The five organizational systems
In the course of our research, we've
found five organizational systems that generate these myriad signals:
* CULTURE:
The behavioral patterns (habits and conventions) generally adopted
within the organization.
* STRUCTURE:
The definition of jobs and the reporting hierarchy (organization
chart), as well as the processes that combine people into teams as
workflows across organizational boundaries.
* INTERNAL ECONOMY:
The budgeting, priority-setting, pricing (chargebacks),
project-approval, and tracking processes that determine how
resources flow through an organization and to its clients.
* METHODS AND
TOOLS: The procedures, methodologies, skills, and tools that
people in an organization use.
* METRICS AND
REWARDS: The feedback loops that let people know how they are
doing so they can adjust their behavior, and the incentives for
improving performance.
By redesigning these five organizational
systems, leaders can permanently modify the behavior of an entire
organization.
Organizational systems are stable, influence everyone's
performance, and can be consciously designed.
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The process for planning a transformation
involves all five systems. It engages a leadership team in developing a
common vision of the end point, in assessing the gaps and analyzing
their root causes, and in planning the right changes, in the right
sequence, to attain their vision.
