How to learn management from your better half?

Don’t get amused after reading the title.  We all are aware that management takes place everywhere.  Not only in the work place but also at home.  But in most of the cases management at home work wonders than office. Let’s examine a few of them.

The concept of home management came into light some years ago. 

A management consultant who was curious about the home affairs asked his wife as to how she was managing the inventory of so many household things.  The answer amazed him. His wife told,  “I always look at the inventory level and when it goes down, I procure fresh stock and maintain it”. He later realized that this technique was applicable to the corporate organizations as well.  He further thought that for most of the things this visual system would work cheaper and better.  This led to visual control system of inventory, can you imagine!.

But the greatest lesson one can learn from the better half is in the area of man management.  This is the area where the wife excels over husband and creates an organization, which in spite of several discontents, generation gaps and other concerns, remains reasonably cohesive.

Let’s first examine the “Human Resources Development” a management jargon, which really means developing the abilities of people.  This always remains a perennially weak area in each and every organization inspite of conducting training programmes.  I remember John Kennedy’s saying,  “Success is a bastard – it has many fathers. Failure is an orphan – nobody owns it”.  But look at the young mother teaching her kid to walk, the 1-year-old child is shaky and always like to hold mother’s sari for support.  Mother tells “Hey look here, you are now a big child and you can surely walk on your own”.  The child says “No” in a faint voice with a smile.  The mother repeat, “Dear, I am sure you can walk” so diffidently the boy leaves the sari and takes the first step with scare. Immediately the mother applauds. The child takes the second step and she applauds again and the child takes one more step and falls down.  The mother hurriedly picks up the kid and scolds the floor in an unknown language and says to the child “You were walking well but the stupid floor came in between”. She repeats this exercise 3-4 times and the result was tremendous. Within a week the boy learned to walk.  Can you identify the concepts, which are involved? It is expression of confidence; appreciation of effort and support in case of failure.  These are vital to boost the morale.  

Take another important task i.e. induction of a person from a different culture into the culture of your organization.  Every girl after marriage enters a household, which is entirely new – with its own culture distinct from the culture she has been accustomed to for about 20 years. However, within a few months when she says “our house”, she definitely means the new one and not the old one.  The girl had a new sense of identity and belonging. This induction process is worth studying, as the change in her individual identity is essential for the foundation of the family.  An immature, irresponsible girl got converted into a responsible mature housewife, amazing isn’t it!

An Indian housewife by tradition has no formal authority.  The husband is always the boss.  The way the wife manages this “boss” should be a great lesson for all executives who have “managing the boss” as the biggest problem.  This technique is known as “management by attrition”. An executive must study the housewife’s approach to gain authority.  I have not met many husbands who would spend a thousand rupees without consulting their wives – although they are the ones who have earned the money.  However, most wives would not think twice about spending large amounts on marriage expenses, ornaments, sarees etc. This authority is obtained by the “extraction” process. Nobody in this world “gives” authority and those waiting for the authority to be given end up only by waiting and cribbing about “responsibility without authority”.  As soon as a housewife assumes responsibility, she presumes the requisite authority – and extracts it through a combination of attrition, flattery and concern.  Flattery is a very potent tool if it is used in a subtle way.  By paying lip service to the “strength” of the husband, the wife can use his weakness without his being conscious of it.  Biologically the female is the stronger sex – but in India wives have been able to create an illusion that men are strong and a delusion that women are weak.

Thus, we can see how wives (the better half’s) without the benefit of management schools and their jargon, have grasped the very essentials of management instinctively.