Topsy Turvy World

Topsy Turvy World

We, like many organisations, are undergoing a massive reorganisation and potential 'downsizing'. As part of this, the 'pawns on the chess board' are being moved around once again, virtually, organisationally and physically.

April Rant

Packing crates are a sign of the times. For some it means an exit under voluntary severance, or worse still sometimes compulsory redundancy. For others it just means packing all your paraphanalia, moving it a few hundred metres and then unpacking it all again. Magically, we then all become more efficient worker bees and make new social and work alliances due to the new co-locations.

Organisational change and transformation is the main weapon of senior management in today's modern economy. Goals are rarely questioned, but 'the New Emperor's Clothes' springs readily to mind. We will do our best to make it all succeed, but organisational change and innovation is highly disruptive at times, the major risk being the loss of vast stores of collective organisational memory, tacit knowledge and highly skilled individuals. The sedimentary residue left behind is often not what you actually anticipated.

This is the new era of both Private and Public sector management. The jury is out whether it is a brave new world, will result in more efficient and effective processes and services or will ultimately result in the rise of hedonistic self-interests, where the only goal is personal survival. Team working and knowledge sharing, innovatory practices etc, are perhaps going to become a thing of the past; everybody will protect their own corners, fiefdoms and organisational territories. This is all in direct contradiction to everything you read in the Harvard Business review which is a fascinating puzzle.

Creativity and innovation ultimately requires providing more trust, freedom and autonomy. This particular ecology is negated by the principles of strict hierarchical management, neo-bureaucracies, and regimes of unforgiving KPIs. It is strange, and also a paradox, that the only environment to have been given those particular freedoms was the Corporate banking sector. They abused that power and privilege and brought the whole world economy to its knees. Now, everyone is not only picking up the economic consequences but also the organisational, social and societal ones as well.

Packing crates - a whole brave new world beckons...

Now should I start with a green, or an orange one....decisions, decisions...