The same of ο mon—judgment, role in . . .
COMMERCIAL CHEMICAL DEVELOPMENT
AWARD
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development ploy a
The M a k i n g ©f a M a n a g e r FRANCIS J . CURTIS, Vice President, Monsanto Chemical Co., Washington, D. C
Vv,\N we make, or must we take? W e ex press here the two fundamentally anti thetical points of view of mankind. There are those who believe that we can change the course of events, and there are those who accept them with the good old Irish phrase, " 'Tis t h e will of God." T h e former are the d\ namics, the actives, and the lat ter, the statics, the passives. History has been made hy the dynamics and endured by the statics. In Toynbee's method of expression, humanity spends many years resting on a shelf, a time of little progress which he calls hy the Chinese word, "yin," and very occasionally comes a dynamic period of climb to a somewhat higher shelf, during a short phase of progress called by the Chinese term of 'Vang." History seems to show successive alterna tions between long periods of yin and short periods of yang. Most of us recog nize similar swings in our o w n lives from d y n a m i c to static and from active to pas sive. O u r individual point of view is t h e resultant of the degree of prevalence of one or the other. T h e fact that we can h a v e a period of yang by some set of circumstances shows 1936
into the adjustment
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factors that enter understanding,
that it can b e clone iind tliere is n o theo retical reason why it could n o t b e made permanent, admitting quickly, however, that such might he a very exhausting kind ol world. It we accept the dynamic thesis t h a t we do not have to just take w h a t we can get hut that we can make managers, w e must evolve some kind of a program to d o so, and here, again, w e are faced with two points of view on h o w to bring a b o u t the result that we wish t o obtain. Most of us, particularly ol the older generation, were brought up hy the "sink-or-swim m e t h o d " which is highly effective when t h e r e are great reserves of talent which c a n be wasted in the inefficiency of the process. T h e position of t h e United States today in leadership shows that the system has worked, b u t it worked in the same way as all of our processes of frontier economy. W h e r e nature is boundless, w h y worry about conservation: 3 But n a t u r e is no longer boundless a n d it is time for us to h u s b a n d a n d utilize our luiman resources as efficiently as we have come t o realize we must d o with our n a t u r a l ones. I n stead of allowing nien'i careers to proceed C H E M I C A L
in a h a p h a z a r d manner, they must b e d e signed so that there will he as few holes in experience as possible, a n d as high a yield of finished p r o d u c t from t h e over-all potential candidates as w e c a n obtain with the best of our efforts. E v e r y analysis d e m a n d s its synthesis. W e h a v e taken t h e craftsman w h o per formed a w h o l e job a n d by the principle of the division of labor, have broken down his activities into n u m b e r l e s s pieces. If this concept were really carried to its logical conclusion, the result would be chaos. T h e cement b e t w e e n the stones of division is m a n a g e m e n t which ties them into a walk However poor it may be psychologically and w h a t e v e r problems it may have raised in t h a t field, from a purely physical standpoint the combina tion of the division of l a b o r overridden by m a n a g e m e n t has p r o v e d to be t h e most materially efficient that the world has ever seen. T h e need of m a n a g e m e n t grows with t h e complexity of organization of life. T h e African village needs only o n e m a n ager, t h e rainmaker. I n a recent article in a National G e o g r a p h i c magazine it told how, w h e n no rain residts, the rainmaker A N D
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is b u r i e d alive, as comfortably as possible. a n d a new o n e o b t a i n e d . Thus t h e r e can be no doubt of t h e importance of being a good manager. In t h e modern factory. however, organization is not so simple a n d t h e r e an 1 m a n y managers required, from foreman to p r e s i d e n t . W e need m a n y managers, then, in all grades and w e will n e e d more as t h e complexity of life grows. Can we d e p e n d u p o n accidents? In tact, is it not an intriguing thought that possibly t h e great swings of history and the fall of empires and states m a y b e d u e to such dependence a n d when t h e accidental supply decreased or failed, t h e organization went d o w n ? Yin was too m u c h for yang. T h e r e is a theory that at any one given m o m e n t there is as m u c h potential talent in t h e population as at any other. It is