Israel style of management

One way of thriving in academia is to be creative and reinvent ideas and processes. Take the established opinions of others and push them through new barriers. Those of us who thrived in that environment had to change gears when graduating to life at the office. And some of us had great difficulty doing so, in a stale immutable environment that doesn't respond well to challenges to authority.

It is with some trepidation that I read this article about the Israel style of management in Israel Lifestyle.

“While working with Israelis, I was surprised to see a bunch of people, that unlike our American, Asian or European colleagues never took authority for granted. They always questioned management decisions and authority. Some of the time didn’t even do what they were asked. But then, there was no comparison to their ability to break through and create new and unconventional solutions to challenges we were facing.”


In the context of Talmudic studies which relies entirely on students questioning the Talmud and the teachers before them, this style of management makes complete sense. One tenet which is said to have inspired an entire generation of managers goes like this: "I prefer to struggle with wild horses when there is need to stop them, than push lazy mules that refuse to move”.


This is all very attractive but, by the same token, it can't be said Israel has distinguished itself industry in the same way that authoritarian countries like Germany and the United States have.