Some musings about Organisations

This is a bit of a long read so make yourself comfortable (I hope you think it is worth it). This forms the basis of a white paper that I am writing about the hierarchy of functions in an organisation.

"A network of organisms operating inside organisations"

Overview:

I have been running my consultancy for over 10 years helping businesses grow and adapt to the changing technology environment within the print and media sectors. This outline white paper has come about over the last couple of years as the result of fine tuning what I do and experiencing how individuals impact on the success of a business.

Background

For many years I have been going into businesses explaining my approach to an organisation.?I call it my 6 principals. Here are 4 slides that explain how these principals came about.

I met a really great guy named Paul Kearney he was working for the Inspired Leaders Network at the time. He had just left the military, in our discussions I had explained what I do and he explained how the military do a similar thing.

Paul introduced me to the NATO 6 functions in warfighting.?During the conversation it occurred to me that this was a really useful framework for looking at a business. After all we have been fighting wars far longer than we have been managing organisations

The processes that I looked at within an organisation aligned very closely with these 6 Functions (with a little poetic licence).

Protection in military aligned to looking after resources within the organisation such as equipment, people and products.

Logistics – I added Experience and logistics to explain the importance of defining what you promise and how you deliver those promises.

Firepower was harder to align in business but I had been using efficiency?as a metric in business and so I decided that – it could cover "using the right tool at the appropriate time to cause the desired impact"as well as the overall competitiveness of the business aligned . The other functions were obvious alignments.

So I created this structure which has worked extremely well when reviewing a business and organisation. To read more about this go to my website: www.pr-int.net.

Over time I have also been mentoring several individuals and I started adapting this framework to look at an individual and BOOM, I had a moment of insight which has inspired this white paper.

The principal of Organisms inside Organisations was started.

This is only an outline of the thought process behind the theory but I am putting it out there to see if it is useful framework to not only look at an organisation but to asses staff, customers, projects, departments, supply chains and many more aspects of business.

White Paper

Using "Orgs" as a concept for understanding organisations and organisms. Using the 6 common principals (above) that help leaders and business owners to empower people and understand the environment that they serve.

The basics:

The individual

We are all what I will call “Orgs", organisms operating within a network of organisations, traditionally that has been represented as a hierarchy and made up of organisation charts in business and on a personal level by family tree’s. In reality life in the real world is much more organic than these diagrams represent.

Individuals are part of social networks, family networks, common interest networks, virtual networks and business networks, we are connected in so many ways in modern times as technology advances the speed of connection is accelerating these networks are changing constantly.

What we must not forget is that we are individuals, we are organisms, we act and react like all organisms, and if we are to organise these organisms we need a structure that is much more adaptable than the traditional hierarchy model that many organisations use today we must also consider that external influences also affect the organisation.

This paper is the start of a system for understanding organisms (individuals) and how they operate inside organisations and within a complex network of many organisations. (communities)

The Theory: On a simple level

This theory is based on the principal that all orgs (organisms and organisations) have 6 common elements that affect how they function, In order to explain I would like you to consider the simplest organism, an amoeba.

At the basic level the amoeba has 6 elements similar to my 6 principals or functions that make it what it is and these 6 elements are common to all organisms.

Note: In business we use the terms : leadership, Intelligence, Resources, Logistics (execution), Efficiency and Strategy. In individuals we use more appropriate terms: Essence, Knowledge, Needs, Evaluations, Actions and Competitive advantage.

Essence

All organisms have an essence, a function. The amoeba is an amoeba; it has distinct characteristics that makes it what it is. It has a function, and purpose. I have called this the Essence of the Org.

(Note: I have no idea what the function of an amoeba may be, but I am sure it has one)

Knowledge

Although within higher organisms knowledge is more obvious, amoebas have a very basic knowledge and an understanding of its environment. With cell receptors they can sense heat and cold and can adjust their behaviour accordingly. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say it was learning as we know it but it has the basic concept knowledge / experience as in what has been successful, with the help of DNA and Evolution.

