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Designing an Organisation – Managed Process or Iterative Development Article 1 Why we need structure in our organisations One analogy is designing and constructing a building – we need a structure in place that is fit for purpose. The question is; do we build it to withstand a hurricane or as a temporary abode that travels with us as we move from place to place. What are the foundations that underpin the structure and how flexible do we want the internal partitions to be? Our default is often to build a top down hierarchy because that’s what we’ve grown up with: A hierarchical organisation is an organisational structure where every entity in the organization, except one, is subordinate to a single other entity. This arrangement is a form of a hierarchy. In an organisation, the hierarchy usually consists of a singular/group of power at the top with subsequent levels of power beneath them – Wikipedia If we follow this design and build analogy, what we need is a good architect who will take our design parameters and create a structure that meets our defined needs: Organisation design or architecture of an organisation as a metaphor provides the framework through which an organisation aims to realize its core qualities as specified in its vision statement. – Wikipedia A second and equally compelling analogy proposed by writers such as Peter Senge is that organisations show many of the characteristics of living organisms; they grow, develop and evolve. Organisations manifest a type of homeostasis – a steady state that by its nature is resistant to change. Whichever frame of reference we choose to adopt, the key question is whether our organisational design is fit for purpose. This begs the question – do we have absolute clarity what that purpose now is? If we look at our current (predominantly hierarchical) organisation and look at our vision, our values – does the structure promote or block individual initiative and employee engagement? Does it support our publically stated intent to work with and support our local community, enabling local champions who willingly give of their own time to support those in need? Or does it create bureaucratic barriers and an unremitting focus on short term performance metrics that promote and support micro management and leaders working at least one and usually two levels below where they are paid to operate? The challenge with much of our organisational design is twofold: • It’s based on a hierarchical, compliance based way of thinking where we operate from a predict and control model • It lacks the organism’s ability to sense and respond to changes in the external (and internal) operating environment How can we create an organisation that is fully aligned with our vision and our values; that is resilient and sustainable – one that consistently meets market and shareholder expectations and is modelling the change for good that we wish to see in the world? A big question – one that is not going to be answered in a short paper, but perhaps a few smaller questions that might build confidence to experiment:
Transcript of non-hierarchical Organisations
DesigninganOrganisation–ManagedProcessorIterativeDevelopment
Article1WhyweneedstructureinourorganisationsOneanalogyisdesigningandconstructingabuilding–weneedastructureinplacethatisfitforpurpose.Thequestionis;dowebuildittowithstandahurricaneorasatemporaryabodethattravelswithusaswemovefromplacetoplace.Whatarethefoundationsthatunderpinthestructureandhowflexibledowewanttheinternalpartitionstobe?Ourdefaultisoftentobuildatopdownhierarchybecausethat’swhatwe’vegrownupwith:Ahierarchicalorganisationisanorganisationalstructurewhereeveryentityintheorganization,exceptone,issubordinatetoasingleotherentity.Thisarrangementisaformofahierarchy.Inan
organisation,thehierarchyusuallyconsistsofasingular/groupofpoweratthetopwithsubsequent
levelsofpowerbeneaththem–WikipediaIfwefollowthisdesignandbuildanalogy,whatweneedisagoodarchitectwhowilltakeourdesignparametersandcreateastructurethatmeetsourdefinedneeds:Organisationdesignorarchitectureofanorganisationasametaphorprovidestheframework
throughwhichanorganisationaimstorealizeitscorequalitiesasspecifiedinitsvisionstatement.–
Wikipedia
AsecondandequallycompellinganalogyproposedbywriterssuchasPeterSengeisthatorganisationsshowmanyofthecharacteristicsoflivingorganisms;theygrow,developandevolve.Organisationsmanifestatypeofhomeostasis–asteadystatethatbyitsnatureisresistanttochange.Whicheverframeofreferencewechoosetoadopt,thekeyquestioniswhetherourorganisationaldesignisfitforpurpose.Thisbegsthequestion–dowehaveabsoluteclaritywhatthatpurposenowis?Ifwelookatourcurrent(predominantlyhierarchical)organisationandlookatourvision,ourvalues–doesthestructurepromoteorblockindividualinitiativeandemployeeengagement?Doesitsupportourpublicallystatedintenttoworkwithandsupportourlocalcommunity,enablinglocalchampionswhowillinglygiveoftheirowntimetosupportthoseinneed?Ordoesitcreatebureaucraticbarriersandanunremittingfocusonshorttermperformancemetricsthatpromoteandsupportmicromanagementandleadersworkingatleastoneandusuallytwolevelsbelowwheretheyarepaidtooperate?Thechallengewithmuchofourorganisationaldesignistwofold:• It’sbasedonahierarchical,compliancebasedwayofthinkingwhereweoperatefromapredict
