Action Inquiry

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FIVE The Expert and the Achiever: The most common managerial action-logics

The Opportunist and Diplomat developmental action-logics are in some ways pre-managerial action-logics. For one thing, few middle or senior managers are, in fact, found to hold them exclusively (see Table 5-1). For another, neither action-logic can reliably use feedback to generate performance improvements. Put still a third way, the Opportunist and Diplomat action-logics are not yet concerned with generating new systemic value by actions that are timely in the sense of cutting costs through new efficiencies or increasing revenues through new sources of effectiveness. Thus, these two action-logics do not produce many managers, and we can understand why, because they ...