Consultant: Well, don't worry so much. Let's get back to the positive from where we started. There is a good approach for careful word handling that actually works. Many management techniques are ways to translate problems into tasks with the subsequent achievement of a result.

Engineer: Techniques, methods, methodologies … Just don't be offended. Personally, I believe in science. And now, as my wife says, “every gopher is an agronomist”. And everyone has their own ingenious idea, their own method.

Consultant: You are right, science is broader. But the distinguishing characteristic of any method is that it works, it actually works. Although, it is possible in a limited area. I have thoughts on this, but come on next time? I already got tired somehow.

Writer: Let's start with this. See you again, my friends!

Consultant: Well, well, I promised to tell you about the methods. Organizational development, which I am engaged in, is difficult to call an established science. Rather, it is a collection of theories and methods. At the same time, largely thanks to our conversations with you, it is no longer enough for me to simply apply working methods, knowledge and skills. I dug deeper. Now I'll tell you with a simple example… Who and when was the last one on a fishing trip?

Engineer: Oh … I haven't been for a thousand years. Work-home-work. I began to catch myself thinking that I was waiting for my retirement so I could start fishing again. As you and I were then at the end of school – the beginning of the university.

Writer: I'm afraid NOT to be mistaken if I say that the last time I went fishing was with you… twenty years ago. Have you decided to upset us?

Consultant: Not at all. Just a good example. Imagine: a person is hungry and wants to eat fish. What will an ordinary kind person offer? That's right – fish. What will the consultant-methodologist do? That's right, the methodologist will say – "I'd rather give you a fishing rod and teach you how to fish"! :) And then he will start to learn: first – there is no fish in the toilet! And in winter it is pointless to drill holes on the ice rink too. We need a river or lake. We take a fishing rod with a fishing line, a float, a sinker, a hook and go to the shore. We string a worm on a hook, throw it into the lake and wait. If the float moves, the fish bites. When the float has sunk – hook it! Pull the rod and haul out the fish – voila!

Engineer: Well, you somehow very primitively told. There are many subtle points.

Consultant: But just at the subtle points, differences in methodologies begin in an amount equal to the number of methodologists! :) What time do you need to start catching, where is it better to dig for worms, what kind of bait to throw into the water to lure the fish, and so on.

Writer: You also need to spit on the worm before throwing it into the water…

Consultant: Shh… !!! :) These are secret techniques, they are revealed only to the “elite” during additional personal trainings!

Engineer: For an extra fee?

Consultant: For an extra fee. :) But this is not the main thing. A person remains on the surface, without looking, so to speak, into the depths. Nothing is told or understood about how life is organized under water.

Writer: Does a person need this? After all, if the method works, if the bucket is full of fish, why know how everything is organized there under water?

Consultant: Exactly! I wanted to tell you about this. People learn a working technique and stop there. If there are more conventional “fish” than a neighbor's – it means that the technique is better, or it has been mastered better. You can calm down…

But suddenly, the situation changes. Instead of a calm lake, there is a turbulent river. The old approach doesn't work. We need a new method and a new methodologist. It may happen that there is no suitable method – there is no one to ask or the situation is unique, no one has ever encountered such a thing. What to do? Starving to death? Trying to go through all sorts of options with the hope that something will accidentally work and a new method will be found? Isn't it more effective to understand what is really going on under water? Then the techniques themselves will be baked like hot cakes. If the general principles are clear, the particular option is always obvious. I hope it’s clear that I’m not talking about fishing for a long time, but about any methods.

Engineer: It seems to me that you demand too much from an ordinary person. A common man needs a method when he can take money, go to the store and buy fish. If the store is closed – there is a 24-hour supermarket nearby.

Consultant: Well, of course I'm not talking about an ordinary person. You yourself asked about science and methods. Science looks at the root, understands the foundations. And the method is how knowledge is applied in a specific situation. Although, you know, sometimes, in general terms, for any person to be successful in his field of activity, it is necessary to “look under the water”. In my training sessions, I often start with this slide:

The first level of maturity of understanding is "HOW?"

"The little son came to his father and asked: what is good and what is bad?" At this level, they usually say, “Do it! Don't do that! ” Without much explanation. Our managers sin with this. They give orders and wait not for questions, but for exact execution. Subordinates in this case gradually degrade, turning off their own brain. Or they connect it only in order to think of not rushing to carry out the order, because it can be canceled or another, more important task will come down.