Sir Isaac Newton and Management

Not knowing, “what I wanted to be when I grew up”, my educational journey included’ Philosophy, Theology, Psychology, Physics, Industrial Engineering, and Management.  After working for various large companies, I settled into the challenging world of Organizational Improvement.  The dynamic landscape kept me on my toes and to this day, constantly challenged.  Interestingly, I found that none of my education was wasted!  The success of my efforts was often driven and enhanced by my eclectic background.   

I discovered that answers to problems are not found in a single discipline, but in a blend of two or more “sciences” and their “laws”.  Each science has its own set of operating assumptions, generally created over time with observation and ultimately tested and confirmed with scientific method.

For simplicity’s sake, let us put this method to a simple test by choosing a topic (an issue) and applying a second seemingly unrelated science to the problem, and hopefully it will lead us to a possible solution.  Management effectiveness and team performance is often a complaint of many organizations that I assist. 

An interesting observation about management performance is that their interactions and impact can easily be “cause/effect”.  In other words when a manager does something (cause) the team or department reacts (effect).  This is the foundation of management.  “Cause/effect” is the foundation of the science of Physics. The answer to poor team performance may lie in the blending of Management and Physics

At the risk of diverting, slightly, I would like to include a foundational and Philosophical concept that I often rely upon first cited by the philosopher Occam which has since being referred to as Occam’s’ Razor.  Occam theorized the it is often that the simplest explanation is closest to the truth. To that end, I will “keep it simple” and avoid Quantum Physics and choose a foundational concept from the father of physics, Sir Isaac Newton!

Before jumping into Newton, a bit of historical rumination is in order. It is said that Newton came up with his laws of motion and gravity when he was relaxing under an apple tree and an apple fell and hit him on his head.  Seriously, I cannot see how that related to the “laws” that he wrote, but I am not Newton. The myth is inconsequential.  What matters is that he is best known for, his 3 “laws of motion”.  It is more accurately noted that it upon these three “laws” that the whole of Physics has been built. The best of the best law, that most people know, is the one that says, “For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction”.  At this point, nearly every is justified in asking, “What does this have to do with management?”

Newton’s Three Laws of Motion

Before making the connection, Lets review his “Laws” in their paraphrased entirety.

Newton’s “First Law” states, “An object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.”

Newton’s “Second Law” states, “An object will continue to travel in its direction of travel unless acted upon by an external force.”

Newton’s “Third Law” states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” 

In their simplicity, these laws apply well to nearly everything in the universe, especially pool balls on a pool table, but one may continue to ask, “Management?” To find the possible answer that we seek, we will simply replace the word “object” with the word “team” on the first two laws and then take what we learn and apply it to the third.

Newton’s Three Laws of Management

Newton’s First Law of Management; A team will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change its state by the action of an external force.” 

Before moving ahead, let us edit the law a little more; replacing “in uniform motion in a straight line” with “doing what they think they were told” and let us make the “external force” management.

Newton’s First Law of Management now says, “A team will remain at rest or do what they think they were told to do, unless compelled to change its state by the action of management.”

Think about it!  Even a team of “good soldiers” will wait around for orders!  They do not want to do something that they should not.  This means that If management does not push them in the right direction, they will wait.  Other teams may start working on things, but it is a rarity! 

Newton’s Second Law of Management states, A team will continue to do what it is thinks it was told to do unless acted upon by management.” 

OK…I admit it…I took a few liberties with the word exchange…it is verbal license…But is still stays true to our effort!  As we think deeper about these two laws, They are applicable to poor team performance related to poor management performance. I have seen many instances when management tells a team to do something.  The proverbial “push in the right direction” and that is the last time they get involved until the team makes a mistake or does not do what they thought they should be doing! Moreover, management has two responsibilities when a team is in motion.  The first one is what you see; that they must be clear about the “direction” and give them the “push”.  The second important point is that there are other “external forces” can misdirect or even change the direction of the team.  The role of a team management is to block those forces so that the team can stay on the intended path. 

The most difficult challenge that we have is the application of the first two laws of management to the third law.  The problem is that there are no words to replace or change.

PHIL – I think that we can do it!

VISITOR – We?  I have no part in this! I am just listening!

Newton’s Third Law of Management states, for every management action, there is an equal and opposite team reaction.

This is the law that most people remember from grade school! It seems the one that is most often quoted, but least often applied to management! This application is quite simple! I often ask managers if they have ever heard the phrase, “I stand behind my team.”? And the answer that I most often hear is, “I say it all the time and mean it! The misconception is that the role of managers is to work hard to “push” them to achieving their goals?

The application to management success is easy and it starts with a question, “What is the opposite of “push”?” and the answer is simply “Pull”

Although this law is more about where a manager or leader should be in relation to a team, let us look at team behavior relative to the “push”.  When a manager pushes, the team will pull either along with the manager or they will pull together.  With that in mind, the result is “one against many.” The math is simple, a single push plus a pull from many will at best stop the team in its tracks, in the normal case, it will result in a set-back.  This is especially important if a manager is behind the team!  Knowing this, a great manager moves out in front of the team and leads it! It is the moment that a manager realizes that this law must be avoided at all costs and simply directs the team on its intended course using the first two laws.  The beauty of what has just happened is that is it when this concept is grasped is when a manager becomes a leader!

After learning this simple technique, it becomes apparent that “Newton is not just for Physics any longer!” This is the commonsense path that can work to direct one toward the answer.  It is important to look beyond the narrow limitations of an individual science to others for, one way or another, they are describing similar conditions in different terms.

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