Przerażony kameleon - eseje o przyszłości zarządzania - E-mentor

Adam Morawski
WEMBA 4, 1999
The Future CEO
And Other Reflections
on the Future of Organizations and Technology
You see things as they are and you ask: “Why?”
But I see things that never were and I ask: “Why not?”
G.B. Shaw
Well, rules are rules, but chance is chance.
Ivo M. Morawski,
4½ years old
The future is such a singular/magical thing that the word future has no convenient synonyms.
The most exciting, albeit quite frightening, quality of the future is its inevitability. No matter
what we do, it will come just the same. Most of us, save but a handful of very special individuals,
will not be able to single-handedly influence its shape. All we can do is hope to be ready
for it when it comes.
Another characteristic attribute of the future is its unpredictability. How often, in spite
of everything pointing one way, things turn out quite the opposite! Therefore, predicting the
future is a risky business, but the payoff can potentially be tremendous.
The lucky few in whom two conditions coincide: that they have happened (or managed)
to foresee the future’s shape correctly, and who simultaneously believe that they are right in their
vision of the future, can use that vision as a map, or a guideline, to help them position themselves
correctly to meet the challenges the future will inevitably bring. The rest of us are either embarking
on a (possibly very painful) wild goose chase, stumble in the dark, or simply tremble.
Given any say in the matter, I would rather belong to the group with the correct vision,
so, risking even the painful wild goose chase, I choose to have a clear vision of the future and
to believe in it. I would rather follow a faulty map than wait helplessly to see what will catch me
unaware and unprepared, looming from behind every coming blind corner. I also plan to enter
the future as an executive and to survive in it as a successful executive. This paper will present
my vision of the future CEO.
The primary challenge for the future CEO will be the future company.
So first, the company of the future. I believe in neuron network intelligence. As the corporate
function gets more and more complex, the only way to handle it (and also cut management cost)
will be through decentralization. It will be nearly impossible for a decentralized company to install
any sort of rigid controls in order to ensure adequate performance standards. For self-control
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