This past week I was involved in many stimulating conversations with some very interesting people. The theme of new organizational structures came up and it was observed that one challenge we have is in addressing our inherent tribal nature. There is a strong need to belong to something, which can detract from critical thinking and questioning the inherent assumptions of our structures. Another growing challenge is how do skilled, motivated and intelligent managers deal with dysfunctional organizations? I get asked this question quite often as many very good people just seem to be stuck in the job/mortgage/pension trap. How can we get off this treadmill?
One very important observation on organizational change is that anthropology does not scale like technology does. Trying to solve someone’s problem from the outside only results in the problem being changed from the inside. We have to solve our own problems and that takes time. For example, a polycentric approach encourages design at the local level, with certain design principles (like a pattern language) instead of answers. So how can we take action on observations like those in my last post – 21st century workplace – and start the journey to the complex and chaotic edge? My aim, with my partners at the ITA and TULSER, is to find and map some of these pathways.
For example, a polycentric approach encourages design at the local level, with certain design principles (like a pattern language) instead of answers.
Yes.