Comments on: Can an organization grow without bosses and formal authority?

By: Variable salary that fluctuates with the company’s performance « Analytical Mind

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:28:44 +0000

[...] } I already mentioned that we do not work like most organizations. We are almost at the point where people decide their [...]

By: Rules aren’t created for those who will comply « Analytical Mind

Rules aren’t created for those who will comply « Analytical Mind — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:59:30 +0000

[...] } I already wrote about our non-traditional organizational structure and the increasing reliance on communities the organize our teams. I recently had an interesting [...]

By: Don’t Sell Buzzwords to Business Leaders, Learn How to Describe Real Value « Analytical Mind

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:48:58 +0000

[...] Richard started to describe his company’s culture and the way he leads his organization. As I already mentioned, our organization operates very differently from most organizations and in an attempt to adapt the [...]

By: Martin Proulx

Martin Proulx — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:45:06 +0000

Andrew, thanks for the great references. I finally watched the video and read the pdf document. Good stuff! I plan on starting to read the book during my upcoming vacation.

By: Bogdan

Bogdan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:24:30 +0000

Maybe you shall try using Holacracy?

http://www.holacracy.org/system/files/HolacracyIntro2007-06.pdf

By: Andrew Meyer

Andrew Meyer — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:13:37 +0000

I’ll be interested to hear how things go. Remember the old warning your mother gave you. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

By: Martin Proulx

Martin Proulx — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Thank you for the suggestions. I will certainly read the references you provided.

Transforming an organization while maintaining the culture is challenging and very stimulating. Hopefully, we’ll do it right (without external help) and reach our goals without a conventional structure.

By: Andrew Meyer

Andrew Meyer — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:19:32 +0000

It’s an interesting delima you’re facing. I hope you haven’t hired bloodsuckers…errr, sorry, I mean consultants.

If you haven’t already, check out Ricardo Semler. He has an MIT video: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/308

which is an excellent introduction to his thinking or else his book:
http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workplace/dp/0446670553/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246037731&sr=8-1

is excellent as he actually practices what he preaches and runs a large company (@4,000).

Restructuring a company that is going from the entrepreneurial/creative/chaos phase into a growth/process phase is a difficult endeavor.

One of my companies is actually entering that tranformation. They are going from a 70 person/one office stable firm to one that will triple or quadruple in size in the next three years.

You may also want to check out Larry Grainer’s “Evolution and Revolution as Organizations Grow”.
http://ils.unc.edu/daniel/131/cco4/Greiner.pdf

His thesis is that as organizations grow, they go through long periods of evolution, where you expand the existing structures, and then period of revolution, where you destroy the previous structures and replace them with new structures which are necessary for the next phase of growth.

Great blog and I look forward to hearing about what you decide.