Leading outside the lines: How to Mobilize the (in)Formal Organization, Energize Your Team, and Get Better Results

THE HEAD-HEART DEBATE: A BRIEF HISTORY

The rational school of management dominated business organizations for the first half of the twentieth century. Its roots are in the research of Frederick Taylor, often dubbed the father of scientific management.² Taylor stressed the need for using scientific rigor to select, train, and develop workers. He believed in cooperating with workers to ensure the success of his scientific methodology, dividing work nearly equally between managers and employees as a rational approach to optimizing performance.

Taylor’s principles made sense. Prior to World War II, they were used in many factories, often with surprising improvements in productivity. Taylor advocated that all organizations could use what he called ...