Datasheet

Legitimacy is important because it allows you to step forward as a leader; it
allows you to create the right environment and remove blockages to learning
and change. Legitimacy may also allow you to reward those who follow your
leadership. We will return to leadership later.
Authority, leadership and legitimacy manifest themselves differently in
different environments. This varies from country to country, from company
to company and within companies. There’s no guarantee that what works on a
German factory production line will work in an American office.
Even in environments in which someone does exercise authority and people
do what they’re told, there’s no monopoly on good ideas. Ideas on how to
improve the product, the technology or the process can come from anywhere.
Managers who rely on authority to get things done risk missing these ideas
because individuals won’t speak up and put their ideas forward – and even if
they do speak up, the manager may not have time to listen.
This is part of the thinking behind the flat hierarchy (something of a
contradiction in terms) and empowerment in the workforce. However scepti-
cal we may be about management commitment and motivation for advocating
empowerment, it is of itself a valid idea.
In trying to lead learning and change, we need to consider ourselves
empowered–anindividualwhodoesn’twillfindithardtoleadanything.
We need to create change not through our own authority or through borrow-
ing someone else’s but, rather, through working with those around us who
are receptive to new ideas. Not everyone will be receptive to our ideas, but
some will. Sometimes it may seem like throwing mud at a wall: some will
stick, some will fall off – you can’t t ell in advanc e what will stick and what
won’t.
On occasions, authority can be useful: sometimes it can be useful to stop
people doing something, to ensure that someone takes a specific action or to do
something quickly in a crisis. Authority isn’t a cure, though, and in many cases
you’ll find that you don’t have the authority to take your desired action. The
tools of leadership and legitimacy are more useful and can be acquired and
exercised wherever you are in the company hierarchy. If you’re in a position to
exercise authority, use it judiciously. You can order someone to change, but you
can’t guarantee that they will, and you certainly can’t order anyone to learn.
1.8 Practical Theory
‘‘There is nothing so practical as a good theory’’
Kurt Lewin (1890–1947), psychologist, inventor of action research
and change theorist
During the course of this book, we will look at a variety of theories, mostly
about learning and change. For a book that tries to have a practical bent, this
Introduction 11