The Spirit of an Organization

Two sayings sum up the “spirit of an organization”. One is the inscription on Andrew Carnegie’s tombstone:

Here lies a man

Who knew how to enlist

In his service

Better men than himself

The other is the slogan of the drive to find jobs for the physically handicapped: “It’s the abilities, not the disabilities, that count.”

Management by objective tells a manager what he ought to do. The proper organization of his job enables him to do it. But it is the spirit of the organization that determines whether he will do it. It is the spirit that motivates, that calls upon a man’s reserves of dedication and effort, that decides whether he will give his best or do just enough to get by.

It is the purpose of an organization to “make common men do uncommon things” – this phrasing is Lord Beveridge’s. No organization can depend on genius; the supply is always scarce and always unpredictable. But it is the test of an organization that it make ordinary human beings perform better than they are capable of, that it bring out whatever strength there is in its members and use it to make all other members perform more and better. It is the test of an organization that it neutralise the weaknesses of its members.

There are five areas in which practices are required to ensure the right spirit throughout management organization.

1. There must be high performance requirements; no condoning of poor or mediocre performance; and rewards must be based on performance.

2. Each management job must be a rewarding job in itself rather than just a step in the promotion ladder.

3. There must be rational promotion system.

4. Management needs a “charter” spelling out clearly who has the power to make life-and-death decisions affecting a manager; and there should be some way for a manager to appeal to a higher court.

5. In its appointments management must demonstrate that it realizes that integrity is the absolute requirement of a manager, the one quality he has to bring with him and cannot be expected to acquire later on.

A man should never be appointed to a managerial position if his vision focuses on people’s weaknesses rather than on their strengths. He should be a realist; and no one is less realistic than the cynic. A man should never be appointed if he is more interested in the question: “Who is right?” than in the question: “What is right?” Management should never appoint a man who considers intelligence more important than integrity.

The men with whom a man works, and especially his subordinates, know in a few weeks whether he has integrity or not. They may forgive a man a great deal: incompetence, ignorance, insecurity or bad manners. But they will not forgive him lack of integrity. Nor will they forgive higher management for choosing him.

IV. Answer the following questions to the text:

1. What is implied by the two sayings summing up the spirit of an organization?

2. What does it mean “to make common men do uncommon things”?

3. Why is the spirit of an organization so important?

4. What kind of man should be appointed to a managerial position?

5. Is intelligence or integrity more important for a successful manager?

V. Say whether the following sentences are true or false. If a statement is false, change it to make it true.

1. There must be high performance requirements in an organization.

2. Rewards must be based on your position in an organization.

3. Each management job is just a step in the promotion ladder.

4. Every organization must have certain rules spelling out clearly who has the power to make important decisions.

5. Integrity is not the absolute requirement of a manager.

VI. Find words and phrases in the text which mean:

подытожить, надпись на памятнике, лозунг побудительного мотива, «выкладываться», нейтрализовать недостатки, надлежащая атмосфера, требования к работе, посредственная работа, ступенька служебной лестницы, вопрос жизни и смерти, приобрести потом, руководящая должность, подчиненные, простить многое, недостаток порядочности, высшее руководство

VII. Give the main points of the text in 5-6 sentences.

VIII. Speak about the rules which are required to ensure the right spirit in an organization.