Table Of Content‘This book revolutionised my approach to leadership and cultural change.’
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‘I needed this book. I will use it, because I know the material works.’
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lead change.’
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those serious about sustaining an effective executive career.’
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organisation to become great leaders.’
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them myself and have seen the benefits show up in my own organization.’
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competitive advantage as the world moves away from industrial relations
systems to human relations models.’
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For Ron Macdonald, a true role model
Systems
Leadership
Creating Positive Organisations
Ian Macdonald, catherIne Burke
and karl Stewart
OR Routledge
U
T
DEL Taylor & Francis Group
G
E
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2006 by Gower Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© Ian Macdonald, Catherine Burke and Karl Stewart 2006
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording
or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Ian Macdonald, Catherine Burke and Karl Stewart have asserted their moral right under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Burke, Catherine
Systems leadership : creating positive organisations
1.Leadership 2. Information resources management
3.Information technology – Management
I.Title II.Macdonald, Ian III. Stewart, Karl
658.4’038011
ISBN-13: 978-0-566-08700-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Macdonald, Ian, 1950-
Systems leadership : creating positive organizations / by Ian Macdonald, Catherine Burke,
and Karl Stewart.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-566-08700-4
1.Organizational sociology. 2. Organizational effectiveness. 3. Leadership. I. Burke,
Catherine G., 1939- II. Stewart, Karl. III. Title.
HM791.M33 2006
658.4’092--dc22
2006013671
Contents
List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements xi
Preface xv
Introduction: Systems Leadership: What Use Is Theory? 1
Relating theory to practice 1
Language – social and scientific 2
The practical value of good theory 3
People and science 4
Developing a common language 5
ParT 1 PrInCIPLeS of BehavIoUr 9
1 Principles of Behaviour 11
Principle 1: People are not machines 11
Principle 2: People need to be able to predict their environments 14
Principle 3: People’s behaviour is value based 16
Principle 4: People form cultures based upon mythologies 22
Principle 5: Change is a result of dissonance 25
Principle 6: It is as important to understand social process in detail as it is
to understand the detail of technical process 29
Principle 7: Understand the difference between prediction of a population’s
behaviour and the prediction of an individual’s behaviour 32
Principle 8: It is better to build relationships on the basis of authority
rather than power 34
Principle 9: Clarity of boundaries is the basis of freedom 35
ParT 2 The naTUre of Work anD organISaTIonS 37
2 What is Work? 39
Human work and identity 41
3 hHuman Capability 45
Elements of individual capability 45
So why not include experience, competencies or personality/temperament? 49
Nature or nurture? 50
Caveats 52
Summary 56
vi Systems Leadership
4 Meritocracy 59
Organisational principles alternative to merit 59
Authoritarian versus democratic organisations 61
Summary 63
5 Aassociations and employment hierarchies 65
Associations 65
6 The Work of the Board with the executive Team 73
Determining purpose, policy, systems and strategy 73
Summary 77
7 Leadership, Power and authority 79
Leadership 79
Power and authority 81
Summary 84
8 Levels of Work 85
Organising work 85
What is muddled? 85
How are they related? 87
All levels of work are essential 94
Role and person 95
Summary 96
ParT 3 SySTeMS LeaDerShIP 99
9 The Work of Leadership: Creating a Culture 101
The work of leadership 101
The three tools of leadership 104
10 Leadership, Policy and Systems 107
The role of policy and systems 107
Tool for analysing systems 110
Summary 113
11 Task formulation and assignment 115
