We often “throw around" vague words like "successful, effective, and great” but what do these words really mean? When it comes to organizations what is “great”? Some have defined “great” as stock price over a period of years compared to other similar companies (e.g., Collins, 2001). While financial performance is an essential outcome to be …
Articles
What is Organization Design Part 1: Why is it Important? – Video
What is organization design? From our perspective organization design is the alignment of the stakeholders and their needs, with the strategy of the organization, the organization systems and processes, and a comprehensive scorecard. These four “cornerstones" are held together by the culture (values, symbols, rituals, and heroes) that support and …
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What is Organization Design Part 2: What is it? – Video
Some people say organizations don’t actually exist because they’re not physical things, but rather concepts or collections of concepts. However, there are a lot of physical things or artifacts that communicate what an organization is and how it works. So if we think about an organization as information, then there are many artifacts that represent …
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What Is Organization Design: Alignment – Video
In this segment of The Everyday Innovator video podcast, Dr. Chad McAllister and I discuss the issue of growing up in silos and how alignment and integration is a key organization design concept. CHAD - Designing the elements, like strategy, metrics, the things you mentioned, that make the organization the organization. I appreciate that you …
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Challenges – Video
Systems Thinking The first challenge is developing a systems perspective and understanding dynamic systems. We’ve been talking about this for over 50 years, and yet we still don’t teach it in most business schools. We train people in business schools in the different disciplines. So much so that the professors, who are really good at their …
Keys to Success – Video
Tenacity One of the biggest issues for success is tenacity. One of the things that we found is that designing organizations is, first of all, never done. So even organizations that come up with a great design and create high performance, if they aren’t building continuous renewal and reinvention and rethinking into their organization design, …
Benefits – Video
Fewer Fires I think the first tangible benefit is you have fewer fires to put out. So often we spend much of our executive time putting out fires. Working issues between those silos that got mucked up because we don’t have a well-oiled process or culture to facilitate that work between the different functions. This happens both in one-off …
Stakeholders – Video
Chad - Like the title of your book, Create the Organization You Want, I see a key benefit is making the organization that you want to work in and everyone else wants to work in too. WIIFM John - That’s the "what’s in it really for me,” or WIiFM part right? It’s your opportunity to create the organization you want to work inside of and be a part …
Trial and Error – Video
CHAD - I know you’ve listened to the podcast some, you know I love innovation quotes, so I asked you to bring one too. What’s the quote you have for us? JOHN - So I had to bring a different one this time, and I thought the one that fit what we were talking about the best was one that I think is attributable to Peter Skillman at IDEO. But I could …
Quest for the Enduring Creative Company – Interview with Nancy Duarte Part 2
All too often when organizations increase in size and complexity, systems and structures are added to help us “manage” the organization. Managers prefer predictability and hate ambiguity. However, prediction is at odds with creativity. So, how can we “manage,” or better yet, “lead” large complex creative organizations? In the first half of …
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