building self managed teams: object oriented organizations
TRANSCRIPT
WE (HUMANS) ARE AT THE PEAK OF OUR CIVILIZATION IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL COOPERATION AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
THE GWP (GROSS WORLD PRODUCT) IS AT ITS HIGHEST AND GROWING THE FASTEST IN RECORDED HISTORYSOURCE: HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/GROSS_WORLD_PRODUCT
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IS QUICKLY ADOPTED AND MAKES THE WORLD SMALLER AND MORE EFFECTIVE. THERE ARE NOW ALMOST 7 BILLION MOBILE CONNECTIONS AND OVER 3 BILLION INTERNET USERS.
THIS SMALLER AND BETTER WORLD WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY MANY THINGS. BUT ONE STANDS OUT, THOUGH NOT CLAIMING THE SPOTLIGHT.
IT’S MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY AND KNOW-HOW.
WE’VE BUILT A MORE PRODUCTIVE, MORE CONNECTED WORLD BECAUSE WE’VE BUILT
BIGGER AND BETTER ORGANIZATIONS
AS THE MILITARY HAS BEEN THE SINGLE MOST ENDURING FORM OF HUMAN ORGANIZATION THROUGHOUT HISTORY (SECONDED ONLY BY RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS), IT SEEMED LOGICAL TO APPROACH ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT BASED ON MARTIAL MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES.
THE LARGEST ORGANIZATIONS ARE ORGANIZED AND BEHAVE JUST LIKE ARMIES. TOP DOWN COMMAND WITH INTEL GOING UPSTREAM AND ORDERS GOING DOWNSTREAM. THE MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES “CONQUER” MARKETS, “TARGET” CUSTOMERS AND “SECURE” MARKET SHARE.
AS COMPANIES NEED EFFECTIVENESS TO STAY PROFITABLE, STRATEGY IS DESIGNED BY A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE (THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS) AND IMPLEMENTED TOP-DOWN BY AN EXECUTIVE STAFF.
TO DO SO – THE EXECUTIVE STAFF USES COMPANY PROCESS DESIGN AND PROCEDURES THAT ARE FOLLOWED BY THOSE LOWER ON THE HIERARCHY.
BASICALLY, THAT’S HOW LARGE ORGANIZATIONS
WORK TODAY:
THE PROBLEM: THIS STRUCTURE IS NOT WORKING ANYMORE.
WE SEE THE EFFECTS IN GLOBAL DEBT, WORKING CONDITIONS AND INEQUITY.
US FEDERAL DEBT 1965 -2010
HTTP://WWW.IMF.ORG/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/FANDD/2011/03/PDF/PICTURE.PDF
BAD BOSSES
HTTP://WWW.INC.COM/MAEGHAN-OUIMET/REAL-COST-BAD-BOSSES.HTML
INEQUALITY
HTTP://WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM/BUSINESS/ARCHIVE/2012/12/A-GIANT-STATISTICAL-ROUND-UP-OF-THE-INCOME-INEQUALITY-CRISIS-IN-16-CHARTS/266074/
INEQUALITY
HTTP://WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM/BUSINESS/ARCHIVE/2012/12/A-GIANT-STATISTICAL-ROUND-UP-OF-THE-INCOME-INEQUALITY-CRISIS-IN-16-CHARTS/266074/
SO LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT: EVEN THOUGH WE ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN EVER, WE, AS A
SPECIES, ARE ALSO:
- MORE INDEBTED- LESS HAPPY WITH OUR WORK
- EARN LESS THAN EVER
WE HAVE OUTGROWN OUR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
IN A WORLD WHERE ORGANIZATIONS GROW BIGGER AND REACH FARTHER THAN EVER, WE NEED A SYSTEM WHERE SUCH ORGANIZATIONS
CAN SELF-MANAGE
CAN WE FIND ONE?
