Is it Just Me? Exploring Dilemmas and Choices in Organizational Design
Presentation by Fiddy Abraham, Principal Researcher / Consultant (TIHR) to the European Organizational Design Forum Meeting Vienna 2013: Designing Thriving Organizations: Resilience, Partnership, Enablement
Organiza<onal Design Frances Abraham The Tavistock Ins<tute of Human Rela<ons 1 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al
design to increase resilience • Three cases: – The same brief but surprises and challenges – Varia<on in organiza<onal design approaches • This presenta<on as a prompt to collabora<ve enquiry with par<cipants 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 2
Have you experienced <mes when your preferred organiza<onal design approach ran into unexpected difficul<es? • What other design approaches could have been used effec<vely in each of the cases presented? • What do you do when you encounter surprises which make you want to revise your approach? 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 3
actors from across ver<cal and agency boundaries, involving consultants as collaborators, process consultants and experts • Data collec<on through individual interview and at naturalis<c partnership se_ngs to iden<fy range of issues, both overt and hidden • Events at whole system as well as sub-‐system levels, sponsored by Steering Group members and their agencies, to: • develop authorisa<on of decisionmaking on structures (task/ role, membership etc) • Develop conversa<onal rou<nes which can challenge power dynamics as well as support change 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 5
• Three cases of inter-‐organiza<onal collabora<on for UK local government together with other local agencies • Common across all: developing greater resilience in the face of shared challenges (young people into work, social cohesion, climate change) 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 6
for local government through more requirements from central governments • Na<onal performance requirements for local forms of na<onal organiza<ons (eg NHS, Post-‐16 Educa<on) • Central government requirement for interorganiza<onal forms • Poli<cal contest na<onally and locally • Dynamics of compe<<on and blame, differen<als of power and influence 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 7
The stakeholders: • local government, local health services, NGOs, police, (regional + central/na<onal government, business) • local ci<zens who want more ‘joined-‐up’ and improved services at reasonable cost • local ac<vists who want to par<cipate in shaping local services • Partner organisa<ons assessed on delivery • Staff and managers need to make sense of their respec<ve roles, tasks and interdependencies 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 8
design for progression/consult to regression • Agreed steps in making progress towards agreed objec<ves with shared inten<ons • Steering Group of authorised representa<ves of a cross-‐sec<on of the relevant organiza<ons • Engaging with those engaged in exis<ng inter-‐ organiza<onal structures to iden<fy problems, assess needs, scope out alterna<ves, • Whole system (large group) ra<fica<on/ elabora<on 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 9
primary task/role of different structures and consequently membership • Linking thinking (strategy) to doing (delivery and implementa<on (rather than previous parallel systems) • Improvements to condi<ons for delivery performance, eg relevant actors all present, more issues addressed eg environment, previously absent, included • More informal dialogue reported across agencies before and aler mee<ngs for prac<cal problem-‐solving • More commitment and sensemaking of individual roles in cross-‐boundary work 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 10
• Many similari<es to Case One but • Lack of agreement about inter-‐organiza<onal aims and inten<ons • Highly poli<cised inter organiza<onal culture, with tensions near the surface • Backbi<ng and point-‐scoring • Lack of authorisa<on of representa<ves of sectors and agencies 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 11
• Single loop: Are we doing what we intended and agreed? Are they? • Double loop: Is this the right approach? Would something else work bener? • Lewin’s rules: dynamic approach; field theory; contemporaneity; construc<ve method (Neuman @ www.tavins<tute.org) • What’s the best approach for this case? 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 12
• Re-‐conceptualising the engagements with actors in Case 2 differently from Case 1, aler encountering the difficul<es there • Task more about communica(ve ac(on so • Focus on discursive prac(ces • Encouraging conversa(onal enquiry approaches to ac<on within cons<tuent agencies or sectors • Offering support for authorising processes 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 13
built on shared values amongst stakeholders in face of common concerns (especially young people) • More honest but less abrasive communica<ve styles between sectors and hierarchical levels • Some cataly<c shared ac<ons • A final whole systems event workshopped the outline architecture for inter-‐organiza<onal form 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 14
small authority without resources for the required inter-‐organiza<onal form • The same number of actors and agencies engaged over alloca<on of <ny resources • Reconceptualised task as suppor<ng ins<tu<onal pressures to isomorphism • Need to improvise to work out the fit • Engaging with those prepared to commit, not those along for the ride 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 15
worked on for joint delivery performance • New alliances made with neighbouring areas, with similar resources, focussing on developing shared values • Less going through the mo<ons without linkages to opera<ons 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 16
A Theory of Ac(on Perspec(ve. Boston, Mass: Addison Wesley Jurgen Habermas, tr. Thomas A McCarthy (1981) Theory of Communica(ve Prac(ce. Boston, Mass: Beacon Press Jean Neumann, J. ‘Lewinian Principles for Scholarly Prac<ce’ at www.tavins<tute.org W.Richard Scon, John W. Meyer & Associates (1994) Ins(tu(onal Environments and Organiza(ons: Structural Complexity and Individualism. London: SAGE Patricia Shaw (2002) Changing Conversa(ons in Organiza(ons: A Complexity Approach to Change. London: Routledge Eric Trist ‘Referent Organiza<ons and the Development of Inter-‐ Organiza<onal Domains’ in Trist, Emery, and Murray (1997) The Social Engagement of Social Science: A Tavistock Anthology, Volume 111: The Ecological Perspec(ve. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press 28/04/2014 Crea<ng a connected community, exploring inspira<onal perspec<ves to release organisa<onal poten<al 17
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