Fundamentals: Structure

Structure defines an organization chart, people's jobs, and how work flows across the organization.

A poorly designed organizational structure can pit people against one, send people many directions at once, expect the unreasonable, undermine teamwork, destroy customer focus, and reduce professional competence.

More on the symptoms that indicate a need for change in organizational structure....

Great people can overcome most structural problems. But why waste talent and time on self-imposed obstacles?

A healthy structure does not define jobs in high-level phrases like "manager of infrastructure" or vague language like roles and responsibilities.

Rather, every box on an organization chart should be defined as a line of business.

The result: jobs that are entrepreneurial, well focused, and have a minimum of conflicts of interests.

Structural Cybernetics identifies the five different types of businesses found within any corporation, company, or organization -- five fundamental building blocks of structure.

More on the lines of business within organizations....

This framework provides a clear language for discussing alternative organizational structures.

"We've been struggling with organizational issues for years. Our discussions were often confused, occasionally emotional, and rarely decisive. Structural Cybernetics brought everything into focus. It's not a rigid answer.... It's a well-structured process with a clear language that helped our leadership team come to consensus on a whole range of tough issues."

Bill Wilkins CIO, John Alden Financial Services Corp.

Structural Cybernetics also defines clear principles for assembling the building blocks into an organization chart. This avoids designing impossible jobs, conflicts of interests, scattered accountabilities, and other common problems.

Overview of principles....

Changes in the organization chart inevitably induce changes in workflows, so both must be designed together. Structural Cybernetics also includes a process which sorts out the diverse work flows that tie the organization chart together.

More on dynamic cross-boundary workflows....

"The Structural Cybernetics process forced us to specify our products and services, [and] our customers and suppliers for each operating and support organization within our [department]. This brought to light many of the inefficiencies that we had been struggling with and allowed us to deal with them."

William T. Houghton President Chevron Information Technology Company

Structural Cybernetics can be used to analyze the pros and cons of an existing (or proposed) organization chart, as well as to design a new structure.

The Structural Cybernetics implementation process is open and participative, building deep understanding and commitment within the leadership team. Structural Cybernetics principles are the key to productive participation. Instead of territorialism and battles of opinions, leaders argue the trade-offs of various design alternatives in a rational, fact-based design process.

More on the change process....

"Once we adopted the [Structural Cybernetics] principles, we had a framework that provided a basis for any decision, defused the inevitable turf battles before they ever began, and accelerated our learning process in a way that probably could not have occurred otherwise."

John Benci General Director, M.I.S. The Canadian Wheat Board

The most effective way to learn about applying Structural Cybernetics in your organization is to schedule a one-on-one telephone consultation by calling 203-431-0029. Consultations are free for c-level executives and their direct reports.

---

Structure Resources

More complete discussion of structure....

Organizational Structure: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The lines of business within organizations, i.e., the building blocks of structure....

Principles that guide the design of organization charts....

How to implement dynamic cross-boundary workflows....

The components of a comprehensive structural change process....

Publications

STRUCTURE: The Building Blocks Approach to Organization Charts.

DECENTRALIZATION: Decentralization: Fantasies, Failings, and Fundamentals.

Lines of Business Database: a comprehensive database of all the "lines of business" within IT organizations.

Case Study: Transformational Organizational Structure
how restructuring IT led to breakthrough performance and value
at North Georgia College & State University

Case Study: Sonoco Products Company
Building a High-performance IS Team

Case Study: Restructuring a Large IT Organization
theory, model, process, and initial results
by Mark Luker and Tad Pinkerton, University of Wisconsin Madison

Seminars

The Building Blocks of Structure:
the science of designing high-performance organization charts

Forget Teambuilding!

Decentralization Versus Shared Services:
why the tug-of-war, and how to have your cake and eat it too

Consulting

Structure Health Checkup workshop: examine your existing/proposed organization chart in terms of lines of business under each manager, spot the problems, and identify opportunities for improvement.

"STRUCTURAL CYBERNETICS" Organizational Structure and Workflows: the basic building blocks of structure, and how to combine them into entrepreneurial organization charts; plus how to establish high-performance teamwork and dynamic cross-boundary work flows

Contact us for a free one-hour telephone consultation on your unique challenges.