Excerpts A Troubled President The Numbers Do Not Add Up Sleepless Nights Torn in Half! The Military Understands Already Beyond the Value Chain Aspirations and Opportunities Emboldening Customers and Strengthening Their Capabilities Boxes and Lines Distrust Bigger than the Boxes Rethinking the Model

Excerpts #1 of Chapter 3 Excerpts: Next | Previous Boxes and Lines "It's good advice, Frank," Carol says. "Perhaps we should take a little time to better understand how we've been influenced by industrial-era thinking. Frank, when you noted how hard it is for us to learn, communicate, and decide, it really struck home. That's so very true. So true that I was making some sketches for myself last evening. I sketched a very simple model of the hierarchy. Perhaps, Marjorie, you could create a figure with one box over two other boxes and label them 'A,' 'B,' and 'C.'" Carol has hardly finished when Marjorie has the figure on the flip chart. Carol continues, "As I've thought about this model, I've asked myself several questions. Let's explore them together. What are the strong relationships?" Wesley thinks for a minute, then says, "Between A and B, and A and C." All agree. Carol asks, "What is the weak relationship?" This time Gregory is ready. "I believe it's between B and C." "These are the conclusions I came to also," responds Carol. "Does this strike you as being strange?" Looks go back and forth; a couple of people grimace, trying to think of what Carol might be getting at. Alan responds, "No, it isn't strange; in fact it's the cornerstone of our entire system. A is responsible and rewarded to make sure B does what he or she is assigned to do. That's why we work so hard on carefully defining each job, and making sure the proper supervisory skills are in place. Also, A usually sets up a competitive environment so both B and C are striving for recognition." Marjorie thinks back to Frank's comment about how the company cannot learn, communicate, and decide. She looks at Alan, then the others, and says, "Alan, you're absolutely right; this is the way we usually think about these relationships, but now I see it in a new light. As I looked at the figure I asked myself, does B know C's capabilities? Does B care?" She continues, "The answer to both of these questions is typically 'no.' Does A help B understand C's skills and talents? Typically not. And why not? Because A wants to use C to check on B and vice versa. What happens? What happens when something comes up that takes the skills and capabilities of more than one box?" Vincent is beginning to catch the drift of Marjorie's remarks. "In those circumstances, things often fall through the white space between the boxes. If the challenge requires the combined talents of B and C then it often goes unmet, because A does not create that kind of collaborative relationship between B and C. As I think of it, these letters may be individual people, or they may be various functional departments, such as engineering and manufacturing. Even though we're working more closely with Wesley's engineers, I don't know how many times things have fallen between the cracks, and my people have to redline the engineering drawings to correct them." Carol reenters the discussion. "You're catching on to some of the things I was thinking about last evening. First, given the model of the three boxes, there isn't really a learning relationship between B and C, much less between B, C, and A. B is looking for the weaknesses and the screw-ups of C, and vice versa, not C's talents, which he or she can build off of. A encourages this type of behavior because, supposedly, a competitive approach brings out the best in them. They, in essence, are devaluing one another's capabilities through inattention." She continues, "Both B and C are very careful to control what A hears. They want to 'manage the news.' It isn't surprising that A is often ill-informed about what's going on in the organization. This model is not really designed to facilitate open communication either vertically or horizontally. And without a clear and honest picture of what's going on, decisions are hard to come by, or are not well informed. I know I'm probably overstating things, but by seeing these relationships stripped bare, we can better understand why Frank had the feelings he acted upon on Monday when he tore our organizational chart in half. Remember, Frank, you were frustrated because we are so slow to respond, and we don't have an organization that can easily learn, communicate, and decide." "That's remarkable," exclaims Vincent. "What we have, in essence, is an organization based on structured distrust and a culture of devaluing. Ouch!" "Run that by me again," says Gregory. Excerpts: Next | Previous