The Synchronized Organization

"research into network science has begun to shed light on how synchronization happens and how we can make our enterprises function more effectively.... Great overview. Of particular interest to I-Labs: - "research helps explain why it is so hard for enterprises to adapt to new challenges... leaders need to treat new initiatives not as mere organizational governance, but as a grassroots movement of small, interconnected groups... - while our views tend to correspond to the local majority of our peer group, the global information we need usually lies outside of it... A study of star engineers at Bell Labs found that the most accomplished ones worked in a close-knit group, but also frequently reached out to people outside of it... - in organizations it is incumbent on leaders to set direction. Hamel and Prahalad call this concept strategic intent... Yet a clear mission, although important, is not enough. There also must be a shared context of values and beliefs... We can no longer rely on hierarchies. The problem is not that they have suddenly become illegitimate, but that they are slow and the world has become fast... managers must also seek to create synchronized organizations to carry out strategic intent. That requires a focus on small groups, loosely connected but united by a shared context." - The Synchronized Organization | Digital Tonto