- Aug 1, 2008
- 15,149
- 25,678
- AFL Club
- Western Bulldogs
- Banned
- #2,776
Why does you post sound like a corporate promotional ad?That’s why T&D includes ‘development’ of your staff.
I may to a small degree be aware of business management practices. Yes, many businesses are turning to specialisation, as they seek to become the provider of choice in a market niche. Even better if your innovative product or service creates that niche. The strategy is essentially to become the big fish in a smaller pond, as opposed to the other way around.
Whilst it is true that professionals, such as sportsmen, that are driven and focused on their area of speciality can deliver highly effective results, managers have a broader outlook. They are focused on macro management; why the organization exists, what it will deliver, and how it will behave. Thinking about the strategical rather than the technical.
The management development program needs to be cognisant of the needs of management. Several tactics should be employed, including inter agency secondments. One tactic I recommend is to ‘talk to the unusual suspects’. These could be inside or outside your organization, but whoever they are, choose them because they are likely to disagree with you, challenge you, or tell you something you don’t know. Membership in MIA, CCIQ, SBAA, Rotary etc extends your personal development and network as well. The business truism of “if you haven’t got time to do it right, you certainly haven’t got time to do it wrong” applies here.
Maintaining the status quo is not an answer - it is a given in business that if you are not progressing you are regressing.
You have identified some problems with specialisation, but that is good. As managers, that is chiefly our job - to solve problems or, even more preferable, foresee problems before they occur (as you have done).
I have limitless confidence in the ability of the human mind, working in teams, to provide solutions to problems that have previously seemed insurmountable. There is no reason to believe that humankind will not continue to evolve along similar lines.