November 11-12, the European Organisation Design Forum will hold its inaugural meeting in Frankfurt. The main purpose of the meeting will be to establish a community of organisation design practitioners (managers, internal and external consultants, … [Continue reading]
Balancing the hard and the soft elements: Podcast interview with Patricia Cichocki & Christine Irwin
Patricia Cichocki & Christine Irwin both started out as practitioners planning and implementing changes in large organizations and then returned to university to pursue further studies, and found that there was a wealth of tools and techniques … [Continue reading]
Why are there no laboratories in business schools?
When I was a doctoral student at Oxford University, I lived in a college together with graduate students in many other fields, including the natural sciences. After dinner one night, a chemistry student remarked that he would head over to the lab - … [Continue reading]
Why you should focus on roles rather than individuals in organization design (Part 3)
In my two last blog posts I discussed the difference between individuals and roles. I decided to focus on this issue as it in many ways is the foundation for organization design. This is particularly clear if you consult Elliot Jaques’ writings. … [Continue reading]
Why you should focus on roles rather than individuals when designing an organization (Part 2)
Separating individuals from the roles they hold is an important, but also difficult, and at times delicate challenge. Unfortunately, I have experienced that leaders – as most of us - routinely mix up the two, something which can have negative … [Continue reading]