Chester says that it's time that executives and managers realise that
they are part of the same organisation - like different cells in the
same body? I think the biological analogies will help this
understanding.
There is a biological design principle that I use to help this occur
in practice as well as thinking. It's a way that is designed for the
integration to become part of the culture without the explicit
understanding being necessary. (Metaphors and analogies are useful
for this.)
The principle of "self-similarity" is what I've borrowed from
biology. This principle proposes that each element of the system
have the same basic design and variations of function even though the
specific function of that element may be unique. That is, cells of a
body at a fundamental level come from undifferentiated cells. As
they differentiate, they appear to become different - but that they
emerged from the same (appearing) cells, they are similar.
In an organisation, this might mean that leadership, decision making,
intelligence, learning, production, etc., etc. must be elements of
each persons job or they will not get done well. Certainly, if this
is not the case, we are likely to end up with specialisation,
compartmentalisation and reductive separation and find ourselves in
an "us/them" environment.
If you make decisions and I don't, then we
are different creatures - with all that implies.
-- Michael McMaster Michael@kbddean.demon.co.uk -Info: learning-org-approval@world.std.com or <http://world.std.com/~lo/>