The model utilized in all aspects of music is based on a studied understanding of the physics of sound. Though a great deal of compromise was needed in order to establish the prevalent musical model, those compromises were entered into with a mature understanding of musical production capabilities of many instrumental and vocal types.

 

That musical forms have stood the test of time underscores their scientific basis. The means of calibrating of the orchestra, of balancing instrument types, and of creating and recreating performances in appealing, if repetitious ways lends credence to music's scientific underpinnings.

 

Can the same be said of our means of organizing thought and action within organizations? The management literature is famous for its cycling and recycling of "the next big thing" in the field. This process of recycling itself is evidence of something wrong. Another challenge is the constant criticism of "silo" behavior within systems from one functional area to another with little resolution of the underlying issues.

 

Methods-Based Management is founded on evidence-based approaches. Lean production and quality management approaches, related as they are, are examples of scientifically-grounded approaches to management challenges. Furthermore, generative taxonomies are grounded in standard logic as social network analysis benefits from its groundings in graph theory and structural analysis.

 

Methods-Based Management is not presented as the next big thing in any sense. Built on the foundation of theoretical and empirical work dating to the early decades of the 20th Century, Methods-Based Management consolidates findings from these various fields. Though aspects of the approach may be new to you, they have proven their merit in a variety of ways. They involve a deepening of knowledge in key areas, a means of reaffirming findings from the past that have not received emphasis in line with their importance.