Needs

All organisms have needs: food, energy, to reproduce, they seek security and the amoeba is no exception and as we go up the organism complexity scale we will see these needs becoming more complex

Evaluation

All orgs have a survival strategy, they take advantage of opportunities, they adapt their behaviour based on their knowledge of the environment, and the amoeba is no different. Although an amoeba doesn't have judgement its basic behaviour gives it a strategy for survival. Amoebas can anticipate apparently, but only at a very basic level.

Actions

Amoebas do things they act and interact with their environment, they avoid predators and seek other amoebas. They behave like an amoeba. They eat, reproduce and do all the things amoebas do, their interactions are mostly chemical and behavioural but they "do" things.

Compete

Natural selection rules at every level, the successful survive and reproduce the unsuccessful die and do not pass on their genetic information. All organisms must compete against the environment and with other organisms. It is worth pointing out that communities of successful organisms grow and continue to grow. This represents species success.

The same theory but in more complex Orgs

As we increase organism complexity we start to see cellular specialism. These are generally called Organs (another Org) Organs are groups of specialised cells that fulfil a specific function. They generally cannot survive on their own they rely on the success of the entire organism for their success.

But they do still have the same 6 elements – Lets use muscle cells as an example:

Muscle’s 6 Elements

Essence

Muscles have a much clearer identity than an amoeba, they are muscle cells, a collection of specialist cells working together toward a common function. Their essence is that they are “Muscle” a clear function and purpose they know what they are and what they need to do.

Knowledge

Muscles have an element of knowledge, they know rules – i.e. pull now, relax etc they have developed specialism that is specific to their function. DNA has created information and knowledge of how to be muscle.

Needs

They have needs, they depend on the rest of the organism to provide energy, blood, warmth, because they are now so specialist they cannot do that themselves. They are connected to other organs and they use the organisms (orgs) resources in order to deliver their function.

Evaluation

Evolution and adaptation is the evaluation force at work here. Muscle cells are highly adapted, the org has a reason for their adaptation and this adaptation forms part of its overall strategy. Independent organs working together, muscle development forms part of the organisms overall survival strategy.

Action

Muscle cells do things they act and interact with all the other organs in the body, the brain, the blood system, they participate as part of a bigger network of orgs. They communicate with other organs and understand their need to carry out their function effectively and fulfil the needs of the org consistently. Their effectiveness is based on the ability to deliver.

Competition

Finally, they are competitive and need to be efficient, if they are too inefficient they will deprive the rest of the organism of precious resources and affect its competitive capability. The muscle cells survival is reliant on the overall Org’s competitiveness.

I hope that by now you are starting to see the common elements and the connection between these common elements.

And so to the human 6 Elements

Humans however, are not single celled organisms or organs – We are individuals, we are a very complex network of Orgs, that make us who we are.

As the Orgs get more complex and so do the 6 elements, but the principals are fundamentally the same:

Here is an example of the 6 elements from a human perspective. you will see some of the words that can be used to describe the 6 elements.

Humans have an Essence:

Within ourselves we have an Identity, we have beliefs and values. We also have a purpose and function, Mother, Father, Provider, Home maker, Husband etc. Our essence is affected by all kinds of things our culture, our experiences and our vision of what we want to be. That is why we are all fundamentally different; the only person that understands all of our essence is ourselves, because we can be different things to different people.

Humans have knowledge:

Formed from our ability to learn – we have a cognitive function. We have learnt things and we often pass on that learning to others through teaching.

We understand rules and the consequences of breaking them. We use what we have learnt to form a construct of our environment a rationalisation of our experiences and a perception of the environment that we are part of. I call it a construct because it is not necessarily always fact; indeed, quite often our perception of something is not based on fact. Individuals often may have a completely different perception of the same fact.?

(illustrated well by the HSBC ads ?)

Our knowledge and ability to learn and teach has made humans the most successful complex organism.

