Most people seem to agree that the book The Puritan Gift is a useful contribution to the debate on society and the economy. What people fail to grasp is the importance of what Andrew Grove (and others) call ‘managerial leverage’ (see page 104). Everyone assumes that, if you cut government expenditure, you have to cut government services, and vice versa. With a proper sense of purpose and the right approach (not easy to achieve), you can expect both to cut expenditure and to increase the quality and range of services.
It all comes back to that all-important concept: managerial culture, which our book seems to describe. We argue that America’s managerial culture reached a peak of excellence at the mid twentieth century, which provides a model for the whole world. You could call it the Drucker or the Deming approach – both men embodied and exemplified that culture. There are now 14 Drucker Institutes in China, which gives me a sense of hope for that country.
I will attempt to develop this theme when I address the Transformation Forum on May 20 at 11.20 am. I have never been a keynote speaker before! Wish me well.
Best -
Will Hopper
I loved parts of this book but I was shocked to read therein that the authors found the existence of mega-churches to be a good sign for he moral fabric of our society. From what I’ve witnessed, the modern, commercialized value systems of American Evangelical Christianity are more geared toward self-centered, belief based values rather than the outward-looking, fact seeking and relinquishment of self necessary for a “new dawn.” A person who believes in his religious mythology to the point where he thinks it refutes evolution is not going hold scientific method above an emotional and self-rationalizing approach.
Comment by Peter — October 2, 2009 @ 1:38 am |