Many companies are setting up internal centers of expertise (COE) to help do and manage the work of implementing organization change. Having these capabilities in house can be an efficient and cost effective way to manage change within an organization. However, COEs that operate in isolation or as a bolt-on
In a recent post, we addressed the topic of linkages within an organization. Linkages, or informal relationships within an organization, make up the organization’s “unseen,” informal structure: how people relate to and work with each other across organizational boundaries. Linkages often have as much or even more impact on organizational
The design of commercial organizations inside of companies brings unique organization alignment challenges for executives and practitioners alike. Because most sales and marketing functions touch the end-customer in very real and tangible ways, the design of these functions must create an extraordinary experience for customers and also deliver differentiated marketplace
Business model transformation can deliver a tremendous amount of value for an organization, competitively speaking. Recently, a potential client who was trying to change how her sales force is set up asked me, “what are some of the best business models you’ve seen?” That’s a tricky question. There are many
The holidays can be a mixed blessing for those of us involved in implementing organization change. While it’s wonderful to get together with family and friends to celebrate the season, the additional social commitments add an extra layer of complexity to our already demanding schedules. Along with pushing to meet
Whether in subtle ways or blatant ways, one issue that is bound to come up in nearly every organization is that of control. People rarely admit they want to be the one in control, but in reality it’s an ongoing undercurrent in nearly every human interaction – especially in organizations.
In many ways, implementing organization change is a matter of mindset. The role of leadership in change management involves to a large extent ensuring that people at all levels of the organization adopt the proper mindset for success. There is an interesting tendency in human nature to want things to
Traditional organization design methods don’t always move fast enough to keep up with the pace of change with which businesses must cope. More and more leaders are seeking innovative organization design approaches and solutions to address new and compelling marketplace trends. They are asking themselves: “How valid are these trends,
Precision in language and clarity of thought go hand in hand. A few months back I was speaking with a leader about some work we were planning for his organization, and he said, “what I really see when we’re done is some kind of hybrid design.” While this appears to
In the organization design field, we often use the phrase, “Organizations are perfectly designed to get the results they’re getting.” In other words, if you want different results you have to change some aspect of your organization design. This principle has led to some big trends in the marketplace that