[Sigia-l] Re: Large Orgs

[David_Fiorito at vanguard.com]

Is it that they inhibit flexibility, communication, individual innovation, 
and insight - or is it that larger organizations and larger teams simply 
require a greater level of compromise between team members and between 
employees and management?

In addition - isn't it also about patience?  If a person is unwilling to 
compromise and balks at the notion of having to work patiently within a 
system then are they really cut out to work in large organizations?

I think back to Stewart Brand's keynote at the IA Summit and his notion of 
pace layering.  The change over in employees is more rapid than the change 
in corporate policy and culture.  It takes someone with the ability to see 
the long view to be able to effect change in that kind of environment. 

In small companies the amount of effort needed to make change is smaller 
and the pace is quicker.  When a person moves from a small organization to 
a large on the instinct is to carry over the behaviors that worked in the 
small company.  This does not work, nor should it work.  Large 
corporations are by definition different. 

Large corporation function best when they can have a much more predictable 
(read dependable) course of business.  Their mass gives them power.  Their 
power comes from constancy.  A wave rider or jet ski can turn on a dime 
but it can't haul millions of gallons of crude like a supertanker can. The 
kind of flexibility of operation that the rider on a jet ski enjoys will 
not work to pilot the supertanker.

I yearn for the days I worked in a small shop where we could change the 
way we worked in a single meeting and each employee did whatever their 
skills allowed but if that culture were transferred to my current employer 
the ensuing chaos would cause the entire enterprise to grind to a halt.

The rider of a jet ski can navigate by sight and can go where ever he 
wants on a whim but to get the crude to port the pilot of the supertanker 
must work with rigid guidelines, consult established procedures and 
standards, and chart every turn of his course.

Cheers,

Dave 





"Sean Lawrence" <slawrence at lucidvagary.com>
Sent by: sigia-l-admin at asis.org
08/07/2003 11:57 AM
Please respond to "Sean Lawrence"

 
        To:     "sigia l" <sigia-l at mail.asis.org>
        cc:     (bcc: David Fiorito/IT/VGI)
        Subject:        Re: [Sigia-l] Re: Large Orgs





To paraphrase Cat Stevens: "Oh clue train's sounding louder, Glide on the
clue train..."

It's not that these large companies make you in to a clone, they inhhibit
flexibilty, communication and individual innovation and insight.  After
awhile, you just learn to deal with it or you leave.


> Stewart and Ziya's examples deleted [ ... ]
>
> Stewart / Ziya - just imagine how effective an agent of change you could
> have been if you'd been on the inside of those monster companies, or do
you
> think that after a week of working as in "innie" your minds would have
been
> subverted and you'd just be another corporate clone?
>
>  - Richard
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