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Matthew Stewart is author of The Truth About Everything, Monturiol’s Dream, and most
recently, The Management Myth: Why the “Experts” Keep Getting It Wrong (W.W. Norton,
2009)
Management theory books and disaster films have on the 50th anniversary of one of the most storied
something in common. Both confront the prospect of contributions to the management literature, Douglas
the near-total destruction of life as we know it. In McGregor’s famous distinction between Theory X
the movies, the hero invariably realizes what must be and Theory Y. In his hugely influential 1960 book, The
done and saves the world just before the credits roll. In Human Side of Enterprise (McGraw-Hill), McGregor
management books, the chosen manager masters the made the simple yet powerful observation that mana-
correct theory just in time to avert business catastro- gerial practice often expresses some very deep assump-
phe. On screen, happy endings are unremarkable —it’s tions about the nature of human beings: Two compet-
just entertainment, after all. But in the real world, real ing theories about human nature, he claimed, dominate
companies make real decisions based on the theories the managerial thought-world.
authors propose in their management books. Why Theory X says that the average human being is
should one assume that things always end well? lazy and self-centred, lacks ambition, dislikes change,
This question about happy endings comes to mind and longs to be told what to do. The correspond-
Theory X Theory Y
Source: Matthew Stewart
It should be clear that the distinction between U four combinations of the two pairs of theories gives
and T, just like the distinction between X and Y, is not rise to a distinctive approach to managerial problems.
intended to imply the logical superiority of one alter- I summarize the possibilities in the Human Relations
native over the other. U and T represent distinct view- Theory Matrix. (See Exhibit 1.)
points or approaches, each valid under the appropriate
circumstances, rather than genuinely exclusive scien-
Of the four types of managers in the
tific hypotheses.
human relations theory matrix, it is the
It should also be clear that my pair of alphabet
constitutionalists who must expend the most
theories is orthogonal to McGregor’s pair. That is, it
mental energy and governance effort.
is perfectly possible to believe that human beings are
the active, self-realizing wonders of Theory Y and to
believe that if given a chance, these amazing beings With the benefit of the matrix, it is possible to see
will actualize themselves by slitting one another’s that much of the debate about Theory X and Theory
throats and plundering company resources in accor- Y has taken place along the diagonal between the
dance with the dictates of Theory T. Conversely, one controllers and the freedom lovers, and that it is for
may believe that human beings are by nature X-like this reason that the debate has been somewhat confus-
slugs, and yet that with appropriate conditioning, they ing and unedifying. Critics of Theory X generally
will work together in perfect U-harmony. Each of the focus their ire on the controllers. But the tyrannical