Blusukan: Management by Wandering Around

@The JakPost

The Javanese vernacular blusukan (impromptu visit) has caught much hype thanks to Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo management style. In contrast to many Indonesian leaders who prefer to work behind a desk, Jokowi often visits unexpected places, such as river banks, traditional markets, slums and local public office. Through this blusukan style, he earned much respect as mayor of Surakarta, so much so he was elevated to the top job in Jakarta.

Likely inspired by Jokowi, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) followed suit recently.

However, is blusukan really a special managerial style?

It dates back in 1970s when the American futurist, Alvin Toffler, coined “adhocracy” in his book Future Shock. Adhocracy was the opposite of Max Weber’s long standing bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy, the brainchild of the industrial revolution, manages organization through bureaus (departments). Each bureau is responsible for specific tasks and functions. The chain of command flows from the top of the hierarchy to the subordinates. While in fact it flows from the bottom up. To some extent, bureaucracy really worked. It dispersed policy and command effectively. Even to the present day the armed forces operates in this style.

However, the power of bureaucracy is out-of-date, be it in business or socio-politics. Business faces a rapidly ever-changing situation and in politics, people demand high quality public services. Bureaucracy laden with cumbersome procedures can no longer addresses the challenges. Bureaucracy inhibits quick response, because the problems are slowly identified.

Adhocracy was championed as the answer to the downside of bureaucracy. Adhocracy makes organizations fluid and flexible. Task forces, temporary groups to solve specific problems, are encouraged. The leaders barely stay in their ivory towers to pore over data collected by their underlings.

It was Hewlett Packard (HP), the American multinational company, which brought this idea of adhocracy into practice. HP emphasized organizational fluidity and open communication. A major tenet of the “HP Way” is that leaders should directly involve the whole team in solving problems and executing plans. Management theorists dubbed this practice as management by wandering around (MBWA).

Another well-known company that employs a similar management style is Toyota. They call it genchi genbutsu (go and see). Toyota believes that only through direct observation on the shop floor that managers know what is really happening.

Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, put it thus, “data is of course important but I place a greater emphasis on fact”. This brings us back to blusukan. This is our way of managing by wandering. In Jokowi’s case it really works. Thus, we are convinced that leaders who dive in with both feet and experience issues first hand can find solutions more effictivily.

Blusukan is to observe the problem thoroughly on the spot but it is only the first step. Success isn’t guaranteed by a stint of blusukan. The next important step is to execute the selected solution.