Humans have needs:

We have needs and we use resources to fulfil those needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs demonstrates very well how needs and motivations are often shifting, based on the different levels of needs that are satisfied.

An additional area within needs that I have included is the concept of resources, or constraints (representing the lack of resources). In modern living we use resources to fulfil our needs – phones to communicate, houses for security, money to purchase food etc. but the concept of protecting these resources and in some cases constraining these resources (budgeting and rationing) based on environmental conditions is not usually associated with needs.

In this way of thinking, resource building and creation protects the ongoing fulfilment of needs for the individual.

Humans Evaluate

We all have a plan. Unlike basic organisms and organs our cognitive capability brings the element of evaluation into its own. As individuals, we form strategies for success, strategies to for work, for relationships, for getting on in the world, part of this requires; the evaluation of the environment, the assessment of risk, forming hypothesis, testing them and making a judgement. Our ability to evaluate our surroundings and situations is also what has made humans so successful.

Humans Act

Actions are what we do and what we say. How we interact with others and how others judge us.?All our relationships with others are a result of our actions.

People’s perceptions of us are formed by how we communicate and what we promise and if we deliver on these promises. Most interactions are a trade – “if you do this then I will do that”, this trading and interaction creates an image within their “knowledge element” of where they place us for good or bad, trusted or untrustworthy” etc.

?If we are inconsistent with our actions or don't interact in the appropriate way, others form opinions of us (accurate or not) which is often described as reputation.?Our choice of vocabulary, gestures, NVC (non verbal communication) and attitude all falls within this element.

Humans Compete

Finally we are still subject natural selection no matter how advanced or sophisticated we think we are, we compete for partners/ lovers, we compete for jobs, we compete for fun (sports) – our needs and our essence are all formed by our ability to be competitive. Our motivation, drive and our desire to innovate all affect our competitive capability. The result of being competitive fulfils our needs and enables growth.

All 6 elements make us what we are - an Organisation of Organs and Organisms – Our Essence, Our Knowledge, Our Needs, Our Strategy, Our Actions and Our drive.

But how does this help us to run a business?

There are a number of cases of nature repeating itself in business, Albert Einstein said “look deep into nature and you will understand everything better”

The relationship between Cells, Organs, Organisms that I have just described can be repeated in business. Businesses have an organic structure individuals are the fundamental building blocks of a business in the same way as cells are the fundamental building blocks of an organism.

Collections of individuals form teams these teams form departments and collections of departments form organisations.

Like the cellular hierarchy organisations also have the same 6 elements that are?common to all organisms and organisations.

Businesses are organisations that are made up of individuals and so we see the elements that are important for individuals also being important for businesses.?Businesses trade with individuals, be that staff, customers or shareholders they also have the same 6 elements.

These 6 key elements can help us structure and lead our businesses.

There are many management and strategic papers that have 6 key similar elements within them, military strategy has 6 functions in warfighting, Weisbord has his six box model, both are representing how organisations function, but these were either top down principals or restricted to the organisation.

This model differs because it recognises that we work within networks of networks and is much more organic in its approach.

Business essence:

Is formed by the leadership of the organisation, what it does, its values, it's culture.?What is the business? Where is it going and what does it aspire to be. The leadership, vision and culture forms the essence of the organisation.

Business Knowledge:

?Is formed not only from the sum of the individuals knowledge within the business, but also what systems processes and knowledge the company creates in its own right. The organisation establishes how it encourages teaching and learning how this knowledge is shared between individuals, teams and departments.

Business intelligence – what the organisation knows about the environment in which it operates. In modern times knowledge is not just the ability to recall facts but knowledge is also understanding the location of information for easy recall, elements such as Wikipedia, Google, Twitter, CRM, MIS, Sharepoint all are today locations of information for many businesses.

Businesses have needs:

They use resources (tools) to fulfil those needs. Needs of a business differ but some are obvious: Revenue and income, staff, products and services (to trade), tools & machinery.

