The X and Y Theory of management was postulated by Douglas McGregor in the 1960s. In short, it says that the X theory of management is not as effective as the Y theory for a modern workforce. The X theory revolves around the notion that employees will not work without reward or punishment, and need to be directed at all times in order to be effective. The Y theory maintains that the workforce may be intrinsically motivated, and will perform better if the management is supportive rather than coercive. In theory, the X staff will not perform as well as the Y staff, due to the higher moral and personal involvement that Y staff has invested in their work.
When McGregor did his study, 50 years ago, the Theory X managers and Theory Y managers were split 50/50. While my personal experience is far from scientific, I have had twice as many Theory X Managers as I have had Theory Y. Given that the X/Y typology has become accepted in management training, why are there still so many Theory X managers?
My thought is that Theory X management is the cultural heritage of our nation. And I mean more than simply in the work place. Many (all?) of us were brought up under Theory X parenting. “If you clean your room you will get your allowance, if not you will be grounded” is not very Theory Y. Also, school from K-College is traditionally very Theory X; while some educators do follow a Theory Y approach, they are a minority. Even at the Graduate School level, in an MBA program, the majority of the classes are run in a Theory X style.
So, going from school into the workplace, most incoming managers have nearly all of their work experience in a relatively Theory X environment. Even if they understand the importance of a Theory Y manager, being that manager is a major cultural shift.
I, too, have observed more Theory X managers than Theory Y ones. I think that maybe, Theory Y management is harder in a lot of ways than Theory X. It's so much easier as a parent to say "Because I said so" than to explain, coach, and persuade. But as a kid, hearing "Because I said so" was the most infuriating answer you could hear to any question... and as an adult, it's no less galling.
ReplyDeleteAs a manager, sometimes it becomes difficult to spend the time needed to coach and explain to employees due to other projects and time constraints. Sadly, managers get caught up in other admin tasks and forget the most important part of managing...the people (at least in my eyes).
ReplyDeletePlease remember what you don't like now from your managers (keep a journal). When you start managing teams it can be easy to fall into a pattern of comfort, the pattern of saying "Because I said so". Remember, why and how are very important.