There are four pillars to a successful organization, namely people, structure, systems and culture. They are supported by a strong foundation of mission, vision and core values.
Most leaders like talking about people, systems, and culture. They also like talking about the alignment between these elements and the mission, vision and core values.
Few leaders like to talk about structure. Who reports to whom is not a hot topic. But, given all I have heard and seen this winter moving toward spring, it is time we think deeply about structure.
First, does your structure match your strategic intent? We work hard on clarifying our strategy through in-depth planning. Then we make the mistake of assuming that our current structure is the right structure to execute this strategy.
Recently, I have discovered that the problems many organizations are having related to executing their strategy and integrating it into their day to day operations is not a culture or systems problem, but a structural problem. The wrong people and the wrong teams are reporting to the wrong person. We forget some days that there is a time and place to reorganize in order for the strategic intent and goals of the organization to be successfully executed.
Second, we have to ask another and more difficult question, namely do we have the right people in the right places within our organizational chart? When the structure is right, I have also seen that sometimes the problem is a classic “right person in the wrong seat on the bus”, using an old Jim Collins phrase. I also have discovered that we sometimes have the “wrong person in the right seat of the bus.” Both of these are connected. The result of either of these problems is that some teams and departments start to feel like they are the “lost tribes of Israel wandering in the dessert for 40 years.”
I had never heard this phrase before until a CEO I had worked with for many years pointed out this problem. As he said to me that day, “We need to bring the lost tribes home.” And he was 100% correct.
Effective integration of quality, empowerment and principle-centered leadership requires us as leaders to not let any people, teams or departments to feel like they are lost tribes wandering in the desert.
This week, sit down and reflect on whether or not your organization’s structure is in full alignment with your current strategy and on-going strategic intent. Second, check to make sure you have the right leaders in the right spots within the chart. And finally, make sure there are no lost tribes within your organization. This is not easy work, but is the important work that leaders need to do.
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