What is Intelligent Management?

Dr. Lowell John Gretebeck

     What is intelligent management?  Perhaps the term “intelligent management” should be added to the list of oxymoron or words that contradict each other.   The term “intelligent management” implies that management success is something that can be taught in the classroom.    

     As a Professor with extensive international business experience, however, my judgement tells me that managerial success involves more than textbook knowledge.   Successful management and the successful management of people is indeed very complex, and requires more than classroom learning.     With hundreds of books already written on this subject, we are confronted with “information overload” of contradictory and confusing theories; we have become lost in the midst of hundreds of “how to do books” on the topic of successful management.

     In 1986, Robert Fulghum addressed this important topic in his bestseller titled, All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten.    The author’s list of “childhood lessons learned” includes 1) share everything; 2) don’t hit people; 3) clean up your own mess; 4) don’t take things that aren’t yours; 5) say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody; and 6) wash your hands before you eat.    At the top of the list of lessons learned in kindergarten is “SHARE EVERYTHING”.   As children, of course, we are challenged to share our toys and possessions.   In business, managers are challenged to share their time, share their thoughts and effectively communicate with their employees.  Fulghum warns that managers today are often imprisoned within the very organization in which they work, and fail to adequately share with others.    

     Another well-known scholar that has influenced my views on this topic of intelligent or successful management is Daniel Goleman, author of “Emotional Intelligence”.  Goleman writes, “IQ contributes about 20% to the factors that determine life success, which leaves 80% to other forces”.   He continues by stating that “emotional intelligence can be as powerful and  at times more powerful than IQ.”  This supports data that reveals that three-fourths of college valedictorians in the U.S. are not successful in their careers.  Indeed, it is often said that many people with an IQ of 180 work for successful managers with an IQ of 100.   Goleman takes this one step further by stating that HOW we relate to other people is a key determinant of success. 

     In my teaching at Kyoritsu University, I continuously emphasize these two very important lessons about managerial success:   First, success in the business world is dependent on our ability to share with and care for others.  Moreover, managerial success is contingent upon developing a high level of emotional intelligence, meaning that we need to have a healthy response to stress in the workplace and our personal lives.

    In summary, intelligent management is about the importance of compassion and understanding, on the one hand, and building healthy relationships with others, on the other. 

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