SIMPLE: SOFTWARE
THERE ARE MANYSIMILARITIES
BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS AND HARDWARE-SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS:
THE PRINCIPLE WE USE TODAY TO MANAGE ORGANIZATIONS WAS ALSO USED IN THE BEGINNINGS OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING.
PROGRAMS WERE FED INTO COMPUTERS TO COMPUTE DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS FOR THINGS SUCH AS THE TRAJECTORY OF A SHELL, A BLAST RADIUS OR WEATHER PREDICTIONS.
THESE PROGRAMS WERE FED INTO A GENERAL PURPOSE MACHINERY (THE COMPUTER) AND BASED ON THESE INSTRUCTIONS COMPUTATIONS WOULD BE MADE.
BUT AS THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY GREW, SO DID THE COMPUTERS’ CAPACITY TO RUN PROGRAMS. WITH THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION COMPUTERS BECAME MORE THAN SIMPLISTIC MACHINERY BUILT TO OUTPUT SPECIFIC DATA. PROGRAMS COULD BE NOW WRITTEN TO ANSWER MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS BUT ALSO TO OUTPUT IMAGERY, SOUNDS, ALLOW USERS TO PLAY GAMES AND MORE.
TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE, A NEW PARADIGM IN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING CHANGED THE WAY PROGRAMS WERE WRITTEN. INSTEAD OF THE PREVIOUS FUNCTIONAL (PROCEDURAL) PROGRAMMING, THE CONCEPT OF BUILDING A PROGRAM STARTED WORKING WITH THE CONCEPT OF “OBJECTS”.
TECHNICALLY, OBJECTS ARE A COLLECTION OF DATA AND FUNCTIONS.
CONCEPTUALLY THEY ARE THE BRIDGE BETWEEN MACHINE PROCESSING AND HUMAN CONCEPTUAL THINKING.
WE INTERACT WITH THE WORLD AROUND US WITH THE HELP OF THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT: THE OBJECTS. OBJECTS ARE A COLLECTION OF DATA (FOR EXAMPLE A BALL MAY BE ORANGE, TEXTURED AND A
SPHERE) AND BEHAVIORS (IT BOUNCES, IT FLOATS IN WATER)
TO IMPLEMENT OBJECT ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONS WOULD MEAN THAT
INSTEAD OF THIS:
…ORGANIZATIONS WOULD BE BUILD BY NETWORKING INDEPENDENT, SELF-CONTAINED,
SELF-MANAGED ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTS. LIKE THIS:
HERE’S HOW A COMPUTER MANUFACTURING
ORGANIZATION MIGHT LOOK LIKE
(SIMPLIFIED)
NOTICE THAT ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTS ARE NETWORKED, RATHER
THAN HIERARCHICAL
TEAMS ARE ORGANIZED AROUND PURPOSE AND
INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER
SO … WHAT ARE THE BASICS OF OOO
(OBJECT ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONS)?
HOW DO WE BUILD SELF-MANAGED TEAMS?
JUST THREE THINGS:
ENCAPSULATIONPOLYMORPHISMINHERITANCE
WHY BUILD OBJECT ORIENTED ORGANIZATIONS?
1. WE NEED A BETTER SYSTEM
WE CANNOT HANDLE THE COMPLEXITY OF GLOBALIZED ORGANIZATIONS WITH PROCEDURAL, TOP-DOWN SYSTEMS
2. USING AN OOO APPROACH ORGANIZATIONS BECOME MORE EFFECTIVE, MORE PRODUCTIVE, HAPPIER
THERE ARE OBVIOUS FAILURES IN TODAY’S MANAGERIAL APPROACH. USING A PURPOSE BASED, NETWORKED
APPROACH, MANY OF THESE PROBLEMS MAY BE SOLVED.
3. GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS ARE MAKING THE WORLD
SMALLER AND BETTERLARGER ORGANIZATIONS, BUILT TO NETWORK AND CREATE
RATHER THAN EXECUTE MAY BE THE NEXT STEP IN OUR SOCIAL EVOLUTION