one of those nice theories that cannot b e proved or d i s p r o v e d , though it seems reasonable t h a t t h e great periods have developed Because of special circumstances rather t h a n duo to any especially heavy concentration of biological brilliance. If tli is is true, we should he able, by taking t h o u g h t a n d action, to "lead o u t " or educate as m a n y managers as a r e potentially t h e r e , and as no one c a n possibly know h o w many, it's always an open season. The d y n a m i c conclusion is that if w e develop the right kind of u p r o g r a m we can count on a fair > ield lor our efforts. T h e Personal T o u c h W e start out, therefore, on the most delicate of jobs, the development ol a h u m a n being. It is w i t h regret that we m u s t a d mit that we are still dealing very much with an art a n d very little with a science. T h e progress of t h e social sciences in t h e last half century has been great, particularly in the field of psychology with which we are largely dealing. But from t h e very n a t u r e ol t h e case, w e are concerned with extremely c o m p l i c a t e d problems which cannot be r e d u c e d to the relative simplicities ol physics a n d chemistry. T h e mere fact that in the1 same period w e have realized m u c h more clearly the great complexities of t h e s e latter two exact sciences makes us u n d e r s t a n d h o w much more difficult is that of t h e psychologists. T o chart the development of a human being from a wholly scientific standpoint with curves,
conations, etc.. in our present state of k n o w l e d g e , would b e fatal. W e must use such k n o w l e d g e as there is, but not pontificate. Unfortunately w h e n one knows only a little, there is a human tendency to stretch it to cover t h e inadequacies. T h e setting u p a n d t h e handling .,/ a program such as we arc talking about requires someone with warm u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d sympathy — someone who cares—who is not a cold fish armed with n u m b e r s and statistics and a belief in the efficacy of rules. H e r e is w h e r e the small organization can h a v e an a d v a n t a g e over t h e large. W h e r e everyone knows everyone else there is a better chance that a potential manager will not b e smothered by an unimaginative a n d u n s y m p a t h e t i c lower executive so long that t h e possibilities have withered. As organizations grow bigger, the personal element c a n be lost. Job classification systems and salary plans can be built by little m i n d s into straitjackets. T h e making of a m a n a g e r first requires h u m a n n e s s at t h e top, to correct t h e d e a d hand of the1 statistical approach and bring back some of the' intimacy of earlier dav s. We are dealing in a program of m a n a gerial development with a matter ot more spiritual content than material. It is well k n o w n that any organization derives its spiritual flavor from those at the top. It is therefore essential that any such program should h a v e complete support from t h e highest level in the organization, else it will wither at the roots and the best efforts of those trying to carry it out will b e of little avail. T h e good m a n a g e r largely uses as his tools m e n , not things —or expressed in another w a y , he uses things through men. W e see immediately that his supreme characteristic must b e —good j u d g m e n t of men. M a n may not be the measure ot all things, but for the manager, t h e measu r e m e n t of man is his highest necessity. W h e t h e r it be intuitive or acquired, he must h a v e an u n d e r s t a n d i n g ol the motives that move men and which ones opera t e in different individuals or at different times in t h e same individual. T o classify men into pigeon holes a n d to think that they will stay there is t h e first step towards managerial failure. The best m a n ager m u s t know when to be gruff a n d when to be stern, w h e n to be pleasant
"PRANCIS J . C X R T I S , CCDA honor a w a r d recipient, ·*• came to Washington last year to serve as liaison b e t w e e n Monsanto Chemical C o . , of which h e is vice p r e s i d e n t , and government agencies. w h i c h w e r e in dire need of t h e resourcefulness of the c h e m i c a l industry. Now h e has b e e n found indispensable to t h e National P r o d u c t i o n Authority a n d has b e e n appointed assistant administrator of the C h e m i c a l , Rubber, and Forest P r o d u c t s B u r e a u i n t h a t agency. After g r a d u a t i o n from H a r v a r d i n 1915 Curtis practically g r e w u p with Monsanto C h e m i c a l Co., which he e n t e r e d via t h e M e r r i m a c m e r g e r . He has just r e t u r n e d from E n g l a n d , w h e r e he went to confer with t h e British B o a r d of T r a d e on the sulfur situation.