andcontrolmodel• Itlackstheorganism’sabilitytosenseandrespondtochangesintheexternal(andinternal)
operatingenvironmentHowcanwecreateanorganisationthatisfullyalignedwithourvisionandourvalues;thatisresilientandsustainable–onethatconsistentlymeetsmarketandshareholderexpectationsandismodellingthechangeforgoodthatwewishtoseeintheworld?Abigquestion–onethatisnotgoingtobeansweredinashortpaper,butperhapsafewsmallerquestionsthatmightbuildconfidencetoexperiment:
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1. EnsureabsoluteClarityofPurposeThepurposeofanorganisationisthefundamentalreasonwhytheorganisationexists.Thechallengeisthatyouwillprobablygetverydifferentanswersdependentonwhoyouask;“addshareholdervalue”,“deliverprofitablegrowth”,“meettheneedsofourcustomers”etc.So,that’swhatwedo–butwhydoweexist?Inpractice,thedefinedpurposeofanorganisationisoftenunclearandsometimesevencontested.Differentgroupsbothinsideandoutsidetheorganisationmayhavecompetingviews(withvaryingdegreesofinfluence)ofwhatthatpurposeshouldbe.Tousethemetaphorofthelivingorganisation-thecorepurposeofanorganisationdefinestheboundary,themembranebetweenwhatisandisnot‘theorganisation’Keyquestionstoask(usingtheprinciplesofHolacracy™):- Whatdoestheworldwant/needourorganisationtobe(pullfromoutside–what
customer/clientneedsarewemeeting)- Whatdoweneedtobetotheworld(usingourknowledge,skillsandwisdomwhatgiftscanwe
bringtotheworld)?2. ReplaceconcernwithCompliancewithafocusonGovernanceGovernanceisawell-definedtermandawell-refinedconceptinthenot-for-profitsector;Governancecanbethoughtofas:‘thesystemsandprocessesconcernedwithensuringtheoverall
direction,effectiveness,supervisionandaccountabilityofanorganisation’.ACEVOSimilarly,fromHolacracy™-‘Governanceisanexplicit,writtensetofrulesandexpectationsincludingtheCircles,Roles,Purposes,Accountabilities,DomainsandPoliciesoftheorganisation’. Ifwehaveabsoluteclarityaboutwhatwearetryingtoachieve,whoistaskedwithdelivery,havestrongandrapidfeedbacksystemswithengagedandmotivatedindividuals;wecanfocusonensuringthesystemsperformeffectivelyandefficiently.Wecanmaintainperspectiveratherthanbeingpulleddownintoalevelofdetailthatisbasedprimarilyonalackoftrust,bothinthereportingsystemsthemselvesandintheteamsengagedwithdelivery.3. ReplaceFocusonStructurewithClarityofrequiredRolesBorrowingfrombuildingdesignagain:'Formfollowsfunction'isaprinciplethatproposesabuilding'spurposeshouldbethestartingpointforitsdesignratherthanitsaesthetics.
Designispredicatedbythecorepurposeofanorganisation–whydoesitexistandwhatisittryingtoachieve.ArticulatedagainbythehistorianAlfredChandleras–‘StructurefollowsStrategy’.Ifwestartwithawell-definedcorepurpose,ournextstepistodefinethekeyrolesthatwillachievethispurpose.Notthedepartments,reportingstructures,organisationalchartsorjobdescriptions–atthisstagejustthekeyroles:Role-anorganisationalentityusedtodefinecertainfunctionsoftheorganization.Thedefinitionofa
RoleincludesaPurposetoexpress,Domain(s)tocontrol,andAccountabilitiestoperform–Holacracydefinition.
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Thisobviatestheneedtoimposestructure.Let’stakeforexampleCommunications–it’safunction,notadepartment.Itwillhaveitsownsubpurposetoexpressinserviceoftheoverallorganisation’spurpose.Itwillhavedeliverablesandaccountabilitycombinedwithresourcesthatwilldefinetherequiredroles.Oncethesearedefined,itmaywellbethatthereisarequirementforstructuretodeliverthespecifiedoutcomes.Oritmaybethatthereisnoneedforastructure–thattherolescanexistinwhatHolacracywoulddefineas‘circles’:
Circle–agroupofRolesthatallcontributetothesamePurpose.ACircleistreatedlikeaRolewith
theadditionalauthoritytobreakitselfdownintosub-Roles.–Holacracydefinition
Wemaytermthisaformofmatrixmanagement;wemaysubsequentlysubsumethisthinkingintoatraditionalorganisationalstructure;orwemaytaketheopportunitytopilotashadownon-hierarchicalstructure,definingourselvesbythesekeyrolesandthesubsequentcirclesthattheycreate:
4. SummarySo,weneedstructuretogiveus‘form’butdoweneedadepartmentalhierarchy?Ifwehave,orfeelweneedthisunderpinningframework,canwesuperimposeorblendadifferentwayofworkingontoourexistingstructure?Canwechooseanareainwhichtoexperiment,isthereanewproject,teamorchangeinitiativethatwecoulddesigndifferently?Thereisguidanceandtemplatesfreelyavailabletostartthisprocess,we’vebeenrunningourbusinessusingtheseprinciplessince2014andaretotallyconvincedthatclarityofroleandpersonalaccountabilitytrumpsreportinglinesandjobtitleeverytime.AndrewPorter,Director
Moonstone Operational Domains Model
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Moonstone Domains Operational Model KEY:
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DECISION-MAKING: The Lead in any field of responsibility will ratify key decisions with a member of the governance team A Member in any field of responsibility will ‘sign off’ with the appropriate Lead before progressing
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