by Pius Camenzind
If you open any newspaper you’re guaranteed to find at least one article mentioning managers or management. In the past I always imagined managers as men in black suits and briefcases who had a lot to do and a lot to say in their company. But management is much more than just a profession. And that’s why it’s so omnipresent. Management is needed every day all of our lives.
Everyone
manages their own life. We got our personal responsibilities; some have a family
and have to look after them, others live in a shared flat and need to manage
the cohabiting, others again have a dog or a cat who need attention. And most
of us also got a job, go to school or both.
The more we have going on in our lives, the more important it is to find the
right balance and to bring everything together – by managing.
Our lives, however, are not the only thing that need to be managed. Our whole society is based on management. Every company, every institution only functions through management.
And even though in ancient times evidence is scarce or not existing at all, management is not a new concept. There was always a need for management, and in the following paragraphs I will explain how different cultures tried to form it into something tangible.
In the Prehistoric era society was probably already as complex as ours. In times like these the natural leaders were the older men because being old meant he was alive due to his wisdom and sharpness. And leading means managing people.
Solomon, a biblical ruler, already created trade agreements and managed construction projects in the 10th century B.C.
Some of the earliest written documents by Sumerian priests reveal that they used the written form to handle finances.
In Egypt the mere existence of such a construction like the Cheops pyramid shows that management wasn’t born in the twentieth century. As it is impossible to build such a monumental building without any form of organization. Egyptians even had detailed job descriptions and understood managerial authority.
Babylonia under King Hammurabi already used laws to cover personal property, real estate, trade and business, the family, and labour. They documented transactions and were one of the first to come up with a rule that prevented responsibility to be delegated. A supervisor was to blame if his workers didn’t complete a task. Hammurabi created the Code of Hammurabi which is one of the oldest known codes of law in the world.
In China
they placed a high value on specialization. Oftentimes, artisans lived together
in special districts so they could learn their trade without distraction.
Regarding military, Sun Tzu laid the foundation for tactics over 2000 years ago
in “The Art of War.” They were so fundamental that they still apply today even
though technology changed completely.
The Greeks
laid the foundation for the scientific method. What they invented was the basis
for the works of Frederick Taylor and Frank Gilbreth who refined those methods
and became leaders in this field. By analysing workflows objectively, they were
able to improve them a lot. They recognized that by working in harmony with
music, using standard motions in a rhythm maximized the work output.
The Greeks also introduced scholarships and science in many spheres.
One of the best examples of rigorous management I think is the military. Without proper management the military would be worthless.
Cyrus, a Persian military leader, was very aware of many important aspects of managing. He saw value in human relations, need for order, uniformity of actions and recognized the importance of labour division, the need for teamwork, coordination and unity of purpose in his organizations. All of this allowed him to create the largest empire to date in around 600 to 500 B.C.
The Roman Empire was truly an excellent example of managerial skill. Because the empire was so vast, it was difficult to keep up loyalty in the whole empire. Diocletian divided it in many sub-states to be ruled over by his delegates, which had no power over the military. That way he centralized the empire.
So now the concept of management should be more comprehensible. We can see that management has been around as long as mankind. Over time it just evolved into what it is today. And even though we have a really broad understanding of management, I am sure there is still more to be learned.
Perhaps the military would not be worthless but not functional or operational? Is there any way you can connect your insights from the past to that of the present? Where do you find management there? Is it the same or different than in the past?