By way of example I have drafted an example of a businesses hierarchy of needs that is structured in the way Maslow described it

When we consider our business as an organisation its needs can be structured in a similar way.

We must not forget that resources can be limited and countering needs are constraints, businesses can be constrained by – not enough cash, time, resources (staff, equipment, space, etc) so resource planning becomes a necessary part of needs analysis.

Business Evaluation:

Is an area that many businesses overlook, to some organisations this is “strategy” but strategy is a little top down – it is something that the “management” dictate to the staff, strategy is certainly an important part of this area.

Evaluation is a little more organic and it is ensuring that there is an environment for hypothesis to be made, tested and then if required acted upon. Considerations such as planning, risk, priority and timing are all part of the business evaluation process.

How the organisation uses the knowledge that it has gathered, about the markets it serves, then prioritising based on the available resources and time/opportunity that present themselves.

Business Actions:

This is what the organisation does and how it communicates. The business communicates based on its essence, it makes promises to its customers, it offers solutions to its community (customer base) and interacts within a sector. Its language, actions and performance results in other organisation’s opinions of that business.

We call it reputation. Consistent communication builds trust and reputation in the customers around us. If we fail to deliver (our actions do not live up to our promises) then our reputation and customers image of us is lowered.

Consistency of action to the organisation’s essence, intelligence and strategy will build stronger bonds to the business.

Business Competition:

Businesses need to be competitive the drive for survival/ growth etc is obvious. In order to be competitive each of the orgs (teams/ departments) within the organisation need to have drive and motivation. They need to be effective.

Like with organs within the body if one Organ is ineffective it drains the reserves of the entire organism and everything is weakened. In business we talk about OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) but I would like to discuss overall org effectiveness. Be that Individuals, teams, departments or the entire organisation. They are all orgs and need to be effective, competitive and motivated to business survival and business fulfilling its function or essence.

The picture above illustrates the third construct to this theory Orgs are like fractals, a repeating pattern as you zoom in or out the pattern repeats.

The headline of this white paper is we are organisms inside organisations and like the Cell, Organ, Organism, hierarchy the same can be applied to business Orgs

Individuals, teams, departments, companies, divisions, enterprises are a similar hierarchy and each stage of the hierarchy have the same common 6 elements that they need.?(essence, knowledge, needs, evaluation, action and competition)

Teams are a mini organisation, as are departments, companies, divisions and enterprises.

At the core of this are Individuals acting and interacting in an organic way.

If we consider the 6 elements for each Org we have a system for creating an environment where Orgs can thrive !

At the end of the day that is the fundamental role of the business owner and shareholders. To create an environment that helps Orgs thrive and survive.

The more that orgs interact the more connected they become like pathways in the brain, one connection that is infrequent and inconsistent does not create a pathway. Regular consistent connections create pathways and habitual behaviour.

The same applies to organisations the more connections and the more connections that span all the 6 elements the more interconnected and aligned the orgs become. They can react and interact much more effectively if hey have aligned on multiple elements.

If orgs have a common essence, values and beliefs they connect, if they share and exchange knowledge, they connect, if they fulfil each other’s needs they connect. If they Liaise and evaluate together they connect, if their actions and promises are fulfilled they connect and if they work together to become more competitive they connect.

The more connections, the more they become an Org (community) in their own right - Acting and interacting spontaneously. That is how organisations become competitive and grow, the ability to connect on all six levels so that they function effectively.

Organisations that have achieved this, like apple, become dominant and expand disproportionately.

Apple has a clear essence, it had beliefs and values, it collaborated and shared information within its organisation, it gathered huge amounts of intelligence about the markets it wished to serve, it understood the needs of its customers and its staff.?Ideas and hypothesis were encouraged these were market tested even though some failed.

Anyone remember the Apple Newton

However the lessons learned here I am sure became the core of the iphone.

