Theory X and theory Y

Theory X and theory Y - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I still find many companies and people still rooted in theory X. I am a strong believer in theory Y. I have seen people work exceptionally well and teams deliver some great work. However there are some people who are exceptions, and they need to be weeded out instead of managers or management to move to theory X.

Theory X does not look democratic to me and does not look suitable for the knowledge industry. You cannot force people to do mind work force-ably or with fear. Force or fear may sometimes be the negative motivators that may have to be used, but it should be the last resort.

What do other feel?

Comments

Ravindra said…
Theory Y is the force behind 'Self Organizing teams'.

There is an excellent article by Joel Spolsky on this. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/08/08.html
5:23 PM
Wind of Change said…
I agree to your point but it is very difficult for people to change their mindset from Theory X to Theory Y. They are very resistant to a new change.
5:50 PM
~ ॐ ~ said…
For most of my life, I have worked on the Theory Y irrespective of how the organizational policies are! call it having a good team or a good boss but I feel that self managed teams are the way to move forward well!

However more often than not professionals with a few years of experience tend to drift away from the core work and waste time and energy when given an opportunity work in the Y way! X is absolutely essential at a certain level in the organization...
10:43 PM
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