This Spring I will again teach an undergrad class on Organizational Design. This is a tough class for me and the students. Without some frame of reference, experience in a good or bad organization, many of the concepts are difficult to grasp clearly. The material itself can be a bit, well, dry and boring.
But it’s so important to understand.
This is where I could use your help. I’m looking for two things: examples and exercises.
I need examples of organizations and how the organization adapted or changed to improve performance. Adding staff, aligning communications, flattening org charts – any number of way to improve. What examples do you have to share?
There is a real shortage of games or exercises that demonstrate the effectiveness of good organizational design – at least not much that I’ve found. If you know of any I would love to hear about it.
Thanks!
Marc
This attached (slightly NSFW) article is Andrew Tower’s (yes, my son) editor’s page in the August issue of Urban Climber magazine. Simple, clean explanation of how to work with people and achieve results by keeping your eyes on the outcome, not yourself.
UC_AUG11
Nice work Andrew.
It’s truly a joy to write this, sitting in seat 16A, over eastern Tennessee heading towards New Jersey on American Airlines – with on board Wi-Fi. 463 knots at 31,000 ft according to FlightAware.com – a perfect spot for our Flight Plan strategic planning metaphor.
Destination. The end of the journey, or at least an intermediate step.
A pilot needs to know where to go, who’s on board and what kind of airplane is available in order to plan a flight is the destination. Where are we trying to get to? What is the goal?
Although there are many ways to begin the strategic planning process, like good pilots, we recommend starting with the ideal destination, goal or envisioned future state of your company.
By beginning with the goal, you have the freedom to visualize a future without addressing current limitations – there will be an appropriate time for constraints later, but for now, paint the picture of ultimate success.
To you, success may mean growth, geographic expansion, innovation, new products or increased efficiency. Success today may mean righting the ship and getting your business back to a place where future success can be planned beyond a daily struggle for survival.
Each component of the flight plan is interrelated and as the process continues, the destination may change – in the same way equipment limitations, crew ability winds or weather may affect your ultimate destination on a flight. But the more contingencies you can plan for, the greater the chances of success.
Any pilots out there? If you have ever planned a cross-country flight you may have noticed that a Flight Plan works as an excellent metaphor for strategic planning.
The term strategic planning is very broad and means different things to different people. In Henry Mintzberg’s Strategy Safari, the authors outline ten schools of strategic planning, and that is just the descriptions, not how to implement them!
For many small to medium businesses it is very difficult to know where to start. What should I use for a planning time horizon? Am I in a stable industry or is it very fluid, with high-velocity change and innovation? How much detail is sufficient? How much is too much? There is definitely a point of diminishing returns.
Over the next few weeks we outline each block of a standard FAA flight plan and how that correlates to your strategic planning process. This is all part of the Flight Plan for Business and Flight Plan for Projects processes development.
We’ll start first with the beginning… and the end – where you want to go, and just as importantly – if not more, where you start from.
Marc
March 8th, 2011 Welcome
Welcome to First Ascent Consulting! More information about our company will follow. Right now we’re working hard to delight our clients.
Feel free to contact me at:
marc@1stAscent.com
877.415.7325
