Most organizations still organize themselves using bureaucratic design
principles. That's not an accusation; rather it's my observation.
Consequently, if I'm the EMT called in to triage an organization, I go
straight to the top of the patient -- the office of the CEO.
Questions to the CEO will very quickly reveal how serious the situation
is:
- Does your organization have a shared vision? What is it? How was it
developed? How is the content managed?
- What are the organization's current strategic outcomes that are intended
to move it to its vision? How were these determined? How often are they
reviewed and modified?
- How is the organization structured (who does what, how work gets
designed and done, rewards and incentives, information systems, decision
making structure) to meet its outcomes? If structural changes are in
process, what do they look like and who is making them?
- What kind of culture does the organization need to realize its outcomes?
Is that the current culture? If not, how is it going to change?
- What kind of skill investments are needed now to support the realization
of the organization's strategic outcomes? How is this skilling taking
place?
- What are some of the major issues the organization is facing today? How
are they going about identifying how to address them?
The answers CEOs give to these questions give us a pretty clear picture of
the health of their organizations. How CEOs answer these questions give
us a sense about whether or not their organizations really can be helped.
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Jason Smith
Quantum Solutions
Toronto, Ontario
jsmith@quantumsolutions.on.ca
--"Jason Smith" <jsmith@quantumsolutions.on.ca>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>