Harmonic Architecture
Org. Structure
Reporting lines, teams, and layers: how information flows and where coordination costs pile up.
Writing on Org. Structure
13 issues
The Real Reason Your Problems Keep Coming Back
Most leaders end up in firefighting mode. Here’s why quick fixes don’t last, and how systems thinking changes the game.
Is it the destiny of all large companies to ossify?
How to spot ossification, and the moves to stay flexible.
Everything Changes When You Triple in Size
The Rule of 3 and 10. What worked at three people breaks at ten, and breaks again at thirty.
Freedom in the Frame
Without frames, your team plays kids' soccer — everyone swarming the same ball.
The Work Around the Work
Administration, coordination, and surprises — and your customers won't pay for any of it.
Tactics for Creating Innovation from Bell Labs
What six decades at Bell Labs teaches about turning ideas into things that actually exist.
Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants
Problems can be divided into three classes: simple, complicated, and complex.
Move Authority to Information
Information and authority don't always sit in the same place. Organizations have to figure out how to bring these two pieces together.
Leadership buoyancy; how pressure influences your leadership level
Every level of promotion in your company will come at a cost.
Flip your org chart upside down
Put your customers at the top, and put the CEO down at the bottom.
Mind the Momentum ➡️
Momentum is mass times velocity. A large idle team takes enormous energy to move.
What can a game about beer distribution tell us about organizational design?
Good people operating in a bad system create bad outcomes.
🐩 What a scene from 101 Dalmatians tells us about what your organization looks like
A leader's organization looks like them. This can give your org. large blind spots and weak points, but you can also use this to amplify your impact.
The other eleven
No element fails alone. When one is out of tune the symptom usually shows up somewhere else in the ring.