Have you notice how fond we are of using labels in the world of management? Traditional management practices and techniques compel us to measure and classify everything and everyone we meet in terms of these labels. Organisational charts force us to assign names to little boxes; selection techniques to employ candidates against predetermined criteria; annual appraisals to measure performance against standards; training and development to assist others in meeting certain objectives – the list goes on and on.

Although I understand the need to resort to these labels for the sake of expediency and functionality, I have seen all too often how these labels can also be worthless, potentially destructive and limiting. All too often they become self-fulfilling prophecies. Once I am labelled by my superiors as “the subordinate to Mr X” or “insensitive” or “of low potential” or “not very clever” or whatever, I start taking if for granted and behave accordingly. More importantly, I see no point in changing – the “c’est qui je suis, vous savez” phenomenon. In the name of organisational tidiness, both my adaptability and creativity have been smothered.

<B>Towards Management Maturity</B>

The way out of all this is for us to become acutely aware that it’s an illusion to believe that we can put people into tidy boxes and pin a neat label on the cover. We need to be aware that this illusion stems from our fear of losing control. I might be George Bush or Paul Bérenger but there are still a thousand uncontrollable things out there that I cannot control – from the rise in the price of oil, to the war in Iraq, to the latest accident at Coromandel, to illness and ultimately, death. Regardless of how much authority we have, we cannot and shall never be in a position to control people – people control their own behaviours or these do not get controlled. Full stop.

We take the first big steps towards management maturity when we realize that, as indicated above, certain events are and will always be beyond our control. We take the second one when we pause for a while, go deep inside us and see how the fear of losing control forces us not to lose control and label everyone and everything. And we take the third step towards management maturity when we realize that we are not going to be perceived as wishy-washy or indecisive if we do not control at all costs.

Provided that we don’t overdo it, changing our minds is not a weakness – instead it can be a formidable strength in a world that is constantly changing. In this world, our ability to spot the changes that are affecting our Mauritian organisations and respond to such changes rapidly and skilfully by empowering others around us, becomes a major strength. What we all need to be able to do is to be quick on our feet and respond to demands in the market place, whilst cherishing these values that hold both our culture and the harmony of our organisation together. Absolute control in this environment plays a very small role and consequently, we need to be weary of using labels indiscriminately.

<B>Prof E. CHAROUX</B>