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and apparently pliable, and when to be rigid. I \v must be able to play his piano in different keys, in different tunes, and at different tempos, o r even be prepared to shift at times to another instrument. b r u m a different a n g l e , t h e manager must b e able to gain a c c e p t a n c e of himself. T r u e authority d o e s not stem from positions on charts. F o r this reason it is wise lor him to h a v e had a series ol specializations now well left behind. Nothing giuns respect more than t h e realization that the m a n a g e r has done what he is asking the subordinate to do, however much he may have forgotten the details, a n d . it pushed, could do it again. On the other hand, if t h e m a n a g e r has not succeeded in forgetting his specializations, much h a r m can result in w a r p e d judgment, in favoring of certain men whose experience has been like his own, and in unbalanced development of t h e company. Finally, and possibly the hardest for everyone of us. is, w h e n w e ask a man to d o something, particularly if it is in one of our former fields of specialization, to let him do it, and stand or fall on his own results. T h e man who has to do e v e n thing for himself is no manager at all. Haw Material ('boosing the basic raw material is the weakest link in our p r o g r a m , the most difficult to carry out w i t h high efficiency. In our industry it is our belief that the great majority of candidates will be technical g r a d u a t e s , but it would be lolly to make this an exclusive* ride. Good managerial material can come u p from the ranks and nontechnical managers have many opportunities in the field of distribution, advertising, public relations, and other specialized areas even in a technical industry. In the choosing of raw material, there may be an advantage in the big c o m p a n y , because although it has more jobs to fill, it has m a n y more men to choose from, and there are usually secondary positions to which the less promising can devote themselves. While the smaller c o m p a n y suflers in this regard, it does have the great a d v a n t a g e of a more closely knit organization, a situation where men have g r e a t e r opportunities of carrying on double functions, and t h u s in a way educate tiieiuseives automatically. In picking our raw material, we must r e m e m b e r that, contrary to a popular impression, the world does not belong to the extroverts, even in sales. T h e insensitiveness of the complete extrovert is not likely to m a k e him a good m a n a g e r of others, or to give* him m u c h insight into the problems a n d thinking of men whose background may be* quite different from his own. I n another way, the same thing is true of the ultra-introvert w h o cannot get outside of himself e n o u g h to take any interest in anyone else. I n other words what we are saying is that b o t h extremes should be avoided and that a liberal variety in a given company will make for greater success than concentration o n any particular t y p e . T h e great moot question is that of 1937
psychological a n d aptitude testing. These techniques have advanced very considerably d u r i n g the past 15 years and unquestionably more credence can b e placed in them than formerly. However, it is my bel i d that at t h e present state of the art they should b e given indicative hut not decisive value. The very use of figures sometimes creates a belief in their accuracy, a n d an average can be one oi the world's greatest delusions. A factor which does not seem to be taken account of in any type of examination is the reaction oi the subject himself to being examined. A short while ago I had by blood pressure taken by a strange physician. Much to my surprise it came out at 160. \ «turally I was alarmed a n d when I had an opportunity, had my own doctor take it when it showed a very comfortable 125; I hadn't changed, but t h e doctor had, and my reaction to the examination was quite different. S o m e people are undisturbed by taking examinations; others are completely upset. Some c a n remember well, some can r e m e m b e r nothing, yet the marks on the examination p a p e r assume that all start at an equal level, else they would be valueless. I have always felt that such an assumption was unjustified. Another factor which cannot be stressed too strongly in dealing particularly with men in their twenties, is the well-known fact t b a t people grow up at difièrent rates, and t h e so-called slow-grower who matures rather l a t e will usually be found to have a good deal more of value than the flashy candidate fully developed at 21. T h e chances are that the word "flashy" is only too true. T h e only solution of our problem is to use t h e tools as tools and not as directives, and to d e p e n d on the human judgment of seasoned interviewers. Again in our field, the judgment of the university as to> the technical accomplishments of a c a n d i d a t e can b e taken as reasonably reliable and certainly more dependable than anything which can be developed in the ordinary personnel interview. T h e skilled interviewer m u s t look at the human characteristics and must certainly not be afraid if he finds a few defects. If there were no holes in the m a n , w e would not need to he talking about our present subject. O n e question which is often raided Ls w h e t h e r one should always go out for the best possible candidates, or whether one should realize that no company can consist entirely of generals and some kind of a split should b e made in initial raw material. Personally I h a v e felt that no one is good enough to b e able to pick candid a t e s so well t h a t h e will get only generals, and that there will be plenty to fill the soldiers* jobs from the culls. One may be d e c e i v e d after the best of attempts hut if one does not even try, defeat is certain. Choosing the Candidates W h i l e attention is paid to the raw materials from t h e standpoint of potential managerial ability in the initial hiring, we d o n o t k n o w enough about the candidate at t h a t stage to be able to set him aside, 193S
