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Have you ever noticed that people who have home gyms packed with the latest chrome-plated equipment don't actually work out as often as you might expect? Exercise afficionados who feel they must buy every new piece of equipment seem to be a different breed from the habitual joggers who relentlessly pound through my neighborhood at dawn and dusk wearing scruffy togs the Salvation Army would reject.
From this observation I've deduced "The New Tool Rule": The people who get a high from buying all the latest tools are the least likely to use them to do hard work. This law applies to most avocations. For example, we've all met the woodworker who seems to have enough equipment to compete with Ethan Allen, but who always needs just one more gadget before a project can be finished.
I call this syndrome "toolism." When this is encountered in the business world, one of its symptoms is a strong susceptibility to the glib guru's high-powered sales pitch. Inexperienced or underperforming managers have a predisposition for falling under the spell of toolism, especially when the gurus package lots of proprietary software and motivational hyperbole with the deal. But many seasoned CEOs can't resist experimenting on their organizations with new tools either.
The term "management tool" now encompasses a broad spectrum of techniques--from simple business planning software, to complex organizational designs, to revised perspectives on the world. But they all have one thing in common: They promise to make the manager more efficient and effective. And beleaguered managers--struggling to survive in an unforgiving economy, and eager to demonstrate that they are not afraid to adapt to a world of rapid change--are buying up tools in unprecedented numbers.
These days, the first order of business at many firms seems to be learning all the new management techniques--benchmarking, reengineering, empowerment, core competencies, total quality, time-based competition, liberation management, scenarios, competitive intelligence, customer satisfaction measurement, activity-based management, agile manufacturing, strategic sourcing, shareholder value analysis. And most of these hot techniques come with their own software and training seminars.
The employees at many companies are getting groggy from trying to absorb and implement this succession of management tools. As one middle manager at a large insurance company told me, "Our people are so confused...