional organizations as being over managed and under led. “Managers are people who do things right and leaders do the right thing” .  Koontz, Odonnell and Weihrich define management as the process of planning, organizing, staffing, leading and controlling at any level in any organization.  Drucker defines management in terms of the manager.  The manager is responsible for the plans and performance of others and the creation of relationship of trust between them, himself and his superior. 

This definition most closely aligns the processes that are decision-making with leadership.     It is my intent to define management in terms of these two components.  In this view, management equals command, therefore the term Command Management makes sense.

The debate about management and leadership centers on the concept that people, processes and things are separable.   I am hard pressed to think of a single situation in which things are managed separately from people.  Management is the coordination of things, processes and people toward a goal.  Leadership is not distinct from management; it is its critical underpinning.  Things and people comprise organizations and units. It is important to understand this frame of references regarding organizations before proceeding.

Organizations are structured collections of people and things.  If it is not structured it is a mob.  If it is a collection of just things, it is a warehouse.   Organizations learn; if motivated by leaders.  Organizations evolve if the team’s vision of the required structure evolves and the organization encourages change.  Evolution is preferable to revolution; revolution is preferable to extinction.   Ask the dinosaurs.  Dan Nolan

The purpose of this blog is to provide a framework for thinking about these components of command management as well as additional philosophy supporting its application.  It’s primary focus is the leader, but the need to build cohesive teams that are agile, versatile, durable, initiative driven, and able to evolve in a rapidly changing environment is the ultimate goal.  

My intention is to provide ways to think about leadership and decision-making as well as some tactics, techniques and procedures that can be put to work immediately.  The fundamental assumption underlying the concept of command management is that the leader is self-aware and believes in the underlying desire of all members of the team to be successful.  If one is unable to embrace this seemingly Pollyanna philosophy, break out the green eye shades and keep bean counting.

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