Page 107 - The Drucker Lectures

88 [ The Drucker Lectures

ple and compensation systems and managing individuals and
placing them.
The human relations people made one dreadful mistake,
which we now realize. They talked of human nature. That was
the reason why we in the human relations movement were totally
ineffectual. We talked of a collective called the human being
in society. We preached individuals, but we did not really look
at them. We didn’t manage them. We managed workers, su-
pervisors. One has to do that, but still it explains why we were
ineffectual and why the very human beings whom we thought
we befriended rejected us. The organization development people
believe that structure is an obstacle and an impediment and has
to be, if not eliminated, at least bent to the human being. They
are equally ineffectual.
The skeleton has to be rigid. One cannot adapt the skeleton
to the individual, to people, but one has to fit people as individu-
als so that they can learn what the individual can learn. We will
have to challenge people: “It’s your job to think through who has
to know and understand what you are trying to do and to make
yourself understood. Don’t wait for the information specialist;
that’s futile. It’s your job to say who needs to know what you are
going to concentrate on and also who depends on you for what.
And then to go to that person and say, ‘This is what I think you
look to me for,’ which is the only way to develop relationships.”
Every client of mine tells me of the terrible personality prob-
lems that we have. Nonsense. Personality problems are very rare
in organizations. Organizations have to be very tolerant. Mis-
understandings are common. Personality problems are almost
unheard of. But what is common is that you don’t know what the
next fellow is doing because he hasn’t told you, and you haven’t
asked him. And so you assume he must do what to you is obvi-
ous, and when he does something else you think he is either
stupid or malicious. No, he only marches by his own drummer