motivational analysis of organizations

■ Help Prophets distinguish between their regular jobs and their creative activities.
Prophets may need to justify their salaries with mundane work.
■ Protect them from Bureaucrats. Remember that in mature organizations Prophets
are all too often ignored or eliminated.
■ Have patience. Prophets work not for this quarter’s results, but for the impact
they can have over the long run. Their view is very long range. Insisting on
immediate results destroys their creativity.
2. Barbarians excel when organizations are struggling to survive or to broaden
their base or attempting to diversify. Barbarians see themselves as being in life-or-death
struggles to accomplish the Prophet’s objectives. High control and direct action appeal
to Barbarians, who like to personally lead the troops into battle. They want others to join
the team or move out of the way. Barbarians prefer to establish a few simple systems
and structures while stressing a high degree of task flexibility.
If you work for a Barbarian:
■ Be prepared for action. Barbarians expect you to act quickly and not to engage in
lengthy or detailed planning exercises. Go to the heart of the matter and take
action.
■ Do not expect to be involved in long meetings or consensus decision making.
Barbarians will make the decisions and you will carry them out.
■ When Barbarians ask for your input, be completely honest and direct. Do not beat
around the bush or give lengthy explanations.
■ Go to Barbarians; do not wait for them to come to you. If you want a Barbarian to
give you a promotion or different job or if you have an idea, you must seek out
him or her and discuss your needs in a straightforward manner.
If Barbarians work for you:
■ Be sure that their assignments are appropriate for command and single-minded
action.
■ Leave no confusion about Barbarians’ areas of responsibility and what you
expect of them. If you do not establish limits for them, they may run down the
road so fast that you will have trouble getting things back under control.
■ Take advantage of Barbarians’ greatest talents; working in turnaround situations
and managing organization units that are growing fast and need quick decisions.
If your organization is in decline and needs a revolution, Barbarians—if put in
charge—can inject excitement and urgency and can renew the vision.
■ Help Barbarians make the transition to the next management stage by
encouraging them to involve their people more, to delegate more, and to consider
longer-range factors and outcomes.
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The Pfeiffer Library Volume 19, 2nd Edition. Copyright © 1998 Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer