Directing is Something All of Us Do

8/14/2019 Directing is Something All of Us Do

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Directing

Directing is something all of us do throughout our lives. We all make decisions which affect

ourselves and our family, which affect the people with whom we come in contact, thecommunity in which we live, the enterprise which employs us. They are often extremely

important decisions. What kind of an education, what kind of school, what kind of trade or profession, whom to marry, choosing between alternative medical treatments such as drugs or surgery, whether to change one's job, indeed the country in which we wish to live and the kind of

government we prefer, all these are decisions which we make and which have to be made again

and again as we direct the course of our lives within the choices open to us.

Here we are discussing the work of managers and administrators, starting with those who directtheir own companies and larger organisations. The decisions taken, by those who head

enterprises and by those who govern, affect more people and greater resources than do those

taken by ourselves in the course of our daily and private lives, but there is much commonground. Very basic is an understanding of what is going on, of what is happening, of the

problems of the day.

So we begin by having a look at the sort of things which are taking place all around us.

The World in Which We Live

Some illnesses have disappeared, our life span has increased considerably within living memory

but each year something like 100,000 people are admitted to our hospitals for diseases caused by

drugs which should have cured.

There is inflation accompanied by confrontation between those who work and those whomanage. While people are safeguarded against extreme poverty and hardship by extensive social

security legislation and by the national health service, there is much unemployment, frustration

and unrest.

Some established norms have been questioned. People's behaviour is being affected and there has been an increase in permissiveness (promiscuity), delinquency and crime, there is the younger

age of those involved. There are social problems of oneparent families, there is increasing

loneliness. There is increasing vandalism and callousness towards other people. There is use of

violence (terrorism) against people for political ends.

The planet has become much smaller, meaning by this that we speak each other's languages, that

we communicate all around the planet in a matter of seconds, that we travel anywhere in a matter

of hours. The market now spans the entire planet, competition is tough and international.

There is the impact of technology, of laser applications, of electronic calculators, desk computers, computer-based automatic operations and control, microprocessors, and much more.



But while on the one hand our space ships explore our planetary system and we have landed on

the moon, on the other hand a country like Russia uses psychiatric hospitals in an attempt to

break the resistance of those who stand up for individual freedom by disagreeing with thedictates of the state.

A few years have seen far reaching changes take place in the wealth of countries and individuals,a vast transfer of wealth towards largely Arab oil producing countries, with other countries

struggling to maintain their standard of living. In addition there is an enormous and speedilyincreasing gap in living standards between the underdeveloped world and developed countries. A

very high proportion of those living on the planet are permanently hungry, undernourished,

starving, illiterate, deprived.

It used to be that costs and overheads were estimated and a customary percentage added for profit. This gave one the price at which the article was sold. Now we tend to assess what

quantities can be sold at each of a number of different prices. The price tends to be what the

market will bear and one has to produce and sell accordingly. Under such conditions the price is

the maximum one can persuade people to pay for what one can persuade them to buy. The wayin which oil prices were pushed up by the oil producing and exporting countries is a case in

point. This is 'marketing'. When marketing replaces selling this affects the internal organisationof the company in different ways. There is increasing consumer awareness and interest in

products, prices and company operations.

Much is happening. These are after all only some developments and trends and there is much

else.

But there is one word which sums up what is taking place in all the many different areas. Thatword is 'change'.

Change is taking place and things are changing more quickly. We now live in a time of change,

we live in a time of accelerating change. This is how our life today differs from life but a fewyears ago.

Yet pick up almost any textbook on management written but a few years ago and somewhere in

it you are likely to find the phrase that people do not like change, that people will resist change

<1>. Yet we live in a time of accelerating change and have to live with it, indeed have toovercome the resulting problems.

There are effective ways of overcoming the problems set by change {1} and we now look at how

this can be done.

Adapting to Change

Consider a man walking as quickly as he can along a jungle path. He turns a corner and there a

few yards ahead and facing him is a tiger. He immediately starts climbing the nearest tree. It



happens quickly but much has gone on in his mind in that split second between seeing the tiger

and starting to climb.

He sees the tiger. What can I do? Draw my pistol and shoot? Have I got it with me? Is there timeto draw it? Is the tiger hungry? Is there a half-eaten animal nearby? How long will it be before

the rest of the party get here? Are there any climbable trees nearby? Can I climb it? Startclimbing!

What he did was to assess the situation and then act accordingly.

One survives in the jungle by adapting to it. To survive in a time of change, one must adapt tochange. One adapts by assessing the situation and then acting accordingly. We see what is

changing and how it is changing, estimate what is likely to happen and then act first. We forecast

change and plan accordingly.

http://www.solhaam.org/articles/directing.html

Directing Directing is the process that many people would most relate to managing. It is

supervising, or leading workers to accomplish the goals of the organization. In many

organizations, directing involves making assignments, assisting workers to carry outassignments, interpreting organizational policies, and informing workers of how well they are

performing. To effectively carry out this function, managers must have leadership skills in order

to get workers to perform effectively.

Some managers direct by empowering workers. This means that the manager doesn't stand like a

taskmaster over the workers barking out orders and correcting mistakes. Empowered workers

usually work in teams and are given the authority to make decisions about what plans will be

carried out and how. Empowered workers have the support of managers who will assist them tomake sure the goals of the organization are being met. It is generally thought that workers who

are involved with the decision-making process feel more of a sense of ownership in their work,

take more pride in their work, and are better performers on the job.

By the very nature of directing, it should be obvious that the manager must find a way to get

workers to perform their jobs. There are many different ways managers can do this in addition toempowerment, and there are many theories about the best way to get workers to perform

effectively and efficiently. Management theories and motivation are important topics and arediscussed in detail in other articles.

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Directing - This management principle deals exclusively with people. Up to this point, we havedeveloped a plan as to how we can implement the objective of increasing the work performedfor outside customers in the overhaul shop by 20 percent. Directing, as in the movies, impliescontrolling the activities of others toward the accomplishment of the objective. The overhaul

shop manager is like the movie director, controlling and directing the activities of the techniciansthat work in the overhaul shop to accomplish the overall objective. In essence, the manager wants to find the best people (if that opportunity presents itself), give them the responsibility toget the work done, communicate what activities they need to perform, explain how to do theactivities if necessary, and motivate them as to the importance of the objective. A very important point, and one that took me a long time to understand, is that the manager does not actually perform the work. The managers direct, the others accomplish the work. Withthat said, I also recognize that many managers work for small organizations and performing thework is necessary. Just recognize that while the manager is wearing the manager’s hat, othersperform the work.

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Directing is Something All of Us Do