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Do As You’re Told
Obedience and autonomy in modern organizations.
In 1960, American management professor Douglas McGregor (1906–1964) — who was a student of the famous American psychologist Maslow — expounded in his book The Human Side of Enterprise that there are basically two sorts of theories about management and motivation, which he named Theory X and Theory Y.
Theory X & Y
Theory X assumes the average employee is quite lazy, avoids responsibility, has little ambition, and is in it mainly for the money — a steady income. Managers who adhere to this theory, are more likely to trust mainly in supervision and use rewards and penalties to try and motivate their employees. Theory Y, on the other hand, assumes the average employee works pretty hard, is intrinsically motivated, enjoys their job, and wants to improve themselves — no matter the monetary rewards. Managers who believe in Theory Y, typically take a more personal approach to their employees and trust them to do a good job without much supervision. I’m sure you can recognize the more traditional management in Theory X, and more modern approaches — like Agile and Lean — in Theory Y.
The opposing theories have been — and still are — very influential in many organizations, probably because they are so opposing and so recognizable at the same time. I doubt if…