particularly lor managerial development. He should carry on whatever normal training the company provides, and after two or three \ears of employment, w-e will be on sounder ground in assaying his possibilities. By that time all of the men are older and the slow growers should be catching up. Judgment can be formed of their ability to work with others and also what is equally important, of their ability in getting others to work for them, oi their aggressiveness, their energy, persistence, and all the other characteristics that* mark the comer and not the goer. Personally, lor picking candidates for special executive or managerial development, I lean towards choice by one or two skilled individuals, aided by reports and recommendations from others, rather than by committees. In general, committees tend to decide on the average rather than the outstanding, and this is not at all applicable only to the personnel field. It is better to make a few mistakes than to be too careful. Right here is the success or failure of the system determined, and hence, the importance of the right personality at the top cannot be over-emphasized. In the picking of the candidates it is advisable to make a constant review of the rejects of other years to make sure that some latent abilities have not developed that should be taken a d v a n t a g e of. You see, I am constantly pursuing those slowgrowers. More difficult is the constant pruning of the chosen, because no matter how reasonable he may be, n o man likes to have his judgment reversed by others or worse, by himself, yet all of us will paxlip service to t h e thought that no man c group of men's judgment is so perfect as to have no failures. T h e outstanding problem is to tell or not to tell. In other words, should the candidate b e informed that h e is being groomed for executive development or should b e be allowed to guess it. After a certain C H E M I C A L
tune, it !v practically sure thai either *he or his fellows will guess it- Yet I personally advocate not telling a man dirrtilly. T h e reasons ior this are that if h e iail>. the fall is greater. T h e knowledge thaï h*has been chosen is quite likeh at SJhaa stage of his career to swell his imporiaju-cln his own e\ cs be>ond its normal greatness, and the certaint> of the choie*- will mark him off as a fair-haired boy aanong his fellows, which does not condm-c* lo» particularly pleasant relations. To b e SUQÎV. these are good tests of character, but we want to avoid putting a load on a bea™ that is unable to bear it without siresagtaliening. Methods of Training In t h e training of executives w e are dealing with that period beyond what might b e called a normal training course given to everybody, w h e t h e r thaï î>e a formal or informal one. Any system o i executive development must, b y t h e very nature of the problem, h a v e extreme flexibility. Above all, these are t h e oien WBBO do not come out of a mold a n d shoaaki not be iorced into one. W e h a v e talked about t h e importance of t h e t y p e a n d character of the head of t h e program, and Î believe it will b e highly desirable to h a v e working with this head, a group of a d visors of recognized managerial stature, each of whom, to a certain extent will take over, not exacdy the direction of bant w h a t we might call personal contact with a few of the trainees. This c a n be, perhaps, t h e most important part of t h e system if tine advisors are chosen wisely. I once had a good old North of Ireland foremen whose worst castigation of a m a n w a s **I Hud h e takes n o interest." If t h e advisors take no interest, there will b e no results, b u t the opportunity to talk over his problems with an older person w i t h w h o m h e has become wTell acquainted is in^ahnable ί ο a y o u n g man on his way u p . AND
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It is extremely important diat all the time the trainee is going through the executive development program, which is likely to be a dozen years, he should be holding d o w n a job. By this time in his life he should have grasped a great many tacts, but if he is to be a manager, he needs to develop judgment, and no one ever learned judgment from a hook or a lecture. I t has to be learned by trying, tailing, getting u p , and trying again. Four Major Fields We may consider uHat in our industry there are four major fields: production, research a n d engineering, sales, and finance. Of course the ideal would b e to have a manager w h o knew all four of them, but such would be very rare. H e should, however, know well a minimum of two, and three, if possible. T h e only way that a voting man can get this knowledge is by deliberate job rotation, spending three or four years in each field. That this is difficult to attain will be agreed by anyone who has tried to arrange such transfers. One of t h e grave objections is that when a man is transferred from o n e field to another, to a certain extent h e has to go in at the bottom, and particularly if he is on the second or third rotation, his salary at that point is higher than t h e division or department would normally pay for the service it is getting, and as most divisions or departments are fairly hudget-conscious T resistance is encountered. It seems to me that the wisest way to handle this situation is to create a personnel fund out of which would b e paid t h e difference between the trainees" salary and that which t h e division or department normally pays for the service which he is to perform. This may sound unnecessarily complicated and it really is unnecessary, but we h a v e to deal with human nature at every point in the line, and we get so many problems that w e don't know how to solve that I feel it wiser to s o k e this one in the simple way indicated, because, quite outside of the financial part, most divisions a n d departments a r e rather loathe to spend time training people that they are not going to keep. En job rotation where general staff departments are available, particularly in decentralized companies, they have a peculiar value in training because of their overall look, whereas the candidate in a division is necessarily immersed in the problems and outlook of that particular division only. Of course, in practice, the time in which a man spends in a particular field cannot be fixed, a n d in general, much will depend on the opportunities for shifting, primarily because w e are dealing not with something separate from t h e business but something which is an integral part of it. In an observational kind of training course, men can b e shifted with the calendar, but this is not feasible in practice w h e n they are holding d o w n jobs during training. It is quite likely t h a t rotations may take place in three to four years which, if the program is started at 25, would allow a man VOLUME
