Hidden Organization LO12510

Valdis Krebs (inflow@concentric.net)
Wed, 12 Feb 1997 10:54:00 -0500

Replying to LO12486 --

Scott Simmerman wrote in LO12486...

> Another reality is, "Nobody ever asks the Expedition Leader for advice."
> Only permission. The EL is frames as "his role is to help teams be
> successful" and "the goal is to maximize ROI." This parallels my
> experience as Sr. VP of Operations for a 126-store chain of retail stores
> - -- nobody ever asked for help.

> Are there any other groundings in the literature for this kind of result?

I'm not sure about the literature, but I can verify Scott's observations
from my consulting practice[mapping/measuring/molding emergent work
relationships/networks].

We often map the expertise/advice network in our client's organization --
rarely are the emergent experts at the top of the formal hierarchy. But
occaisionally executives _are_ sought out for expert advice.

Recently an exec at Lucent Tech was surprised when I told him that he
should be thrilled that he was so high on the 'emergent experts' list. He
asked, "Isn't that my role?" "Shouldn't I be one of the sources of
expertise in my organization?" I said, "Yes, but often the top exec is
not approached for various social/politcal reasons" He was also a key
node in many of the other emergent networks -- this was not an islated
manager who received info from just a handful of 'select' others. He was
in the thick of things -- he had 'reach' into all corners of his
organization[others also had great 'access' to him]. BTW, he runs a very
successful/productive area -- all highly technical[and bright]
individuals.

Valdis Krebs
Krebs & Associates
inflow@concentric.net
http://www.netcom.com/~valdisk

-- 

Valdis Krebs <inflow@concentric.net>

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>