What are tasks? 115
Human work, tasks and the exercise of discretion 115
People and task assignment 117
Task definition extended 121
Issues in task assignment 122
12 authorities and role relationships 131
What is a manager? 132
Manager–subordinate relationships 133
Authorities of the supervisor 137
Role relationships 141
13 key Systems 143
Sources of influence 143
People systems 145
Contents vii
Task feedback and review 148
Performance planning and performance review 151
Performance evaluation 153
Summary of performance evaluation systems 160
Salary administration 161
Identifying and developing potential 163
Succession planning 166
Discipline and appeal 167
Summary 171
14 Teams and Teamwork 173
The false duality 173
‘Team’ tasks, goals and rewards 174
Team decisions 176
Team processes 176
Summary 184
ParT 4 MakIng Change haPPen – PUTTIng Theory
InTo PraCTICe 187
15 The Process of Successful Change: how is it achieved? 189
Successful change process 190
Summary 200
16 Systems and Symbols audit – organisational health Check 203
Analysis of systems, symbols and behaviour 203
Purpose of an audit 203
Audit steps 203
Conclusion 212
17 how to Design Systems 213
Significance 213
Complexity 214
Criteria: the 20 questions 215
Practical examples 222
18 Creating high Performance Teams 231
Working Together 231
The course 232
Cultural relevance 239
Core social process skills for leaders 244
19 So What? What Difference has This Made? 245
Comalco 247
Hamersley Iron 253
20 Implementation: Discipline or Dogma? 259
Reviewing content and process 260
Conclusion 262
viii Systems Leadership
21 Who Is There to guard the guards? essentials of a Positive organisation 263
Checks and balances 263
The employment charter 266
Foundations for this charter 268
22 Complementary Theories and Practices 271
Theories we have used in our own practice 272
Conclusion 277
Bibliography 279
Index 285
CD-rom: Case Studies
1 The Century Story Joe Grimmond
2 Organising Corporate Computing: A History of the Application of Theory
Catherine G. Burke and Daniel L. Smith
3 Effective Leadership Programme, Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)
Geoff McGill
4 Inco Limited Divisional Shops Fred Stanford
5 ‘A Journey to the Reality of Accountability’ Western Cape College:
The First Three Years Derek Hunter
6 The Return to Work Process at Kaiser Aluminium: A Case Study in the
Practical Application of System Leadership Modelling Phillip Bartlett
7 The Leadership Programme at Kormilda College
David Dadswell and Derek Hunter
8 New Zealand Aluminium Smelters Limited David Brewer
9 Building New Mythologies: Countering Negative Views of ‘The
Management’ – Organisational Development Strategy in Pacific Coal
Phillip Bartlett
10 Parish life in the Anglican Diocese of Perth, Western Australia – the
Bellevue– Darlington Story Michael Evers and Philip Biggs
11 Working Together with Engineers Roy Feltham
12 Weipa Kaolin: Tough Business ... Great Work Ken McDonald
List of Figures
Figure I.1 Human Decision-Making Model 1
Figure 1.1 Person–Object Relationship 12
Figure 1.2 Person–Person Relationship 13
Figure 1.3 Mythologies 17
Figure 1.4 Universal Core Values 19
Figure 1.5 Making Sense of the World Through the Mythological Lens 23
Figure 2.1 The Process of Work (Jaques) 40
Figure 2.2 Constraints or Limits Bounding Activities 41
Figure 3.1 Comparison of Mental Processing Ability, Social Process Skills and
Application in Persons A, B and C 55
Figure 5.1 Corporate Business Structure 67
Figure 8.1 Grading Structures 86
Figure 10.1 Matrix for the Analysis of Systems 112
Figure 10.2 Possible Processes Driven by Different Categories of Systems 113
Figure 11.1 Task Assignment Constraint for a Machine 117
Figure 11.2 Task Assignment Constraint for a Human 118
Figure 12.1 Authorities of a Manager 133
Figure 12.2 Authorities of the Manager-Once-Removed 134
Figure 12.3 Authorities of the Manager-Twice-Removed 137
Figure 12.4 How the Supervisor Role is often Represented 137
Figure 12.5 Our Representation of the Supervisor Role 138
Figure 12.6 Authorities of the Supervisor 138
Figure 12.7 Authorities of a Project Leader 140
Figure 13.1 Sources of Influence 144
Figure 13.2 People Systems 146
Figure 14.1 Accessibility of the Leader 178
Figure 15.1 Successful Change Process (Part 1) 198
