Guide to Management Theory of Gareth Morgan

Use Morgan's management theories to break through organizational stagnation
By Geraldine McGowan

Gareth Morgan is an internationally-known author, consultant and keynote speaker for his management theory. Morgan's management theories are based on several concepts with creative sounding names: "imaginization," "the 15% concept" and "managing paradox," to name three. He uses images and metaphors to create resourceful ways of operating and producing.

The management theory of Gareth Morgan is based on the requisite need for a new mind set (also the name of his consulting group). Gareth Morgan's theory of organization concedes that the extraordinary changes in business brought on by technology require a different way of looking at management problems and addressing new kinds of management problems.

1. Much of Morgan's theory is based on metaphors of the machine, the living organism, the learning organization, complexity, chaos and flux.

2. Morgan does not believe there is an ideal organization. Although organizations are becoming decentralized, there are still needs for hierarchical structuresin his example, a fire department.

3. Organizations are cultures, which Morgan would like to be learning cultures. However, again there is a caveat: under certain circumstances, organizations would be like the fire department, and that is the contingency mode of this theory.

Action Steps

The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find out more about Morgan's management theories Gareth Morgan's creativity in words and understanding are part and parcel of his creative organization theory.

I recommend: An interview with Morgan at Imaginization lets you hear the man describe his theory in his own words. "The Technostructure versus Morgan's Metaphors," an article by German writer Ebbe Munk, does an impressive job of analyzing Morgan's ideas in a concise, understandable fashion.

Get a consultant who uses Gareth Morgan management theories Corporations can be trapped in a psychic prison where everything is conditioned on responding to the same images over and over again. But this isn't recognized within the organization itself. Getting management help from someone based in Morgan's theories can open windows of opportunity you've never imagined.

I recommend: The Rainmaker Group is a consulting group that works with issues of employee selection and talent management. It works along the lines of Gareth Morgan's theories, including helping organizations stuck in psychic prisons. Morgan's own company, New Mind Sets, has consulting services and also offers numerous e-learning packages for self-study and executive improvement.

Recognize the far-reaching influence of Gareth Morgan Gareth Morgan theories are far-reaching. Gareth Morgan theories can be applied to numerous types of situations.

I recommend: Environment has posted a speech by Morgan discussing global climate change. Gareth Morgan Investments is an investment company that chooses its investments using the Morgan theories for analyzing the institutions it invests in.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

There are many different aspects of the Gareth Morgan theory. Realize that there is an essential flexibility to his insights into organization that is useful in nearly any situation.