Abstraction and Disruption

I spent some time today walking through a narrative of my work over time: it’s a rambling pathway that sometimes points in one direction, before being distracted into another. Currently i’m particularly interested in notions of collective capability, ‘togetherness’ and ‘otherness’, and the broader forces that act upon our leadership at the intersection of systems. Across all these things is a notion of interconnection. Connection beyond systems.

Some of the structure and conception of our organisations has been disrupted by both the forces of the Social Age and, in parallel, our evolved social connection. Other aspects have been abstracted: with context evolved or removed, or simply holding less value than before.

We often see Organisations expending considerable effort for not much tangible effect, and may come to believe that it’s because systems are hard to change, whilst in reality it may be simply that we are operating in the wrong dimension.

An interconnected Organisation is connected not simply within a formal system, but between the strata, and through different types of power. It trades in multiple currencies, and avoids overly codifying structure. It is, in some ways, perpetually out of focus.