Old Fashioned Organisations versus Modern Organisations

There are two main types of organisations in the world. The first type is old fashioned organisation and the second is modern organisations. Old fashioned organisations used to be the in thing during their time and they were effective and productive. However, because the world has changed, old fashioned organisations are now an albatross to high organisational performance and sustainably outstanding results in the changed environment. Modern organisations, on the other hand, are more effective and more efficient because they align with the demands of the modern day state of affairs. Unwittingly and not by their own fault or willingness, many organisations are still old fashioned in their structure, context and how they deal with leadership and management. Here are the key properties of the old fashioned organisation;

1.      They have a hierarchical structure where they view leadership as being at the top of the structure and operatives as at the bottom and management and supervision being in the middle.

2.      Power is centralised at the top of this structure an all power is exercised at the top

3.      There is a very sharp division between “leaders” and “managers.”

4.      They reward positions and not people according to their results

5.      The structure is rigid and never changes regardless of changes in the situations.

6.      There is one over dominating person called “leader” at the top who makes unilateral decisions

7.      Uses old fashioned performance management approaches and models including recruitment models

8.      Obsession with the tactical; reactive in their nature

9.      Bureaucratic in form and modus operandi

10.  They hang on to the old fashioned titles, theories and ideas

11.  They remain obsessed with activity-based performance management

12.  They are masters at preserving the status-quo; they resist change

Most of these old fashioned organisations are filled with highly competent people, but they do not produce their best possible performance and results because of the context and the environment in which they work. For example, they cannot make decisions that they are supposed to make because they need “permission from the top.” The top leader uses positional power instead of competence to make decisions and leads by command all the time even when the situation requires a different approach. In fact, this concept that leadership resides at the top is mistaken but remains the status quo in old fashioned organisation.

In these old fashioned organisations, they reward positions and not results and many people are easily rewarded for mediocrity as long as they managed to ascend to the position. Rigid remuneration schemes discourage high performers who bring results but do not occupy top positions.

Modern organisations have the characteristics and properties that are opposite from those of old fashioned organisations;

1.      They do not emphasise the positional hierarchy but the strategic hierarchy; they have structures different from the traditional pyramid structure

2.      Power is distributed within the organisation.

3.      They know that in reality the so called leaders must also manage and the so called managers must also lead. What differs is the content and context of leadership and management.

4.      Their reward structures is results based and they do not care if some at the top are paid less than some at the bottom if those at the bottom are higher achievers and higher producers than those at the top.

5.      Organisational structures are dynamic and are changed in light with strategy and situational demands.

6.      They have many leaders and not one big man or one bid woman

7.      They challenge the status quo and do not use old fashioned performance management models that are not effective or that do not make any sense at all.

8.      They are very strategic because the modern environment requires a very strategic approach.

9.      They have rid of bureaucracy and fight it tooth and nail

10.  They manage results and not just activity-based performance

11.  They discard any old fashioned, titles, ideas, theories and models that have expired or are superseded by more effective or more efficient ones.

12.  They vigorously question everything they know and seek breakthroughs all the time. They are always evolving to a higher order.

The question is where does your organisation belong?

[email protected]   +263-77444-74-38

?Simon Bere, 2022