I have been thinking a lot about corporate leadership and culture lately and it is clear to me that current business leadership style and structure is not what will lead us into a brave new world.
First let me explain why we need a brave new world of organizational structure. Hierarchies of people were set up to facilitate the flow of information back when one-to-one communication was the only option. It was the only way to scale a business. The problem now is that with the advent of email we entered an age where the speed and scope of information flow has increased dramatically and no longer needs middlemen to gather, filter, and channel it. But we have these 'leaders' who sit at what once were information hubs within the organization. To keep their jobs - since they are no longer needed to help facilitate information flow - they often actively hoard information through their control of the resources and people that work for them. It's actually kind of an ugly thing and they spend so much time hoarding and politicking that they forget to look up and realize that leadership, not power and control, are what is lacking. To keep it all in the family, the people that get hired and promoted into these positions are politically savvy, willing and able to be controlling, and part of the club. They are vastly more interested in whether they personally do well then whether to company does well collectively and they are threatened by too much initiative on the part of their employees. They act this way because that is what current organizational leadership rewards.
I think we are moving to an opt-in world where employees opt-in to projects, leaders opt-in and emerge into their roles. Paul Hemp use Barak Obama as an example of an opt-in leader - he did not really rise up through a Democratic grooming process. True collaborative environment require leaders that not only opt-in but are given the mandate to lead because they can effectively inspire others to act. It is a very different leadership style - one I wrote about in my post "Lead from the Back". The organizational structure implied by that also means that the hiring of all employees needs to be primarily value- and motivation-based. What if instead of asking for a resume, HR asked for an essay on what motivated you and what your passions were? It's how the best colleges and universities operate and you get very strong and consistent cultures in that setting. Plus, people wither if they are asked to do the same job for years on end - if companies hired on values and let people move to new projects and to new skills sets when they were ready the productivity and loyalty gains would be immense and you would have a employee based that was widely well-rounded and adaptable.
A change in leadership and culture of that magnatude requires radical rethinking of HR & operations - and new tools by which to manage that network of employees. It's a fun thought...but how do we get there? The big question for me is this - are investors ready? Without strong board and investor support the only companies that will be able to radically transform will be private companies with visionary leaders.
What's your vision of a social organization?
