What is a dysfunctional organization? There are many definitions and
symptoms highlighted by executives and management guru today to
recognize signs of dysfunctional company with polarizing leadership. I
summarize some below with examples of a local college as a dysfunctional
organization:-
Ivory tower effect. Self-important director/manager who is
isolated from the core business making their own decision and instruct
that his decisions to be implemented by the cadre. The cadre are the
lecturers who are subject matter experts but treated like labour and
that creates a nasty cultural divide between management and lecturers.
Fire fighting. The
organization is into a permanent crisis mode. Management is continually
unhappy with Performance of lecturers? Students? No! Management is
unhappy of lecturers not updating report, files and paperwork – mundane
administrative office work. Finding ways to cut lecturers salary! Do
they think about the quality and outcome? No! People’s jobs are
constantly in jeopardy. Students cheat? Why bother, they are robots and
their jobs are to memorize the slides – cut and paste into the answer
booklet. Since no human can memorize all chapters of 5-6 courses, do you
blame them to cheat? The self-important director/manager, if you are
one of the students, would you be able to memorize all?
Prolonged stress. Do you
blame lecturers when everybody is always in high UNNECESSARY stress
level? The predicable consequences of unremitting stress are people burn
out or break down and people ultimately give up. A fear-driven,
unhappy, pressured, can’t-win environment generates employees and
lecturers who check their brains at the door. Oh! Management is happy so
that they can get cheaper and inferior lecturers to replace.
Dysfunction!
Strategy du jour. When dysfunctional executives consistently
overreact to a single data point and take the entire organization in a
new direction. Often the result of hallway or ad-hoc meetings in obscure
places and making decisions in the absence of those who are actually
responsible for that sort of thing. And firing the wrong people and not
the root cause. In TQM, finding the “root cause” is a critical step in
understanding defects and in improving processes. And that happen every
semester. External examiner talked and discussed, but the same thing
happen again. Whats the point? Insanity rules?.
Organizational Insanity. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again ...
and expecting a different result.” Do we need to explain more?
and expecting a different result.” Do we need to explain more?
Pluralistic Ignorance. It’s
amazing in dysfunctional organizations how many people just “don’t get
it.” In other words ‘clueless.” In the college, nearly everyone is
clueless, i.e., pluralistic ignorance. Is managing an institutional of
higher learning is like managing a small family business? Why do we have
doctors with very high level qualification and experience, but junior
masters to make decisions, changing all questions developed by subject
matter experts, without any clue on how to implement adult learning and
what are the processes of intellectual capital development.
Analysis paralysis. When Management especially from military
factions, constantly take actions of issues to death, going down one rat
hole or knock-down, drag-out fight after another without actually
making the right decisions because there's no clear leadership to drive
direction. Too bad my friend, you are the scape goat victimized by the
military maréchal de camp!. I heard many more playing backgammon and doing business with students and escaped the 'death sentence'. Insanity~!
No class. Dysfunctional
organizations have a high tolerance for failure, as long as the
attitude is right and “lessons have been learned.” Successful
organizations realize that the higher you get in an organization, the
fewer lessons should be learned. Executives are expected to bring with
them certain experiences and skills to perform at a high level.
Individuals who don’t possess these capabilities are probably not in the
right position. However, the opposite is the culture of dysfunctional
organizations. Because you are incompetent, you work hard with no brain
(not smart) to prove your loyalty by victimizing the doers and the
experts. No class of exemplary is brought into the system.
Segmented morals. Dysfunctional
organizations are infected with a morality of selective absolutes. The
stated values and actual behaviors, usually self-serving, are often in
direct conflict with each other. This situational ethics approach to
organizational values generates a conflicting set of behavioral
guidelines that destroy management’s credibility. You talked,
instructed, took actions in segmented issues and closed eyes in other
non-ethical behaviors. Cakap tak serupa bikin!
If these are the symptoms of dysfunctional organizations, then there is
one symptom of a functional organization. The latter never tolerates
dysfunction. The alternative is “organizational insanity.”
You will go insane if you stay longer!
