Gary Hamel’s Reinventing Management for the 21st Century

Gary Hamel, an author, entrepreneur, and an influential business management expert, talked about Reinventing Management for the 21st Century- building organizations that are both fit for the future and for human beings. According to Hamel, management is the single, most important invention of the last 200 years. For him, these management tools, principles, and methods are outdated and it needs to be reinvented because organizations are facing new sets of challenges that the old management cannot address. He proceeded to naming the challenges, such as 1) Accelerated rate of change, 2) Hyper competition, and 3) Knowledge as a commodity. He, then, offered “rules” as to how to innovate management in order to keep track with the current challenges. Hamel talked about aiming high and start working, challenging the dogma, and learning from the fringe. He ended his talk with a positive motivational thought that people should not underestimate themselves for human beings are adaptable and resilient.

When you think about it, management has come a long way since the ancient era. From the time of Aristotle, who had laid the foundation for many management concepts, to medieval European guilds that functioned as modern-day quality control to ensure fine craftsmanship- the act of planning, organizing, and motivating resources was modified and adapted into what we know as management today. With the help of many modern management contributors like Frederick Winslow Taylor (founded Taylorism) whose theory of management that analyzes and synthesizes work flows. Taylor’s research is still heavily revered to this day. Another important figure is Henri Fayol, the father of the school of Systematic Management, who introduced to the world his 14 basic principles of management which is one of the earliest theories of management