“Non-Places” in companies

According to Marc Augè “Non-places are interchangeable spaces where the human being remains anonymous.” Marc Augè was a French anthropologist, ethnologist, writer and philosopher, known worldwide for having introduced the neologism “non-place” to identify all those spaces that have the prerogative of not being identity-based, relational and historical.

Marc allows us to identify in our imagination those multi-use spaces, frenetically frequented by people in complete anonymity, such as shopping centers, airports, bus stops, hospitals or supermarkets. Once these “non-places” are visualized, through our imagination we can begin to observe an endless number of non-places that we continually frequent.

Non-places are spaces that, analogous to shooting stars in the sky, exist for the observer for a certain period of time, and disappear, without having left a trace in their memory, which often makes us feel that we have lost the time, unless we have been able to relate that shooting star to a feeling that gives it a reason to exist and to remain in our memories making a wish, sharing the moment with a friend, or with a partner.

The question that arises for me now is: Are companies also “non-places”? Do “non-places” exist within companies? Can Digital Transformation contribute in some way to turning “non-places” into “places”? And if the answer is yes, then: How?

Are companies “non-places”?

We define the word business, or “business”, as an abstract and intangible concept that allows a company or organization to move from an initial and current state “A” to a final and future state “B”, and that traces the roadmap to align all processes (C) that are between A and B.

Specifically, when we talked about Motus animis continuus we were talking about the purpose that as a life drive allows the movement towards excellence. A purpose is much more than establishing a north, an objective, a goal. A purpose begins with the conscious acceptance of being in a situational state A, continues with the visualization of everything that must be done, and the paths that must be followed, in order to finally find ourselves in a state B, in a certain time and place, in the future.

In an organization, what differentiates good management from bad management is the leader's ability to build the purpose and make every structure incorporate it as if it were its own purpose, thus, as a sum of the parts, that is, as a everything, the organization efficiently reaches state B. So, we can visualize that if a person in the organization, who carries out a certain activity of that framework of processes (C), which in Management we call “Operations”, does not incorporate the purpose as their own, then that person would live in the company as in a “non-place”, without a sense of identity, history or belonging.

Similarly, if the leader of the organization cannot see the “non-places” of his structure, he will never be able to obtain maximum performance efficiency in his operations, and here the greatest problem: all those intangible processes, all Those workflows that live only in the collective unconscious of their work teams, and that the company leader has not materialized or visualized, are sources of inefficiency that are lost in the “non-places” of the company, silently attacking, and continuously, against the correct execution of its strategy (A-B).

Do “non-places” exist in companies?

Companies, seen as groups of people organized behind a vision, as a social construction, have their places and non-places in their structures. An organization without even a “non-place” is one of those companies dreamed of by any C.E.O., a company where people are part of a community united by a strong sense of belonging, and committed to its purpose.

On the other hand, a company full of “non-places” is a company where orchestration is not possible, where each of the people who make it up cannot act in synergy with their colleagues, i would say the worst nightmare of a C.E.O.

So, we clearly see here the difference between a leader and a C.E.O. A C.E.O. and a leader is the one who manages to visualize in his imagination all the spaces that make up the organization he leads, both its places and its “non-places”, and it is the “non-places” that are the focus of continuous improvement.

A company that is not located in any of the opposite poles, that is, that has both places and “non-places” is what we can know as the average company that we are used to seeing, and where we usually live our work days.

Now, a company in 2023 is made up of three components: people, machines and software, and within this symbiosis between the three components these “non-places” live. Since people management is always the center of attention of a leader, it is easier to visualize the “non-places” if we focus on the processes, on the work flows, since that is where the symptoms that make this evident are found. that ends up being intimate in people (their feelings, emotions, their life drive, their motivation).

If a C.E.O. manage to materialize, that is, make tangible, all the processes of your company, then you manage to measure, and through data you can begin to see the symptoms more evidently and identify them. Thus, being the C.E.O. aware of the map of all the interwoven processes that define the actions of its structure, it manages to “see” the “non-places” where its work teams live, clearly identify them, and finally lead the change, that is, transform the “non-places”. places” in places.

Can Digital Transformation contribute to turning “non-places” into “places”?

A C.E.O. has two main tasks: Manage and Lead. To carry out these two great tasks, both technical skills and intuitive skills are needed, and depending on the size of the operations that must be carried out, considering both internal and external operations, managing requires clearly visualizing the “#BigPicture”. That is, having a 360-degree panoramic view of the business, and this, the vast majority of the time, is impossible to achieve if intuition is not used.

The inspiration process for a C.E.O. consists of receiving information from different sources, processing those that are possible to process rationally, and then abstracting from logical thinking to visualize the information in its entirety through the perception of feelings, in order to finally relate it to the purpose of the organization. and make one or more decisions.

Digital Transformation, as its definition says, on the one hand it is about a process, a transition, a “Transformation”, and on the other hand, it is about “Digitizing”. But why do we digitize? The reasons are several, but fundamentally the idea of digitizing is that of mathematically modeling the world in order to measure it, manage it, and improve it.

We digitize paper through software, or we digitize the operation of all the areas that make up a company with ERP software, we digitize our walks around the city with Google Maps, we digitize books, music, and countless others. of practical cases that we incorporate into our routines, but which are nothing more than process modeling through the digital technology currently available.

Now, the main advantage of digitizing is that it allows both the material and the immaterial to be made tangible. Digitizing the workflows and processes of an organization, with software like the BPMS, allows the CEO. tangibly observe the entire network of processes that define the company, that is, it allows it to inspire its decisions on concrete information extracted from the interaction between people, machines and software that make up the structure it leads, and in this way , allows you to clearly visualize the symptoms that will allow you to identify all those “non-places” that exist in the organization.

The “non-places” in companies can be perceived on the skin, but if they cannot be identified, they cannot be managed, much less lead. Digital Transformation, as another small transition on our evolutionary path, has more than one positive way of being seen; It is up to us, today's leaders, to know how to use them to build a better world, a better place, a place.

As the French philosopher Marc Augè said: “Being contemporary means putting emphasis on what, in the present, describes something about the future.”

Mr. Outheway, The Poet.

Franco Bogliolo.

Fundador y C.E.O. de Free Consulting Group.

Freedom to create. Innovation for a better world.