Newsletter Dialogische Kultur | September 2024

Preview of two new releases in October

Dear Reader,

since the beginning of the 20th century, "leadership" has been considered a key factor in economic and social success. What began with Frederick Taylor's "Scientific Management" has continued, under changing circumstances, to the present day. It is based on a strict separation of planning and execution, of thinking and acting. This was new at the time—today it is increasingly being questioned.

The epoch-making aspect of Taylor's invention was that precisely specifying every single body movement, for example, when loading and unloading ships with pig iron—a strenuous physical effort—led to a significant improvement in performance without any noticeable increase in workload for the workers. The success of this measure quickly spread, and other industries also tried to make use of this achievement. Decades later, during my childhood, I observed how one day a man with a measuring device was following the familiar postman, who filled the mailboxes twice a day, behind him. When the child asked what the point of it was, the postman replied that it was so his routes and movements could be precisely measured and recorded. Perhaps they could be shortened, and then his working time could be used more efficiently. He himself was clearly uninterested in this idea. He didn't mention that he would then have to accomplish more in the same amount of time—or perhaps he hadn't yet grasped it himself. "Taylorization," as this process was called, was evidently something like a first step toward the "self-optimization" we know today as perfected!

Taylor's invention was enthusiastically embraced by many, and yet it didn't go unnoticed for long that the widespread suppression of one's own thoughts and feelings associated with Taylorism was not the future. Contrary to expectations, experiments revealed that, in addition to their physical bodies, working people apparently also possess something like a soul, whose feelings must be taken into account if one wants to increase productivity. The intelligence of the working person, in particular, is to be utilized effectively (instead of being suppressed, as with Taylor). Gradually, the entire personality of the individual, with all its characteristics, was subjected to instrumental rationality, and the term "human capital" was then used to describe the workforce assembled within a company. This shift in management theories in the 20th century, interesting in itself—but by no means unproblematic—culminates in the fact that:

1. the intellectual abilities of individuals are extensively demanded and utilized for work (e.g., through "competency measurement" and the aforementioned "self-optimization"), and that:

2. the emotional engagement of many individuals in their professional work finds no resonance and is rendered meaningless ("meaninglessness"). This is reflected in the increasing prevalence of psychosomatic illnesses, which continues to this day. And the proliferation of psychological self-help books, promising to free oneself from the most troublesome ills of civilization (e.g., depression, loneliness, relationship problems, insecurity, anxiety, etc.), not only in the workplace but beyond, also demonstrates a perceived serious deficit.

What has largely gone unnoticed is that even the "voluntary" fulfillment of predetermined goals—for that is what self-optimization amounts to—does not fundamentally improve the situation. On the contrary: Now, individuals must acknowledge that they are contributing to their own disempowerment! One can no longer simply blame "circumstances" or "superiors" for suffering in the workplace—now, one is contributing to these "circumstances" oneself.

Incidentally, this also raises the question of who this "self" actually is, which apparently behaves ambivalently and allows itself to be manipulated "voluntarily" (?). –

What has been developed over the past 30 years as Dialogical Leadership/Dialogical Culture attempts to break out of this self-imposed dead end. Dialogical Culture is not a finished theoretical concept that is then applied in practice and, if necessary, "adapted." Rather, it was developed from the outset according to the needs of self-reliant individuals in business – regardless of their position in the company hierarchy! – and in collaboration with them.

The fact that a Dialogical culture is not based on mechanistic instructions, that there are no tools, no predetermined measures, and no theories that need to be "broken down" into the so-called "reality" of economic activity, doesn't quite fit with the thought patterns of the 20th and 21st centuries. A "Dialogical Culture" of collaboration is built on cultivating inner attitudes such as human dignity and respect for others as human beings; the individual's capacity for judgment and their ability to generate ideas are paramount. Because each person is responsible for their own actions, they must be able to understand what they are doing, why, and to what end. Depending on the situation, various concrete courses of action can follow from such an attitude.

The specific effects of developing a culture are described from different perspectives in the two new editions of the research center's publications, which, revised and significantly expanded, will be released in October 2024:

• Karl-Martin Dietz, Angelika Sandtmann: Eigenständig im Sinne des Ganzen. Zur Intention der Dialogischen Unternehmenskultur. 84 pages.
(English: Acting Independently for the Good of the Whole. On the intention of the Dialogical Corporate Culture)

• Karl-Martin Dietz: Heute lässt sich doch keiner mehr führen! Götz W. Werners Beitrag zur Dialogischen Unternehmenskultur. 100 pages.
(English: Today, no one wants to be led anymore! Götz W. Werner's contribution to the Dialogical Corporate Culture)

A presentation of the two new editions will follow in the next newsletter.

Warm regards on behalf of the contributors to the reseaerch center
Karl-Martin Dietz

 

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