Mary Parker Follett
Mary Parker Follett (1868–1933) was an
American social worker, consultant, and author of books on democracy,
human relations, and management. She worked as a management and
political theorist, introducing such phrases as "conflict resolution,"
"authority and power," and "the task of leadership."
Follett was born into an affluent
Quaker family in Massachusetts and spent much of her early life there.
In 1898 she graduated from Radcliffe College. Over the next three
decades, she published several books, including:
- The Speaker of the House of
Representatives (1896)
- The New State (1918)
- Creative Experience (1924)
- Dynamic Administration (1941)
(this collection of speeches and short articles was published
posthumously)
Follett suggested that organizations
function on the principle of power "with" and not power "over." She
recognized the holistic nature of community and advanced the idea of
"reciprocal relationships" in understanding the dynamic aspects of the
individual in relationship to others. Follett advocated the principle of
integration, "power sharing." Her ideas on negotiation, power, and
employee participation were influential in the development of
organizational studies.
She was a pioneer of community centres.
Mary Parker Follett
Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933) was a
visionary and pioneering individual in the field of human relations,
democratic organization, and management. Born in Massachusetts, in 1892
she entered what would become Radcliffe College, the women's branch of
Harvard. She graduated from Radcliffe summa cum laude in 1898. Follett's
intensive research into government while at Radcliffe was later
published in her first book, The Speaker of the House of Representatives
(1909), which was lauded (by, among others, Theodore Roosevelt) as the
best study of this office of government ever done.
From 1900 to 1908, Follett devoted
herself to social work in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. In 1908
she became chairperson of the Women's Municipal League's Committee on
Extended Use of School Buildings, and in 1911 she helped open the East
Boston High School Social Center. She was instrumental in the formation
of many other social centers throughout Boston. Her experience in this
area helped to transform her view of democracy. Follett later served as
a member of the Massachusetts Minimum Wage Board, and in 1917 she became
vice-president of the National Community Center Association. By this
time, however, she had turned most of her attention to writing for a
wider public regarding what the social centers had taught her about
democracy. In 1918 she published her second book, The New State, which
is concerned with the human nature of government, democracy, and the
role of local community.
In 1924, Follett published her third
book, Creative Experience. This work addresses more directly the
creative interaction of people through an on-going process of circular
response. From this point until her death in 1933, Follett found her
most enthusiastic audience in the world of business. Admiration and
respect for her work grew on both sides of the Atlantic, and she became
a leading management consultant. (Peter Drucker, who discovered
Follett's work in the 1950's, is said to have referred to Follett as his
"guru.") Her various papers and speeches in this context were published
in 1942 by Henry Metcalf and Lionel Urwick in a book called Dynamic
Administration. Another celebration of her work in this context is Mary
Parker Follett: Prophet of Management, which was edited by Pauline
Graham and published in 1995. In 1998, The New State was re-issued by
Penn State Press, with a preface by Benjamin Barber. A biography of
Follett, written by Joan Tonn, a professor at the College of Management,
University of Massachusetts, Boston, is expected to be published next
year.
Follett is increasingly recognized
today as the originator, at least in the 20th century, of ideas that are
today commonly accepted as "cutting edge" in organizational theory and
public administration. These include the idea of seeking "win-win"
solutions, community-based solutions, strength in human diversity,
situational leadership, and a focus on process. However, just as her
ideas were advanced for her own time, and advanced when people wrote
about them decades after her death, they remain too often unrealized. We
recognize them as an inspirational and guiding ideal for us today, at
the beginning of the 21st century. It is the intention and the design of
the Foundation's programs to continue the effort to bridge ideal and
practice in a continuous process that gives rise to true freedom.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Parker_Follett
http://www.follettfoundation.org/mpf.htm
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