Theory X and Theory Y

Continuing from the previous lecture, where we learnt Excellence through the tower building exercise lecture 2 was about Theory X and Theory Y. It is about differentiating the authoritative management from participative style of management and to study, the implications each have on the output and mind set of the employee.

Let’s assume, X and Y are two types of managers where X thinks his employees are lazy and inefficient whereas manager Y believes his workers are not lazy and hard working.

Hence, there are four situations that arise:

1. My employer is lazy and I think they are lazy. 
2. My employer is not lazy but I still think they are lazy.
3. My employer is lazy but I still believe they are not lazy.
4. My employer is not lazy and I think they are not lazy.

ANALYSIS and MY EXPERIENCES

Let’s analyze each of the above situations and at the end I would be citing few examples from my experience about the same:

1.       This is the situation where both worker and manager dislike their respective work. This would not only lead to decrease in efficiency of the employer but also have negative impact on the output of the organization.

Example:

In my last organization, which was a public sector unit, being lethargic to work was nothing strange. Infact, I could find people both at lower and upper level of management equally inefficient at their work. And this scenario was common in departments where the manager himself was lazy because this gave the people under him an easy way to escape and not do work.

2.       Situation 2 is the real danger situation where the employer is working hard for the company but I, the Manager, think that he is lazy, efficient and does not contribute towards the organization. With no motivation from my side, the employer may lose his confidence, which might lead to decrease in his efficiency or in worst case force him to switch organizations.

Example:

This is a typical junior-senior situation where the manager has no belief on the employee. It happened with me also when I caught a worker taking a short power nap at the assembly line. This not only created a prejudice in my mind that the worker was inefficient  but I started finding faults in his work but later I got to know from a colleague that he’s actually one the best we have on line and maybe he was not well that particular day I misjudged him.

3.       This is the situation; ideally every management should be following. Here, my employer is lazy but I (the manager) believe that he is still contributing towards the organization. This would not only motive him to do efficient but also effective work.

Example:

This is a situation which not only boosts your morale but also helps in building your relationship with your manager.  Once I had to present a short presentation in front of the Director, which didn’t go as planned but my director not only motivated me but also suggested ways of improving it and the next presentation I did, he was really impressed with the work. This was possible because he displayed Manager Y characteristics which motivated me to do better next time and stand upto him expectations.

4.       Last situation is the simplest one, where my employer is not lazy and even I believe that he is working hard for the firm. The situation is simple for me as a manager because I can quantify the magnitude of work my employer has done and base my judgment upon that.

Example:

It is simple situation when your manager can actually measure the output of the worker based on his performance.