The credit crunch is more than just an embarrassment to those in the financial sector, says Paul Kearns, who asks why the plethora of leadership development programmes didn't see it coming? It's time for management development to address real world issues, he says, in order to mould the behaviour of future leaders.
As I draw towards the end of this series I would hope that some readers might agree with some of the characteristics I have pinpointed as being the mark of a true professional. Some might even have used these as a guide for their own professional development. Nevertheless, I know for a fact that the vast majority of TrainingZone.co.uk members have shown absolutely no interest at all (based on total 'reads'). This begs the questions:
Do the majority of TrainingZone.co.uk members (or learning practitioners generally) have any professional standards at all and, if so, on what basis do they regard themselves as professionals?
"[The credit crunch] is a terrible indictment of management development and OD specialists... what have they been doing all these years or have they really only concerned themselves with trivial training courses?"While they are pondering those they might also like to get hold of the October issue of 'Harvard Business Review' and read an article entitled 'It's time to make management a true profession' by two professors of business administration at Harvard (Rakesh Kurana and Nitin Nohria).
They could also look at a letter in the Financial Times on 20 October 2008 by professor Ken Starkey (Nottingham University Business School) who remarked that "Business schools will need to reflect on the role of the MBA and MBAs in the carnage on Wall Street and just how management education has contributed to the mindset that has led to the excesses of the last two decades".
Both views put a very different perspective on the whole debate about the professionalism, or lack of it, amongst learning specialists.
The sub-prime mortgage fiasco, questionable bank lending practices and the ensuing credit crunch might be an embarrassment for bankers, regulators and governments but those purporting to have provided management education over the last 20 years or so will also have to take a very close look at their own practices. Why didn't the plethora of leadership programmes prevent this happening? It could be that 'professional' management development has had no impact at all on such people? Or maybe learning specialists have not aligned their development efforts with the most serious business issues? Either way it is a terrible indictment of management development and OD specialists. They now have to ask themselves what have they been doing all these years or have they really only concerned themselves with trivial training courses?
The very fact that Harvard Business School (along with every other business school in the world) failed to predict the catastrophic failure in the global financial system, or influence its outcome, has laid bare the myth of management development, and MBAs, for what they are: superficial, ivory tower, generic management methods that do not address real world issues or mould the behaviour of organisational leaders for the greatest benefit of society.
I am as guilty as every other TrainingZone.co.uk member, development professional and business school professor in not having influenced the situation either. The only difference between them and me though is that I have at least fully acknowledged for a long time that we need to do something to rectify this situation.
Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining and the looming recession is a fantastic opportunity for anyone who wants to break the mould and start again by asking the fundamental question – how can we learn to get it right next time? Trying something different can hardly be as disastrous as the prevailing conventional wisdom that got us into this mess in the first place, can it?
Paul Kearns specialises in measuring the value of the human contribution to organisational success and teaches real evaluation around the world. His latest book 'The Value Motive' (Wiley) redefines the role of leadership in terms of its ultimate responsibility to society.
Visit www.paulkearns.co.uk
To read Paul Kearns series The 21st Century learning professional, click on the titles below:
Training delivery is not the big issue
Evaluation: How to turn training dreams into reality
A serious case of mis-diagnosis?
You can also join Paul Kearns by signing up to the 21st Century Learning Professional's Oath