Apple continued with its adaptation and evolution of the business. It was consistent in its belief that design and quality was paramount. All its products had common essence; its actions and communication of these values were absolutely consistent. As a result Apple grew.

Apple demonstrates the need for an organisation to be so aligned in all 6 elements so that it can react and interact at the speed that modern business and markets require.

Agility is only possible if all the elements are aligned and the orgs understand how to interact effectively.

A higher dimension

Finally the model does not stop at the organisation level.

Businesses are orgs (organisations) we have already established that your customers are Orgs – either individual Orgs (consumers) or Organisational Orgs (other businesses)

Until now we have been looking inside the organisation, but Orgs interact within a network of other orgs.?

Our networks expand outside the organisation and the individual; we interact within communities be that industry sectors, interest groups, social communities, and geographic communities all operating with similar organisational structures and with individuals within them.

The world is a network of Orgs, A network of organisms formed into organisations. Orgs within orgs.

These interconnections are complex even at a personal level let alone at an organisational level .?

For example I am an org and I have business connections, I also have social connections, I have special interest connections (I like old bikes and cars), I have family connections and community links.?

Each community

Is like an Org they have the 6 Elements:?They have a essence – we are all interested in the same thing, or are related, there is a common knowledge and perspective on the outside world, each community has needs and resources,?it has reason, actions and is competitive.

(I think you get the point)

The same applies to business – Organisations interact with other organisations and are connected, by individuals, communities - it is not a straight up and down hierarchy.

Customers are Orgs and they too have their own communities, (market sectors, trade associations,) but within them are orgs (teams and individuals) that are also interacting within their own communities

Suppliers are the same – they are Orgs

Application:

We can use this principal to look at our customers, or prospects even our products to consider the 6 elements to help us to be more aligned. The more aligned we become the more likely that they will become better connected.

Consider the customer or prospect – who could be an Individual Org (consumer), A team Org (marketing team), A Business Org (retailer).

What is their Essence? Their beliefs, principals, identity and function.

Are you aligned with it? Are they Budget or Luxury? Is the environment important to them?Are they ethical??-?Aligning with their essence opens them to you.

What is their knowledge base, are they a skilled buyer? Are they Ignorant of what you can offer? Can you teach them something that helps them become more competitive? How can you share your knowledge and learn from them?

What are their needs? – If they are already a customer? If so you may have fulfilled some of their needs already, If we only fulfil the basic needs we are generally a commodity and in today’s market customers buying commodities are very promiscuous. How can we fulfil their higher needs??Goodwill, loyalty, feeling good about themselves?

Our customers are constantly evaluating us and our performance, by offering appropriate products at the right time reducing risk for them and anticipating their needs is key to a good business strategy.

Does your customer/ prospect have a specific language (market specific).

What you do and say will be how you are judged.

How do you use your interactions to demonstrate the knowledge that you have of their requirements?

What promises do you make and how do you ensure that these promises are fulfilled.

How do you make sure your message is consistent and you are presenting your Essence (identity, image, performance, culture) in the most appropriate way.

Finally our customers are also competing and by helping them to be more competitive in their own environments will form strong connections.?Consumers are motivated to look good and feel good in their communities, businesses are seeking to react to their market place faster than their competition, they search competitive advantage. These can be arranged into: social, economic, technological, regulatory or market competitiveness.

By assessing customers in this way the connections increase – the more connections within the network the better the Org performs.

Once you have had a success aligning yourself with a particular type of Org the chances are that within their networks are other orgs that have similar requirements.

Using their network to identify other Orgs that have similar essence, needs, knowledge etc will give maximum opportunity of success.

This is where social and business networking becomes effective – once you have found the Orgs that your business has within it and then aligning them with other Orgs, using networks to identify similar organisations or individuals that can start the connection process.

WE ARE A NETORK OF ORGANISMS INTERACTING INSIDE A COMPLEX NETWORK OF ORGANISATIONS.

Copyright: Print Research International

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