Transcript - Getting Things Done
This is one of a series of podcasts focussing on conversations between leading academics and prominent experts and practitioners in the field of management.
Presenter: Professor Stewart Clegg of Aston Business School talks to Gerard Fairtlough ex CEO of Shell Chemicals UK and founder of Celltech about his experience in industry and asks him about the most important things he has learned.
SC: Gerard, I want to talk to you about the breadth and depth of experience you have had in your career. What do you think are the most important things that you have learned?
GF: There are three that I could mention. Firstly, people are the key. If you are sincerely interested in people and how they behave and you are decisive in your interaction with people then you will be good at your job, in most organisations.
The second one is about learning. The learning organisation is a cliché but a genuine one. How you learn is to do things, reflect on them and then do them better next time. It’s a learning cycle that, if you practice, you do continuously improve your own personal performance and the organisation that you are involved with also gets improved.
Thirdly, don’t let your ego get in the way. You can do all sorts of wrong things because of egotism. Be proud of real achievements but don’t let them go to your head.
SC: People management skills! Do you think these are things that can be taught to aspiring managers?
GF: I think they can be taught. They can be learned on the job. If you screw up some interaction with somebody and you reflect on why that happened you are learning. They can be taught at school, university as well as on the job but the most important thing is to be a sensitive learner about your interaction with people and watch how skilful people behave, how they get communication going. One small tip is to frame what you want to say as a question. You can learn something like that.
SC: Questions always invite a response. Gerard, you seem quite an unusual chap. I have read books by people who have had distinguished careers in industry and they all sound the same. When I read your books they seem quite different. You are very much a reflective practitioner. You write books which engage directly with your experience but they also engage with some of the more demanding and best of social science available. Why are there not more CEOs ex CEO’s like you?
GF: There are a number of reasons. Many CEO’s are fixated on power and status and they don’t think that reflection goes along with those things. I think reflection is a good way to be more effective as a leader or a manager and therefore it ought to enhance your power and status but people don’t think of it that way.
Secondly, business people and organisation participants have to get into action. “Getting things done” is the title of my recent book. The flip side of action is just doing and thinking that doing, being energetic is the whole thing. People need to moderate and they may be more likely to think. You also need to read carefully.
SC: Many young people are out of the habit of reading. Reading as an end to itself has almost disappeared. What do you think the future of management will be like? What capabilities and skills will managers most need?
GF: One point is the importance of people and a deeper understanding of human motivation and what works in human interaction. Managers will realise that they will need to spend time on that rather than the intricacies of accounting or other apparently relevant skills that are learned in business schools or associated in the public mind with the toolkit of a business leader.
SC: Gerard, thank you.
Presenter: If you would like to find out about the products and services that Aston Business School can offer please visit our website at: http://www.abs.aston.ac.uk/newweb
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