“Most alternative management consulting is bogus and fraudulent”

Just as we are constantly bombarded with “miracle” alternative medical therapies, so the poor stressed manager is frequently offered new management methods.

Corporate nirvana, they are told, can be achieved through “liberation management”, “organizational re-engineering” or even by following the “Zulu principles”. An acceptance of the new seems to demand a complete rejection of the old.

Most people are not pulled by the attraction of the alternative — they are pushed by the failure of conventional methods. The soothing balm and personal touch of the alternative practitioner stand in strong contrast to the cold, technical, all-too-brief interview with the GP.

Consider now today’s stressed CEOs. They know that it is only through good management that survival and success are possible. And yet the traditional management tools of carrot and stick, even of performance management, don’t seem to be working.

So, when the guru of alternative management comes along, the desperate manager pays attention. Today’s alternative management gurus are polished, well dressed and sophisticated. In fact, they ape many of the practices of their traditional colleagues. But, like alternative doctors, they are interested in the “whole” picture. They encourage the exasperated manager to pour out their woes about every aspect of the business. They welcome the opportunity to counsel, and it may be some time before they reveal their solutions.

The tarot cards, crystals and essential oils of alternative management take various forms. They may involve complete restructuring of the organization, “commitment workshops” or the use of mentors.

The placebo effect works well for alternative management advocates, but like all placebos, it wears off, and the chronic problems return. It’s a sad fact that most alternative management consulting, like alternative medicine, is bogus, fraudulent and wrong. The principles on which it is based simply don’t work in the long run.

Some consultants and gurus certainly provide some wacky ideas. Tom Peters told us to “celebrate heroes and forget zeros”. Others demanded Japanese-style physical activity before work. Curiously, some of the alternative ideas and recommendations stick in the management lexicon, but others are soon forgotten.

Management must hope that the Darwinian principle of the survival of the fittest means that what is good in new management ideas gets picked up, and what is not good gets junked.