My Take (in a lighter vein) on Management

1. Matrix Management Approach

When I first joined the MBA, I had not fully realized it. But, over the years one tends to become a little wiser. Now I know for sure. All that one has to do really well in MBA and in any kind of presentation, however high one goes up in the organization, is to show a 2 X 2 matrix.

If one wanted to come across somebody who is 'cool' and who is somebody intellectually above all others, all one has to do is to show some 2 X 2 matrix with interesting labels stuck in them.

How does one do it? I will teach you:

Step 1 : Take up a 2 X 2 matrix.
Step 2 : Put a variable on the  x axis and another variable on the y axis.
Step 3 : Now, you have got a box of 4 sections. (this is actually not a step...)
Step 4 : You have to ensure that you have a low vs high on the axis from one side to the other.This has to be done on both the axes.
Step 5 : One should label the boxes. But, if you find it very difficult to do,one can actually leave the labelling of the different boxes to the audience.They will toil hard, label it and think that you are a genius!

Let me take a few 2 X 2 matrices and explain the funda to you:

Example one :

Work	High	Desired by company	Ideal condition
	Low	Current condition	Desired by employee
		Low	High
		Wages

Example 2 : Let us take some other words and see whether we can make some meaning out of them :

Let us take Man & Woman. Can you come up with a matrix here? And explain it away? Try it!! My try is given below!


My attempt:

Man	High	Masculine	Human
	Low	Animal	Feminine
		Low	High
		Woman

See? With more and more practice, it takes almost no effort.

You can come up with a 2 by 2 for almost any 2 variables!

I don't mean to be mean to the management Gurus but I have almost always been fascinated by their ability to come up with a limitless supply of the 2 by 2s as much as their ability to think through complex issues. I have also marveled at the ability of people to make this thing even more complicated by adding a twist and making it a 3 by 3 matrix.

For example, we had that simple BCG matrix - which looked at the business growth rate and one's relative position in the market. We had a simple and peaceful 2 X 2 matrix.

Then came the GE matrix with the same kind of axis (though with slightly different terminologies) but with a twist : now you had to navigate through a 3 X 3 matrix and 9 cells instead of a benign 4!!

I have always marveled at this!!

And then I read Covey. What a way to steal the world with a simple urgent vs important matrix!!

Well. I am truly in love with this matrix approach to management. It looks simple. Whether I am able to understand what I am articulating or not, those who listen to me go with a feeling that I am intelligent and that I know!!

What more do you want?!

You should really try this. When you are in the office and when a power point ppt with some 117 slides are being shown by someone out to impress his hard work, and when you are really unable to stifle your yawns, you should take a notebook and doodle and see which are all the words which you can connect as above in a 2 X 2 matrix.

Try it out and let me know!!