Bookworm: The Gods of Management

There are four cultures of leadership according to Charles Handy, and they resemble the Greek gods.

What’s this book about?

The most dominant styles of management can be likened to the traits of four Greek gods, according to philosopher Charles Handy CBE, an Irish author andphilosopher specialising in organisational behaviour and management.

What are the four styles then?

Dionysus represents what Handy calls the existential culture, in which individuals largely want to follow their own path. Dionysus is the self-indulgent god of wine, so in an organisation living by Dionysian principles each employee won’t necessarily serve the organisation but serve themselves.

Zeus represents an ‘organisational culture’ in which speed is prioritised over quality. Everyone in a Zeus organisation answer to a central authority.

Apollo embodies a ‘role culture’. Examples of Apollonian culture are life insurance companies and local governments, according to Handy’s workings. Order is important in these companies, and personalities play second fiddle to stability..

Finally there’s Athena, the warrior goddess. A company might be Athenian, if it’s comprised mainly of individual teams which are, nonetheless, striving to fulfil a group mission.

How do these archetypes help us?

Applying a label to our organisation's management style can help us to understand it. Handy argues that four factors affect our workplace culture: size, life cycles, people and work patterns.

Looking at people, for example, Handy says that an individualist wouldn’t enjoy working for an Athenian organisation. An Athenian organisation’s life cycle will also be shorter, says Handy, as it gets through change more quickly than the other three gods of management.

Leaders can therefore look at the attributes of each of the four gods and try to incorporate elements from each, in order that their company becomes a balanced one.

Which of the four is optimal?

Look to Athena for inspiration – she stands for a flexible, centreless organisation.

Handy levels criticism at Apollonian workplaces most frequently, citing their conformist and impersonal cultures and implying that these might be out of step with the modern worker, who expects management to be less top-down; today, workers expect to be able to express themselves and live by their values.

Society is becoming more Dionysian, apparently, as it values higher education and training more than it used to. Organisations must part ways with the old mythological gods, says Handy, and be agile enough to survive.

What am I most likely to say after reading this book?

“It's all Greek to me."

What am I least likely to say after reading this book?

“What do the Romans have to say about this?"