Organization
development.
For the last
couple of month I have been involved in
organization development in our company.
I thought it
would be a great opportunity to try to do
things differently.
- For 150 or so
years, organizations has been using a
hieraki that is similar to that of the
military: You have a level of generals /
directors, a level of officers / middle
management and the footfolks.
The way of
organizing organizations might have been
a good idea though the industrial age.
But today most workers are very well
educated and know quite a lot about what
they want in life, and what they don't
want.
Also it seems to
me, that as soon as anyone has reached
the top or near the top of the
organizational hieraki, they tend to do
quite a lot to stay "in power"
and keep others out - also new ideas and
new ways, that might threaten their
position. History has shown this to be
true - just look at dictatorship in many
countries, and management in many
companies.
Just before being
selected to joining the organizational
development team, I had sort of an
"awakening". I had read a
little bit from Steven
R. Covey's
book - "The eights habbit".
What he writes
about motivation, and that people have
choises - was just so right. And the
question was simple for me - when you
know that people can be more or less
motivated - where does a responsible
company want their employees to be on the
"motivation ladder" ?
Steven R. Covey
also writes a lot of other interesting
things about his work as a consultant,
and it led me to read the first book in
the "series": The seven habits
- and again, I felt it was so right. -
For example to think "win -
win", etc.
That further led
me to read about the work of Lars
Kollind
(former CEO of Oticon), and Alfred
Josefsen
(present CEO of Irma - voted one of the
best European companies by the
employees). And the same thought were
presented - we need a new way to organize
our work.
Fortunately in
our Organizational development team, I
was not alone. Another
"younger" manager agreed fully
with me, motivation around the company
was low, managers spend way too much time
on day-to-day business, what I call
"operations leadership" as
opposed to "development
leadership" - there was a need for
change.
I could identify
the need for change - but was unable to
see - what the "new way" should
be. My colleague suggested "scrum". And there it was.
- A way to give workers a direct
influence on their work. - A way to get
people more motivated, and to tear down
the classic organizational hieraki.
People can undertake various roles during
various "sprints" - you do not
have to be a manager "forever"
or a footfolk forever - roles change and
everyone has the possibility to undertake
a new role in a new sprint.
Also - through
"product backlogs", and daily
followups, it becomes visible what
everyone is doing.
Sure enough - we
could not persuade the
management part of the organizational
development team, to change all of the
organization (appx. 500 people) to be
organized after the scrum model. - The
management initia was of couse there.
But a little
victory it was, that we have
"broadened" their vision -
opened their eyes a bit - about problems
with motivation, and that new management
staff is not always the solution to
problems. - And in one department - as an
experiment - scrum is going to be tried
as the organizational model...
Category:
Leadership / Organizations, Date:
2007-june-12, By: Rene M. Plambek
|