The Pursuit of Prime

The Pursuit of Prime
by Ichak Adizes, Ph.D., New York, 1996.

I really didn't know much, if anything, about Adizes’ work prior to being lent this book by a colleague, Dorothy. She had made an inquiry about his work on one of our professional list serves and sparked a long debate about this particular person’s interpersonal style and attitudes towards consultants. I had an interest in the concept of organizational life cycle and for this reason, I had already begun to read the book. I was also hoping that Adizes’ model would provide some insights into a speech that I was to be making at the Mergers and Acquisition Conference. The later purpose was not achieved.

Now all that background turns out to be completely superfluous to the book itself. The Pursuit of Prime is a wonderful book and easy to read. It contains valuable perspectives on how organizations develop.

Adizes' takes a chapter for each of the life cycles and presents the various challenges faced by leaders at every stage by grouping the issues under six classic managerial responsibilities:

1. Style
2. Structure
3. Strategy
4. Staffing
5. Rewards
6. Planning & Goals

Each chapter also contains mini stories - parables with real case notes. He concludes the chapter with a short checklist that outlines the normal problems and abnormal problems that can be expected at each of the stages. There are times however, when it seems to be a little repetitious.

I found his discussion in the second to last chapter particularly enlightening. Adizes goes through his eleven steps for an intervention. He identifies them as the Principles of Organizational Therapy:

1. Conduct an organizational diagnosis
2. Form teams
3. Train integrators
4. Define organization mission
5. Create structure that follows mission
6. Test the new structure; establish and verify accountabilities
7. Enlist organization-wide involvement
8. Set goals and budgets
9. Develop a long-tern strategic plan
10. Infuse every organizational function with the Adizes methodology
11. Design reward systems

The added value in this chapter is analysis of that the pursuit of effectiveness and efficiency are in fact incompatible. One is always at the expense of the other. Finally, some readers may find the last chapter which goes through what Adizes believes to be management myths.

RFH (99/09)

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