Management - an art or science ??

For many well-intentioned gardeners, the secret to successful gardening is a mystery known only to those lucky souls blessed with “green thumbs”. Many people see management in the same vein – a black art only practiced successfully by those possessing that certain something (that certain je ne sais quoi). So what is this secret talent? Is it experience? Is it possession of a methodology? Is it possession of tools? Or is it possession of a bag of techniques and templates? As with the struggling gardener, the answer does not lie within any of these. Successful managers will have all of these elements in their possession – elements that address the scientific aspect of management – as well as that certain je ne sais quoi.

So what is this je ne sais quoi? This is the ability of managers to manage the most critical of elements – human relationships, an ability that can be learnt to some degree, but, at the end of the day, relies on the manager’s natural discernment to inter relate and work with people. Simultaneously, managers have to work upwards to the business, sideways to stakeholders and downwards to project team members.

Management is the oldest of arts and the youngest of science, because it is of a dynamic nature. Mere knowledge of applied and time-tested concepts does not always suffice. Understanding human behavior, tactfulness, pragmatism, creativity, compassion towards staff, team spirit is all needed by a successful manager for effective and efficient management. Thus science and art are not mutually exclusive but complementary to each other. Therefore management is both a science and an art.