John Kotter, Confucious, Machiavelli and Term Paper

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He had an opportunity to utilize his theories when he became head of the Florentine militia and helped overthrow the de Medici family rulers. His byword was "force and prudence," and he believed that demonstrating a combination of these two things is the mark of an effective leader. Kotter may agree that prudence is a valuable characteristic in a leader, but disagrees with the outdated principle of force, saying that change cannot be forced, it must be incorporated into one's life and future:

Change sticks only when it becomes "the way we do things around here," when it seeps into the very bloodstream of the work unit or corporate body. Until new behaviors are rooted in social norms and shared values, they are always subject to degradation as soon as the pressures associated with a change effort are removed (Kotter, 1996, 14).

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an influential philosopher, artist and thinker during the 1700s, and was influential in creating a new way to formulate political bodies. He discussed the inherent goodness of humanity in his Discourse on Inequality, in which he says "natural" or "savage man" is able to refuse to be an animal, to perfect him or herself and improve his/her situation physically and environmentally. He saw civil society as being evil, with its competitiveness, vanity, hatred and power-seeking. But compassion and drive for perfection leads mankind to improve its condition. He believes that one's ability to think of him or herself as free and to make choices raises mankind above the animal kingdom. This discussion of the theories floating about in the 17th Century espoused by Hobbes and Locke, helped the populace to think of themselves as more than lower class laboring masses and to strive for mastery of their fates in forming democracy and overcoming monarchs.

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Kotter's work pales in comparison with Rousseau's works and the works of Rousseau's fellow writers. Although he is forward thinking and utilizes the principles of Rousseau's "natural man" in that democratic principles are useful at work and the employee is not to be seen as an underling, Kotter does not go far enough in explaining the bases of his belief system. It is true that Kotter bases his books on his personal experiences in the field and utilizes actual research on his theories. Some believe that he is a great thinker, but while his books evolve into ever more democratic principles, they are simply summarizing concepts which have been adapted from past theorists and have been in place in the organizational marketplace for centuries. True, there are corporations which are run by dictators and there are corporations which are micromanaged, that is easy to see. Perhaps it is time for someone like Kotter to step forward and state the obvious, that neither of these is desirable and in the end they are self-defeating, that a power which comes from the diverse and interdependent body is most successful.

Kotter's ideas are thus compared to the Confucian, Machiavellian and "natural man" theories which have preceded it and it is obvious that he has learned something from each of these.

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