The Guru in me - Critical Perspectives on Management

von: Stefan Pertz

Introduction

1) How do we recognise a Guru if we see one? 1
Choose a management guru (past or present)

2) The chosen One - Tomas Peters, the preacher of a new religion 2
Discuss the reasons why you think this person is presented as a guru =

a) What makes this person a Guru? 2
Deconstruct this situation using one or two key concepts from the course =

3) Me without you 4
What insights have you gained from this exercise

(i) about the guru =

4) The making of a Guru or what I have learned about the Guru 7
What insights have you gained from this exercise

(ii) about the process you used to perform the deconstruction

5) Insights about the process 8
What insights have you gained from this exercise

(iii) about yourself?

6) The real me 10
 

"Peters is ... the father of the post-modern corporation."

—Los Angeles Times1

1) How do we recognise a Guru if we see one?

a) The term guru derives from the Sanskrit and stands for a religious teacher. People not only hold the person, the physical appearance of the guru, as being sacred, but also the knowledge and the conduit of self-realisation. When broken apart the word guru becomes: ′gu′ which represents darkness and ‘ru’ meaning remover. To make sense of the above one has to understand that the term “darkness” represents lack of knowledge, avidya. In seeking moksha, the liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth believers can seek a relationship to a living guru, since gurus are the embodiment of god. In modern use of language and writing a guru, especially in the west, has extended its metaphorical meaning to “expert”.

The question that arises is “Why do we follow Gurus?”. One explanation can be the search for meaning in life. They offer fulfilment and promise a peaceful and happy life 2. Herein the emphasis lies on management Gurus. How can we transfer the above to a Management context? If we accept religion as a framework of rituals and symbols we can apply the idea of religion to Management. In Management we follow rules, ritua ls and symbols. Every morning we are called to the holy mass, worshipping the corporate identity manual and confessing our companies inability to keep the promise of short delivery times to our customer3. Our Consultant will teach us by showing us how we can improve quality, reduce wastage and improve happiness in our jobs.

2) The chosen One - Tomas Peters, the preacher of a new religion

In order to answer the questions of the given task it was necessary to chose one particular Guru. Because of the methodology used4 the choice was to focus on Thomas (Tom) Peters, co-author of In Search of Excellence and many other books. His book In Search of Excellence is another source of inspiration for the findings presented herein. To understand the rational behind the choice it is important to explore the reason as to why Tomas Peters can be seen as a Guru. It is worthwhile mentioning that Guru Ranking exist and are male dominated. In Accenture’s Guru Ranking Peters came in second only outstripped by Porter5.

a) What makes this person a Guru?

i) Given we accept the application of the religious term of Guru to the modern world of corporate culture a Management Guru can be seen as a teacher with expert knowledge. By demonstrating his superior knowledge he will guide the way into wisdom. His book was revolutionary because it identified the key concepts of success of what he called “excellent companies”. If we the believers would now follow these concepts everyone should have an understanding of what it takes to transfer a company from mediocrity to excellence. In this particular case the world of corporate business was awaiting the advent of a new bible 6. Peters was able to deliver because he identified what needed to be written. In his own way he gave his idea meaning by writing In Search of Excellence7. Peters became a Guru because he had the gift to present his work in a time where Managers strived for solutions. It was the right thing to do since there was a demand for his expert knowledge8. In a later part there will be a discussion about the importance of the timing to enforce this statement.

ii) Being a teacher is not good enough to make someone a Guru. Where is the Management Gurus Nirvana? What is the ultimate stage of completion and wholeness? For us to judge over a Guru it is unavoidable to create new and obvious criteria which in return are subjective. The following samples are used to assess why Peters is presented as being a Guru:

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1 Los Angeles Times in corpedia.com (2004)

2 See wordiq.com (2004)

3 See Thomas (1993), page 63-69

4 See Appendix A

5 See Accenture.com (2004) and see Appendix B and C

6 See Peters et al. (1982), page 19-26

7 See Derrida (1978), page 11

8 See Kennedy (2004) and see Whitford (2004)