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at least three before he is mature enougli to be considered for a high level managerial position. Many will move faster than this, some more slowly, and some not at all. It is important that the guidance of the program should recognize the exceptional and n o t hesitate to push them ahead. This is t h e same problem which has caused so m u c h discussion in the last few years in the regular educational field. The goal must b e set that each candidate must learn each job thoroughly and excel in at least two of the big categories if he is to have t h e inherent broadness that will make him a great manager. How are we going to measure him? We measure him by the same criteria that we chose him, namely, skilled human judgment backed by such mechanical tools as may be available. Most companies now have what are euphemistically called reiuterview systems; in other words, periodically a m a n is interviewed by a superior almost as though he were a new candidate, his faults pointed out, his good points mentioned, and an opportunity given him of voicing his opinions. Executive development candidates should be handled in the same m a n n e r hut more frequently, and on top of that, should be re-interviewed by their advisors and occasionally by the program head. With a record of 10 to a dozen years back of him under this system, it should n o t be hard to decide the desirability of t h e man for a particular position which may be available. Outside Study, Activity Our education as technical men is unfortunately rather narrow-sided and in the nature of t h e circumstances in which we find ourselves, has probably become more so. Here w e are talking only about the education which is given in the school and college, and we have the whole of life to correct its defects; therefore, an important part of the managerial development program, and one which can best b e carried out by the advisors, is the encouragement of the candidates to outside study, particularly beyond their field of specialization. Some knowledge c»i economics, psychology, marketing, finance, and accounting, is almost obligatory for a man with scientific and engineering backgrounds, since due to the exacting nature of their subjects, there has been little opportunity to browse in distant fields. Certainly a knowledge of history, philosophy, languages, and literature, will make a broader man, a more understanding one, and therefore a better manager. Not all of this study need be made in formal classes; much of it can be obtained by reading and discussion. F e w towns and cities are devoid of various kinds of discussion groups where the reactions of different types of minds can whet the appetite to know more. A manager cannot have enough practice in leadership, and therefore, those who are seeking this field should try their wings in civic and religious activities, technical societies, and any other place where they can find opportunities for such . M A Y
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practice. The real potential niaxiaçer will go out after such opportunities a n d not wait for them t o come t o him. A word might b e said, for courses such as the Advanced Management Course at the Harvard Business School a.nd others which are being developed throughout the country. Most of these at least a t present, have been built around the m a n who has, in a sense, already arrived as a manager, and therefore does not quite fit t h e subject of our discussion, the proto-manager. I believe this is a void w h i c h it would be well for some colleges o r universities to attempt to fill. Experience with t h e Harvard course has proved its value a n d there is no reason to believe that somewhat similar courses for lower echelons w o u l d not be equally successful and important. Certainly the present one serves a s an admirable "graduate school" t o come at the end of the chain in the course of managerial development. W e should focus on the need for the making of managers b y a process and a program which is conscious rather than depend on the unwitting forces of chance. While it is probably true that there is always sufficient talent potentially existing, it is probably equally true t h a t much of it is lost through lack of opportunity and lack of sympathetic training. Many a man is alive today because of penicillin who would have been dead without it. Spiritual penicillin is needed to help careers over t h e humps as well as material for the crises of bodily diseases. W e must approach the problem constnictively and see to i t that each of us and each of our organizations does his proper share in developing the body of managers which w e nrust all h a v e . The horse-stealing technique, w h i l e momentarily successful in the individual case, is essentially destructive a n d b r i n g s industry one ster) nearer to loss of freedom. There will be very many differences of opinion, and there probably should b e , on the methods and principles of managerial development. As a conscious activity it is too new to have formulated its laws and prophets. T h a t time is yet to come and will be brought nearer t h e more we act in the field. Above all, it is a subject which must b e approached with h u m a n understanding, sympathy, a n d interest where feeling plays as much of a part a s science. Yet what of our responsibility? Are we playing Cod in working on the lives and destinies of human beings? I a m sure that this thought is one t h a t occurs to every teacher, even- educator, a n d it should occur to even business man. W e are, in a sense, all of us, playing God, t h e moment we interfere in any way with o n e of our fellowmen. It behooves us, therefore, to p u t on this cloak of responsibility, and by our best efforts, see that the inevitable interference is on the right side of the
ledger. T H E S E are the final papers in a series of addresses given at the annual meeting of the Commercial Chemical Development Association, held March 2 1 , 1951, in New York City. The other addresser have appeared i n previous issues of C&EN.
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