Structure conveys the nature of relationships and also determines the energy flows or otherwise via these relationships. If we think of organisational energy like water, we can see that the structure of a glass contains that water or a pipe might help it flow but only in a particular direction.
Often we think of ‘problems’ in organisations as people or cultural problems when perhaps they are more structural or both. For example, a failure of one team to collaborate with another team is seen as silo mentality and often labelled as a cultural problem. However, structures might be more to blame, for example a promotional structure that drives the achievement of a certain number of people or revenue under management might encourage leaders to build their own team rather than collaborate. Similarly, incentives or bonuses that reward individual sales might encourage client or information hoarding. Another common structural issue is the structure of the building layout. Partitions, corridors, doors, access to meeting rooms, shared amenities can all serve to limit or facilitate collaboration. Organisational charts and operating models can limit or drive better energy flow and collaboration by virtue of how these define relationships. Similarly, funding and contracting models and the metrics applied drive the nature of relationships and what’s delivered.
Structure isn’t everything and neither is leadership, people and culture but if we look at structure, leadership, people and culture together I suggest we have a much better chance of sustained success and increasing levels of organisational energy.
