TRUTH 37

Management tools work, but never admit that you are using one

The phrase “the love of money is the root of all evil” is often misunderstood. It is not money that is evil, it is the love of money that is the problem. An analogy is true for management tools. Management tools are fine. They are necessary, practical and can help to develop resourceful thinking. But the rather ordinary application of management tools is the problem. It is the root of alienation and elitism and it can sterilise creativity.

In your next meeting, try explaining tools like business process re-engineering or comparative analysis technique without putting your colleagues to sleep within minutes. The knack is to apply management tools while preserving energetic, ...

Get The Truth About Creativity now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.