The
concept of empowerment is as simple, it enables people to act freely and make
decisions with autonomy to what they think is best for a given situation.
However, this concept has been distorted and twisted dating as far back as the
late 1990’s. The intent of this blog entry is to compare and contrasts the
concepts discussed in the article, Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea, by
Russ Forrester (2000) and those discussed in the chapter 8 of the textbook, Developing
Management Skills (2011). Whetten
and Cameron (2011) identify the “Dirty Dozen” as twelve negative attributes or
indicators found in troubling organizations listed as: centralization, threat-rigidity
response, loss of innovation, decreasing morale, politicized environment, loss
of trust, increased conflict, restricted communication, lack of teamwork, loss
of loyalty, scapegoat leaders, short-term perspective. While Forrester (2000),
identifies the break down in empowerment into “Six Short Circuits.” They are
listed as: precipitous
empowerment mandates, overreliance on a narrow psychological concept, one-size-fits-all
empowerment, negligence of the needs of power sharers, piecemeal approaches, distortions
of accountability.
The concept of precipitous
empowerment mandates is referred to as a “retractable leash” (Forrester, 2000) as
managers can take the “power” back at any time. This is similar to how Whetten
and Cameron discuss that managers can develop a loss of trust and enact a
threat rigidity response when power is misused or lost. The one-size-fits-all
concept of empowerment discussed by Forrester (2000) identifies how managers
fail to differentiate between employees. Thus, giving everyone equal power is
not the same as given selected individuals power. This is a main reason empowerment
fails as not all individuals either know what to do with “power” or care to do
anything with “power.” Forrester goes on to discuss how “needs” play a key part
in empowerment and how individual, middle manager and senior managers “needs”
require to be fulfilled. This correlates to the dirty dozen in that when a lack
of teamwork is experienced it usually results in a lack of accountability. Loyalty
within middle management would then occur as everyone tries to pass the buck. The
textbook and article both clearly outline negative ways in which empowerment
can be twisted and distorted.
The second focus
point of Forrester’s article (2000) identifies six ways to improve empowerment within
an organization. He outlines these elements as “Six Channels to Higher Voltage
Empowerment” listed as: above all enlarge power, be sure of what you want to do,
differentiate among employees, support power sharers, build fitting systems, and
focus on results. The text similarly outlines nine prescriptions for
empowerment as: articulate a clear vision, provide
opportunities to foster personal mastery, model the correct behavior, provide
support, create emotional arousal, provide necessary information, provide
necessary resources, connect to outcomes, and create confidence.
Forrester’s first point, above all enlarge power, is
connected to how the text outlines to foster personal mastery experiences and
connect individuals to outcomes. Both of these concepts discuss how the
individual have to obtain tangle power whether it is internal or external. The
need for a fitting system is similar in that the text calls to provide
information, support, and resources. All of which would be involved into a
system to prevent the enacted empowerment from burning or fizzling out. Overall,
I found that the article and text were similar. They both pointed out general
and specific flaw for empowerment and given example of companies that failed to
produce. The concepts of both, although organized differently, presented the same
message. Empowerment needs to be carefully implemented and tailored to support individuals;
a buffet style approach will not suffice.
References
Forrester, R. (2000).
Empowerment: Rejuvenating a potent idea. The Academy of Management
Perspectives, 14(3), 67-80.
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/210518384?accountid=27203
Whetten, D. A.,
& Cameron, K. S. (2011). Empowering and Delegating. In Developing
Management Skills. (8th ed.). (pp. 439-489). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education Inc..
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