Organizational Adaptation

Recent studies have led me into the topic of Organizational Design.  (I’ve capitalized it for emphasis; its frequency in management literature and business school curricula is irregular.)  The subject is intriguing because it offers agency, and, dare I say it, an element of agility is implied.

Most of us in the developed world are participants in some organizational structure that is relatively static.  Corporate, service sector, or governmental entities are generally hierarchical in nature.  They’ve been established that way for some years, and are expected to remain so.  This does not mean that internal re-organizations don’t occur.  (Indeed, some entities do that sort of energy – sucking activity with depressing regularity and to little actual gain.)

But the fundamental pyramid scale – relationship structure doesn’t change very often.  And when a paradigm – rattling, fresh, external influence comes along (new markets, technologies, threats, solutions, etc), well, all too often those are packed into (or tacked onto) a rectangle on the familiar line and block chart.

What if this weren’t so?  What if networks and communities, that became organizations, project teams, or legal entities because of some new dynamic, designed themselves consciously for agility and opportunity and adaptation to the as – yet - unclear stimuli?  And if such a readily - adaptive design were adopted WITHIN a much larger hierarchy, what would be the accommodations (or permissions) needed for optimized effectiveness?

I’m now searching for historical or current examples of this, and your suggestions are welcome.  I’d like to get a sense for how frequently this approach has been used, and what is known about its success rates.  Arguably, and unexpectedly, an Army in an extended campaign may have something to teach on the subject.  Changing “task organization” has been a feature of Western militaries’ practice since Napoleon.  In that setting, though, flexible organizational design has all too often failed.  Observations to draw lessons are likely to be useful.