The Business Book

76

N O G R E A T M A N A G E R

O R L E A D E R E V E R

F E L L F R O M H E A V E N

GODS OF MANAGEMENT

I

n his influential 1978 book

Gods of Management, Charles

Handy used the allegory of the

gods of ancient Greece to describe

the nature of organizations. Handy

proposed that four management

styles could be identified, a

combination of which are likely to

be present in every organization.

Zeus represents the “club culture,”

in which relationships with the

leader are more important than

formal titles or positions. Apollo’s

“role culture” is defined by

functions, divisions, rules, and

rationality. In Athena’s “task

culture,” power lies within teams

who have the expertise to solve

problems. In Dionysus’s “existential

culture,” the organization exists to

support the individual’s needs.

Handy’s typology provided an

entirely new and original method

for managers to analyze a

company’s dynamics, and to

understand culturally embedded

behaviors, biases, and beliefs.

However, it soon became clear that

because organizations are vast and

diverse entities, and are seldom

static, organizational behavior

evolves over time. Under pressure

externally and internally, most

companies operate in a constant

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Organizational dynamics

KEY DATES

20th century Ty p o l o g i e s

emerge to help management

thinkers sort organizations into

identifiable classifications, and

individuals into distinct types.

What motivates each person is

thought to be determined by

their “type.”

1978 Charles Handy’s Gods

of Management proposes

that understanding which

classification an organization

fits into is key to understanding

the type of people it contains

and, thus, the way to lead them.

1989 In The Age of Unreason,

Handy puts forward the theory

of the Shamrock Organization.

21st century Management

thinking increasingly

acknowledges that stylistic

typologies are just one of many

methods of understanding and

managing companies and staff.

Handy’s Gods of

Management reveals

different types of

organizational dynamic...

...but organizations are

complex at institutional

and the individual level.

Therfore, typologies can

still be helpful for

understanding organizational

and individual complexity.

Effective leadership requires

God-like omniscience, but

no great leader ever fell

from heaven.