Historians suggest that the modern business organization is based on a model established by the Ming dynasty in China some six hundred years ago to maintain a large, far-flung empire. It was based on three principles: divide and conquer, command, and control. Improving your lot in life depended on your ability to please your supervisors. In the belief that there was no alternative, this model was emulated by Western organizations for centuries. But the model has long since outlived its usefulness. It creates a bureaucratic business organization that focuses inward and fights change tooth and nail. The model encourages competition among its component parts. It also encourages those at the top to see those at the bottom as incompetent and uncommitted, needing to be controlled by rules, policies, and discipline.
Although organizations have begun to change to meet the challenges of a rapidly evolving global economy, many have not, and they have paid a heavy price by going out of business. Creating fast, flexible, and outward-focused organizations is imperative for survival. These leadership activities will promote a more effective, integrated organization:
- Create a vision. A vision that stresses seamless processes, collaboration,
and harmony promotes a supportive environment in which all
the parts work together and share resources and information. - Live the vision. Constantly emphasize the dangers of unhealthy competition
and rivalry among divisions. Nevertheless, reward the areas
that perform best, and especially those that assist others to perform
better. - Dismantle fiefdoms. Remove managers from departments and divisions
that operate like islands, with little interest in the rest of the
organization. - Study work processes and build departments around key processes.
It is not often that a client—whether internal or external—can
be served from one work area. Processes bounce back and forth among
work areas. This movement of activities among departments, known
as handoffs, often results in delays and mistakes. Reducing the number
of handoffs may require that work be reengineered so that people who
are serving the same customers are colocated, helping to ensure that
the process flow among them is seamless. - Set up reward systems that encourage collaboration. Reward managers
for openness, sharing, and collaboration. Celebrate acts of generosity
among managers. - Create forums to exchange best practices. Set up regular intracompany
fairs where different parts of the organization can show off their
best practices and feel the pride that comes from such innovations.
This will allow all those attending to learn from each other and multiply
those innovations many times across the organization. - Exchange employees. Encourage employees to work in different parts
of the organization in order to give them exposure to its other aspects.
This is especially valuable if your organization has operations around
the world. Learning new cultures and new approaches to doing business
will build a generation of leaders who are global in their thinking
and empathetic in dealing with other parts of the organization. - Set up cross-functional teams. Difficult problems require creativity
and commitment from as many sources as possible. In order to get the
maximum buy-in for change, create focused problem-solving teams
comprising representatives from areas that have traditionally been antagonistic.
Categories: