Corporate Strategies: Organizational Change in the Future

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William Gibson: Neuromancer


(I wrote this in 2008 as a memo in response to an adult student’s question about what I thought of the book Fifth Discipline.  While still somewhat unrealistic - organizations are still run by managers who lack the self-confidence to ask others for advice and ideas - I think the current trends of quicker reaction to change, recognition of "high value-added employees," and more sophisticated IT software are moving organizations in this direction. At least the good ones.)

I'm glad you read Fifth Discipline, even though it's rather dense.  Many of the ideas in the book are now the starting points for a lot of writing on management. 

I believe that the best way for organizations to achieve superior performance and survive in the long run is to be adaptive, to be a "learning organization."  This means that everyone in the organization is encouraged (and rewarded) to come up with new ideas and methods.  These new ideas are then implemented and propagated throughout the company, the key goal of organizational design.  Discussion often leads to other new ideas, leading to "tipping points" of fundamental change.  One method to change mentalities and transmission channels in a large organization is your experience - a specific project that brings together people from different departments or functional specialties.  Another is new software to share new ideas and knowledge throughout the company.

You recognized that your experiences were very different than your day-to-day experience and opened up new possibilities.  What you implied was that you and the other members of the group were using their intelligence and skills collectively to solve complicated and important tasks, far beyond what was required in your daily jobs.  To me, good companies have institutionalized this idea - that everyone in the company can contribute to improving the competitive position of the company today and help the company adapt to rapid change (or create the change).

I suspect that in successful companies in the future everyone in the company will be a "manager."  You already have more education and general knowledge than the average manager of two generations ago.  Organizational hierarchies won't mean very much; they won't reflect where new ideas come from or how they are implemented.  Possibly, this is why so many management positions are being eliminated; the old control, command and coordinate systems just don't work any more.  Many of the repetitive supervisory functions of management will be done by software.

Ideally, top management's role is the strategic interface between the external environment and the company.  They ask, "What is it we are doing" and "What should we be doing?"  This is sometime called "vision."  They convey a general sense of direction and, when necessary, change of direction.  But they should leave it to the other employees to figure out how to get there.  Surprisingly, the U.S. Marines are incorporating this kind of thinking in their training of junior officers and tactical combat units.

Paradoxically, I think that fairly continuous structure and general direction are important as a framework within which to execute change.  Successful organizations will find the right mix of continuity and change.  This might mean there should not be rapid turnover in top managers who rely on their experience in other organizations or industries.  Clear objectives; general, flexible strategies; and very flexible tactics relying on well-informed, empowered, cooperative and innovative employees.

One speculative comment.  I was thinking about hospitals.  My guess is that the revolution in the delivery of new medical services will radically change what hospitals do.  In fact, I don't believe that hospitals in their current form or function will exist in 30 years.  Already most testing such as MRIs and endoscopies are now done outside of hospitals.  There will be far less surgery, which will be viewed as a barbaric relic. Non-invasive genetic surgery will be done in specialized clinics on an out-patient basis, like eye laser-surgery is done now.  Drug-based cures will be delivered in a very decentralized industry, possibly even more in the home with remote monitoring.  All of this will be far less expensive than the incredibly inefficient and expensive current health care "system."  Forget about the "health care crisis" of the future. 


OK, another speculative comment. Even more revolutionary will be the delivery of "education."  Schools are based on assumptions about how we learn and ancient "technology" that will be obsolete in a few decades.  It's amazing what scientists, even using such "primitive" tools as MRIs, are learning about how the brain functions.  Most "learning" might be some form of direct absorption of visual images.  How this will be done might seem a little scary now but will probably occur because of the economics of it - cheaper, quicker, more efficient.  Students will proceed at different speeds.  Software will include more effective feedback mechanisms.  Testing will be continuous and used to accelerate learning, not determine grades.  Teachers will tutor, suggest additional work and supervise progress.   And I will probably be unemployed, which has always been my goal.

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