A Management Guru Before His Time

While he contributed to many discussions of office culture, Handy is in some ways most remarkable as a futurist visionary who foresaw major workplace trends decades before they took hold. He understood that technology had catalyzed an epoch of disruptive and discontinuous change. With some clairvoyance, he predicted that future tasks would be increasingly outsourced and that much work would be conducted remotely. And in a contemporary twist, he promoted goals such as work-life balance and greater personal fulfillment.

Looking after your people

In the 1970s, Handy broke ranks with many of the other notable business consultants, such as Milton Friedman, who were preaching that the overarching purpose of companies was to earn money for shareholders expecting steadily rising returns on their investments. Taking a radically different perspective, Handy responded that the central theme should be to look after the workforce and to become better rather than bigger.

Management, he said, should facilitate human purpose. He saw a workplace as an evolving community of people rather than a mechanism defined by formal job titles or a set of contracts and agreements. The metaphor he chose was a small English village, where everybody knows one another and pitches in to help out their neighbors. He envisioned the workplace of the future as a flexible and decentralized nonhierarchical system built on trust.

One key concept was the role of what he called "portfolio workers" in a modern setting, where participants — not necessarily employees — exchange skills and trade time. By a similar token, he extolled "doing your best at what you are best at." A career might likely comprise various paid and voluntary roles, instead of being a "lifer" at a single organization.

Ye gods

Trained as a classicist, Handy developed a descriptive typology of organizational cultures based on illustrative traits of ancient Greek gods.

1. He described a "Zeus" power culture, where top-down, centralized authority rests in the hands of a few who make decisions and enjoy privileges. Leaders are often dynamic entrepreneurs.
2. Bureaucracies with strict rules and procedures may form teams to achieve targets or solve specific problems. The god Apollo is invoked as a symbol of order and predictability.
3. The goddess Athena inspires collaborative, task-based teams, such as those in consulting firms or advertising agencies. The objective is for education, qualifications and interests to align, generating accountability and work ownership.
4. Dionysus, the god of wine, represents independent specialists whose talent commands respect. Under that sort of celebrity system, employees may show up to work for money and perks, with less regard for loyalty and company attachment. Dionysus star performers sell their talents to the highest bidder.

Implementing the paradigm

Many organizations, of course, mix cultures across many departments. Handy provides an imaginative model for looking at the elements and drivers, which might sometimes be difficult to apply in public companies. It is Handy's genius to ask insightful questions rather than prescribe dogmatic answers.

In general, organizations typically resist changing their entrenched cultures. Like countries, they exemplify their own values, beliefs and expectations. The most successful, however, are able to adopt the appropriate culture that dovetails most closely with their goals. A primary course of action is to try to seek a culture that fits your particular company.

The exercise is challenging, but managers might start with a few initiatives.

• Set clear goals.
• Perform a cultural audit to ascertain whether the firm's stated values align with actual employee perceptions.
• Continually evaluate and monitor the cultural fit.
• Shift and modify the culture one department at a time if you need to make changes.

Over his long career, Handy noted that many evolutions in economics, education and values have not been reflected in the corporate milieu. Perhaps his most insistent message is that even during such flux, workplaces must retain their humanity.