The fact that the world of business has radically changed in recent decades is not a shocking revelation. Increasing globalization, constant advancements in knowledge-sharing technology, and a restructuring of traditional business hierarchies have made companies across the globe re-think the way they function. However, behind the sweeping changes that can be seen on the surface of business models are the smaller levels of detail that must also restructure and adapt to the changing times.
Business administration has traditionally been based in a dichotomy of control. At each level of a business, there are employers and employees, bosses and workers. To make a company function successfully, the supervisors were responsible for controlling the output of the workers and making sure that their jobs were done promptly and efficiently according to their job description. This basic model of business functioned for many decades, in every industry from manual laborers to office workers, but this style is beginning to show its’ age, and for a company to keep up in increasingly competitive markets, business administration must evolve.
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The most successful companies are those that are innovative, whether that means coming up with a completely new product or service, or reinventing something in a clever or unique way. This focus on innovation is nothing new, as it has always been one of the important ingredients of industrial and societal expansion, but it is now becoming the bedrock on which certain industries sit. Particularly now, in the age of the Internet, social media, and speed-of-light transmission of information and ideas, innovation is the currency of the realm. Creativity is king. The traditional ebb and flow of new ideas impacting markets and business models is now a daily maelstrom of change that businesses must be able to handle and adapt instantly.
An important point of origin for any such change is the hiring practices of a business. While education credentials still hold a lot of weight in the business world, life experience and personal history are becoming more important every year. The suit-and-tie professionalism of the past is not as relevant to the functioning of modern business, because there truly is only so much a person can learn in school. Internships, a seemingly unrelated job history, time spent traveling, and a multitude of other factors may not create the most impressive resume, but they might be subtle signs of a fresh perspective, new ideas, and unusual approaches that could advance or innovate your business. Creative individuals look at the world in a different way, and their behavior, appearance, and personal history may reflect that, but dismissing them based on any of those factors is a gross mistake for a business that wants to move forward and be perennially successful.
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Once you have people in place that are capable of handling this new fast-paced style of business, you need to find a way to harness their creative potential, without suffocating them in the routine of traditional business administration. As an example, alternative offices in some of the most cutting-edge companies barely resemble the cubicle and water cooler blueprint of many office buildings in the past. They are spaces designed specifically for interaction, social engagement, and the sharing of ideas. Creative and innovative people do not function well in rigid, regimented settings. They need to be able to work within their comfort zone, before they can begin to think outside the box, and that will require more than instituting “Casual Fridays”.
This is not to say that creative individuals should be above the rules and regulations of a company or department, or be allowed complete control over their workload. Structuring a company that will remain competitive and innovative in the long-term involves a malleable system of control, responsibility, and accountability. For business administrators, employees cannot be seen as bodies to accomplish tasks, but rather as individuals gifted with certain skills that must be discovered, or pulled out of them, before they can reach their full potential. Business administrators can no longer act as guard dogs or school principals in an office setting. Instead, they must work as counselors, collaborators, motivational speakers, and enablers for their subordinates.
The basis of business administration in the past has been controlling and monitoring workers and production, but that outdated approach is disappearing. In the business world, controlling is the opposite of enabling, and it is the latter which gives the best results in the brave new world that business is beginning to explore. Business administrators are still valued for their organizational abilities, and are still responsible for reaching the overall goals of a company, but the means to that end have evolved.
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By allowing workers more freedom in their assignments, they are given more personal responsibility, and are more likely to be engaged with their tasks. Their workload is less the mandate of the company, and more an individual effort to be successful within their own ideas. Administrators must be willing to relinquish some control, and even admit to ignorance in some situations, trusting the employees to hold themselves accountable to their own vision. For example, if a web developer has a new idea for increasing traffic to the company’s website, a business administrator should encourage them to further develop or pursue the idea themselves, rather than assigning it to another employee with a lighter workload, or a separate department that “does that sort of thing”. If the innovative individual needs resources, a smart administrator should provide them (within reason) and see what comes out.
The old, unwavering model of business that functions with a minimum of risk has no place in the global marketplace of the present, because risk is an inherent and necessary factor to stimulate change and innovation. Not all ideas result in world-changing advancements, but if workers are not given the freedom to take a leap into the unknown once in a while, companies will never move forward. The fundamental philosophies of business must become flexible, and the authoritative positions within any organization must occasionally put away their pride in an effort to collaborate rather than control. Only then will you create a work environment that stimulates rather than stifles, one based on respect, cooperation, and the importance of good ideas.
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