Loyalists, whether to people or ideas, do themselves and their idols few favors. More non-conformists would help.

We all need doubt. It’s the driving force behind change, creativity, and independence of thought of every kind. Authoritarians and conformists — no surprises here — much prefer faith in fixed dogmas, including those of management: all the “truths” taught in MBA programs and hallowed by years of mindless repetition. As circumstances become more complex and challenging, the temptation is to fall back on supposed certainties. Yet that is exactly the time greater doubt becomes most essential.

Political mythology of all kinds tends to distort reality. The same is true of many of today’s management myths. The worst of these is the assumption that, when it comes to running successful businesses, our leaders pretty much know all the answers. All we need to do is to apply their ideas with determination and unwavering focus on “the basics.” Life — including business life — is simple. Complications arise only when people start thinking for themselves too much.

You can understand the urge politicians feel to claim that all problems are due to “nothing more than” the mistakes of the other party, or the incompetence of those currently in power. By over-simplifying and ignoring anything that doesn’t support their cause, they hope to keep attention on what suits them — and obscure the likelihood that their own solutions will almost certainly contain as many problems — albeit different ones — as the ones currently being used.

Producing a cult of personality around any leader is also a constant temptation. How much simpler it would be if there were someone who knew all the answers; who could tell us what to do for the best with unerring accuracy. We could relax and stop worrying, secure in the belief that someone knew the answers to at least the majority of life’s troubling questions.

Sadly, it just ain’t so.

Clinging to a belief in known, simple answers is naive at best

Many of today’s conventional management styles suffer from the belief in simplistic answers to complex problems. Macho, Hamburger Management tries to claim that sticking to whatever is quickest, cheapest, simplest, and most likely to turn a quick profit, regardless of whether it is any good in the longer term, is the only practical response to global competition. Authoritarian executives — who are still in the majority — constantly stress loyalty and conformity. They need people around them who assume that doing what the boss says is going to be better than thinking for themselves.

Ideas also develop authoritarian ways. Heresy — individual questioning of established dogma — is sometimes punished as ruthlessly as disloyalty to the most demanding dictatorship. The notion is spread that ordinary people should not presume to question what “experts” say; that they are too stupid, too poorly qualified, too amateur in their understanding, or too gullible to think for themselves. Like children, they need to be protected from their inexperience and lead by the hand in whatever direction their “betters” have chosen.

This is such an obviously convenient idea for all established leaders that I am amazed so few others seem to question it. Is it really true that people are generally too lazy to form their own opinions; that they need to be told what to do because they won’t take the trouble to work it out for themselves? That you couldn’t trust them to come up with anything sensible if they did?

Lack of trust is the root cause of authoritarianism

It is a basic belief of Slow Leadership that most people truly want to do good work. Sure, there are some lazy bums, but they are far from being that common. Good work is satisfying, interesting, and makes you feel happy when you have finished it. That’s why being forced into cutting corners and skimping on quality demeans everyone involved.

Over time, organizations build up “scar tissue” from botched attempts to deal with mistakes and problems. As a result, there are so many rules and procedures around from all these past hurts that the organization becomes stiff and rigid. So sweep all the unnecessary rules away! Easier said than done, because there are two powerful — and linked — groups of people in nearly all corporations who work hard to retain them: conformists and authoritarians.

Conformists feel safe being told what to do. Authoritarians feel big when they can do the telling. Niether can bring themselves to trust anyone else.

Is your organization suffering from hardening of its arteries? Is the life blood of open communication and personal freedom to do one’s job unmolested becoming clotted and clogged as it tries to move through the veins of the business? Don’t just blame the authoritarians in positions of power. Blame those below them who accept the constant imposition of petty rules, and substitute compliance for true performance. The problem is lack of trust. The bosses don’t trust those lower down — so impose more and mroe rules on them. The conformists accept the situation because they’ve been taught not to trust their own minds.

What’s the answer?

Firstly doubt, in all its forms, should be fostered and nurtured wherever it can be found. Secondly, it should be understood that the worst place to look for creativity and new ideas is at the top of the organization.

Those who have made it that far typically have no doubt about the value of preserving current system. After all, it brought them to the top, didn’t it? It must be good. The best place to look for creativity is in the usually despised and neglected ranks of middle managers.

These good people are not yet heavily invested in any system. They are much closer to the real needs of the organization. They haven’t given up their doubts about what is done today (nor about the supposed infallible wisdom of their bosses’ ways of doing things). Best of all, they have enough experience to see what needs to be done and direct their creativity to the right spots.

We are suffering from an epidemic of leadership that focuses on simplistic answers: what is cheap, quick, and generates most short-term profit is always best; following established ideas will give all the answers; questioning is simple disloyalty. The result is shoddy business, shoddy goods and services, and shoddy conditions for those who must work in these businesses.

Because of the emphasis on doing things quickly — and never sparing the time to doubt or think things through properly — such organizations suffer from hardening of their arteries and a build up of ill-thought-out, hastily-imposed solutions dreamed up in a hurry when things go wrong. Their management ranks become dominated by authoritarians and conformists, each group needing the other to operate.

We need to encourage more doubt and creative doubters. In many ways, these are the true loyalists, helping those in power to keep checking that they are still on track. The guys at the top can be just as lazy — mentally and intellectually — as the lowliest, least educated employee. They are not exempt from choosing the simplest answer just because it causes them least trouble to think about and implement.

The true signs of a vibrant, healthy organization are the constant questioning of the status quo and frequent production of fresh, creative ideas; the same signs that point to a healthy democracy. Let’s hope it’s not too late in either case.

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