New Management Theories 101
February 27th, 2009 by ALVIN SOONG
Six Thinking Hats - Edward de Bono
1. The exercise starts by donning the white ‘thinking’ hat, which explores neutral information and factual data on an issue.
2. Red ‘feelings’ hat, where emotions, hunches and intuition come out in the open.
3. Black, symbolising caution and pessimism, and forcing people to search for possible flaws and risks in a given approach.
4. Yellow hat, for positive thinking, benefits and compromise.
5. Green, which stands for creative thinking out of the box,
6. Blue ‘big picture’ hat, which is used at the start and end of each thinking session to set objectives and measure progress.
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7+1 habits of highly effective people
The first 3 habits are designed to move people from ‘dependence’ to one of ‘independence’:
1.’Be proactive’ (take responsibility for your life),
2.’Begin with the end in mind’ (define a vision and set goals), and
3.’Put first things first’ (focus on your highest priorities).
The next three habits supposedly bring the reader to ‘interdependence’: 4.’Think win/win’ (find agreements that are mutually beneficial),
5.’Seek first to understand, then to be understood’ (don’t give out advice until you have properly listened to the other person), and
6.’Synergise’ (value teamwork).
7. ‘Sharpen the saw’, talks about living a balanced life.
8. ‘Find your voice, and inspire others to find theirs’.
Several other authors have put forward their own ’seven habits’, with varying success.
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Blue Ocean Strategy
Entrepreneurs are advised to identify blue oceans: markets and products not yet invented, in which they can create rather than fight for demand, grow rapidly, and set their own rules and boundaries.
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Six Sigma
Developed by Motorola and has been adopted by thousands of companies worldwide. It aims to improve processes and eliminate defects, thus saving costs for companies. The employees within each firm who are tasked with implementing six sigma practices are known as champions, master black belts, black belts and green belts, in order of seniority.
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Tipping Point
The tipping point is the moment at which previously small movements gain enough momentum to become a trend. Mr Gladwell’s theory is that a new idea will take hold and become successful if a few key individuals endorse it, it is presented well enough to become ’sticky’, and arises in a favourable environment.
Summarised from Straits Times and books of similar titles
