This week's edition (21st January 2006) of
The
Economist includes a supplement about
The New Organisation .
Fifty years ago William H. Whyte, an editor with Fortune Magazine,
defined corporate life as one of conformity. He described
The Organization Man as leading a
submissive existence having taken the vows of organisation life.
Organization Man lived in a
structured, hierarchical world where lines authority was clearly
defined and decisions were made above him. This environment
suppressed individualism and self-motivation, and removed any need
to take risks. The New York Times praised Whyte for
recognising that the entrepreneurial scramble to success has
been largely replaced by the organisational crawl .
Today,
Organization Man has evolved into
Networked Person , a knowledge worker who thinks for a
living, takes decisions all the time, is highly mobile and in
constant communication with co-workers.
Tim Hindle of
The
Economist says
the way people work has changed dramatically, but the way
their companies are organised lags far behind . Current
thinking sees innovation and growth depending on knowledge workers.
Organisations therefore need to be restructured to accommodate and
empower knowledge workers so that their creativity thrives.
The
Toyota Way
Toyota's employees are self-motivating knowledge workers who think
creatively about improving their particular area of the
organisation. They are largely self-directing and their
decision-making is guided by values inculcated from the
organisation's culture. The supplement identifies the following
Toyota values:
-
Kaizen or continuous improvement. More a frame of
mind than a process. Each day employees are determined to improve
how they work.
-
Genchi genbutsu . Go to the source, e.g. the factory
floor, and deal with only the facts.
- Challenge. Employees are encouraged to see problems as
opportunities for learning and improvement.
- Teamwork. Share knowledge and put the company's interests
before those of the individual.
- Respect people, their skills, and their knowledge.
The new organisation
The command-and-control style of management and The Organization Man are becoming extinct. The new organisation empowers self-directing, self-controlling knowledge workers giving them the freedom to innovate, experiment, learn and improve, in order to attain the organisational objectives to which they're committed.
