Upload
andrew-rixon
View
493
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
This tells the story of what might be considered a forgotten fairy tale.With today's environment asking us what will tomorrow bring for organisations, this story explores what might become of hierarchies.
Citation preview
Anticipating Tomorrow’s Organisation
by Andrew Rixon PhD
Did you know?Ants “discovered”
agriculture through division of labour
and hierarchy more than
40,000 years ago.
How far have we come?
Welcome the modern
organisational form…
The Hierarchical Organisation
Here’s a forgotten story
Once upon a time…
All was well within the hierarchy…
Systems, Structures, Policies
and Procedures were all working
smoothly.
Until one day when Jane saw a problem
sail in...
A problem that saw the need for
change...
Jane informed her boss. Her boss
informed her boss… And so on up the
hierarchy…
Eventually…
The CEO became aware of the
problem.
He agreed.
They needed to change.
Jane waited and watched as the
problem sailed on...
The CEO engaged his senior
leadership team.
They started work on a solution…
They engaged down the business. Layer
by layer. The solution eventually
made it to Jane.
The only problem was…
There was now a new problem
arriving…
Jane wondered if she would have to go through all that
AGAIN…
Fortunately for Jane there was
something on the horizon which
meant she wouldn’t have to...
Unfortunately for the organisation it also meant the end of the hierarchy as
they knew it.
Post Script:
A sign that we’ve moved beyond the
ants could be…
We’re not so hung-up on hierarchies…
Credits…
This piece was inspired by Bob Dick’s article titled “Whatever happened to bureacracy”.
Simon Kneebone cartoonist extraordinaire produced the pictures within.
Babel Fish Group, lead by Andrew Rixon PhD, is a boutique company helping organisations and individuals to become more resilient and adaptive in a world of increasing uncertainty through the development and use of complexity inspired approaches and tools.
Our flagship “Thriving in Complexity” programs include:
• The Two Stories• Getting Unstuck! How complexity helps…• Resilience through networks and systems thinking
For more, continue reading here: http://www.babelfishgroup.com