Nonlinear_management

Nonlinear management

Nonlinear management

Add article description


Linear management is the application of reductionism to management problems, often relying on the ability to predict, engineer and control outcomes by manipulating the component parts of a business (organization, operation, policy, process and so on). Business process reengineering (BPR) is a popular example of linear management at work. The key defining characteristic of linear management is that order is imposed – usually from above.

Nonlinear management (NLM) is a superset of management techniques and strategies that allows order to emerge by giving organizations the space to self-organize, evolve and adapt, encompassing Agile, "evolutionary" and "lean" approaches, flextime, time banking, as well as many others. Key aspects of NLM, including holism, evolutionary design or delivery, and self-organization are diametrically opposite to linear management thinking.

Examples of nonlinear management at work

References

  • H. Richard Priesmeyer. ORGANIZATIONS AND CHAOS: Defining the Methods of Nonlinear Management. Quorum Books. 1992.
  • Margaret J. Wheatley. Leadership & The New Science: Discovering Order In A Chaotic World. Berrett-Koehler. 2001.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Nonlinear_management, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.