Colorful Management
Valerii Pekar
17 min
7 Key Points
4.7 RateWhat's inside?
Explore the evolution of management styles and leadership strategies, and learn how to apply these colorful, innovative approaches to improve your business administration skills.
You'll learn
1. Fresh ways to lead and manage2. Using color metaphors to boost your management game3. How old-school management thinking shapes today's business4. Winning strategies for managing in a fast-paced business world5. The power of leadership in sparking creativity and innovation6. Surviving and thriving in the digital and global era.Key points
01We're neighbors, but we see things differently.
Let's chat about a concept that's like a pair of glasses. These glasses aren't for your eyes, but for your mind. They're called paradigms of thinking. They're the values, beliefs, and assumptions that guide how we act, lead, and communicate. They're the lens through which we see and interpret the world. Everyone has their own pair of glasses, shaped by things like personal growth, societal norms, and history. As we grow and change, so do our glasses. But it's not a straight path. It's more like a dance, with different paradigms swirling around each other. For example, in a business, the boss might see the world through a different pair of glasses than the employees. This mix of paradigms is what makes us all unique and influences how we interact with each other. Now, let's think about the idea that "We live next to each other but in different worlds". This means that even though we might share the same space or work in the same place, our glasses can be very different. They filter how we see reality and can limit how we understand other people's views. It's like we're living in separate universes, each with its own rules and realities. This is super important for good leadership and management. Knowing that different glasses exist can help leaders and managers adjust their approach to fit the glasses of their team or organization. It can also help build empathy and understanding, bridging the gap between people with different glasses. Let's imagine a big company with offices in different countries. The employees in each office might have different glasses, shaped by their culture, societal norms, and personal experiences. The company's leaders need to understand these differences and tweak their management style to match, to make sure everyone can communicate and work together effectively. So, the idea that "We live next to each other but in different worlds" is a powerful reminder of the variety of glasses out there and the importance of understanding and respecting these differences. It's a call for empathy, flexibility, and open-mindedness in how we interact with others, whether in our personal lives or at work.
02We've come a long way since our first steps.
Let's take a journey through the evolution of human thinking, as described by Valerii Pekar. It's a fascinating trip, divided into eight stages, each represented by a different color. We'll start with the first three stages: beige, purple, and red. First up, we have the beige world. This is the most basic level of human thinking, where survival is the name of the game. It's all about getting your basic needs met - food, shelter, safety. It's a tough world, where every day is a struggle. This kind of thinking is seen in people facing extreme situations like homelessness or addiction, or even severe brain injuries. It's a small group, only about 0.1% of adults, but anyone can find themselves here due to war, disaster, or oppressive governments. Interestingly, we all start life in this stage as infants, before moving on to the next stage. Next, we enter the purple world. Here, things are a bit safer, and people start to focus on shared interests. This stage is characterized by a belief in magic or superstition, lots of rules, and a lack of individual identity. The group is more important than the individual, and loyalty is key. About 10% of people live in this stage. It might sound nice, like a calm and safe childhood, but it's important to keep moving forward to more advanced stages of thinking. Finally, we reach the red world. This stage is all about the individual and the Ego. People here are focused on getting what they want, when they want it, and they value strength, cunning, and power. This stage came about with the advent of agriculture, when people could control others by controlling goods and necessities. Around 20% of people live in this stage, including teenagers, authoritarian leaders, criminals, and corrupt law enforcement officers and politicians. We all go through a "red phase" in childhood, where we test our limits and those of the people around us. The red world might seem harsh and lacking in values like rules, introspection, and guilt, but it's a necessary part of our development. So there you have it, the first three stages of human thinking: from the survival-focused beige world, through the group-oriented purple world, to the self-centered red world. Each stage represents a different way of thinking and living, and each comes with its own challenges and opportunities for growth. It's a fascinating journey, and we're just getting started.
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03New problems mean new ways of thinking.
04We're always moving and growing.
05Enjoying your job is key to happiness.
06The perfect team depends on its members.
07Conclusion
About Valerii Pekar
Valerii Pekar is a Ukrainian author, lecturer, and consultant specializing in strategic management and leadership. He is a co-founder of the New Country civic platform and a professor at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. Pekar is known for his innovative approaches to business administration and leadership.
