Given the various conversations I have with clients about strategy and culture and performance, I thought you would find this interesting…
In an interview with Jim Collins (Author of Good to Great and Built to Last), about his years of research into organisational success and performance (on FT.com behind paywall) he suggests, “We do not have an absolute, complete and clear model of what makes an organisation successful.” (My italics and emphasis). He also reflects on what scares him most…. and adds, “What if we have missed the biggest, most important thing that makes an organisational successful?”
At this point he is asked, “So what is the Dark Matter of organisational performance?” His answer….. “Increasingly I wonder if, in fact, the dominant structure isn’t organisations, but networks”.
I think he is both right and wrong:
Right… because Social systems and networks are a vital part of how organisations perform…
and
Wrong…. Because we have not missed it – I know plenty of examples where smart executives are using the social networks to socialise their strategy develop influence performance…
You can read more about why I think this and the impact of social networks in my article “The dark matter of organisational performance”.
