X-board: 'One Mission'

by Chris Fussel

The ralities of competing in the twenty-first century are unavoidable, for the outside world has changed drastically: it is flatter, faster, more interconnected than ever before.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 20. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

Some organizations that once functioned well are finding themselves where the Task Force found itself in 2003—possessing all of the talent and resources they need but unable to break out of silos and responding quickly to a shifting environment.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 21. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

Part of the issue we all face comes down to the speed and scale of information flow.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 22. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

Anyone still convinced that the organizational structures and leadership models of the twentieth century will magically work in today's exponentially more complex world will quickly encounter inconvenient truths.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 24. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

Today's organizations clearly face new types of interconnected and complex environments; therefore, they require an organizational model designed to handle such complexity. That is the challenge of our time.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 25. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

For generations, organizational structures haven been heavily influenced, if not defined by, the idea of bureaucracy: a centrally controlled method of managing sprawling lattices of teams.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 26. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

A formalized org chart that doesn't account for human and environmental subjectivity can quickly destroy teams' sense of mission.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 27. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

Not only does pure bureaucracy destroy narrative unity, but it also puts people in positions where they cannot keep up with a rapidly changing environment.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 28. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

In a bureaucracy, senior leaders are granted authority over tactical units and are expected to play the role of 'information pumps' between units.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 29. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

The overwhelming amount of information moving in today's environment makes being an effective information pump increasingly time-consuming.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 30. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

Managers who are expected to create and manage cross-functional collaborations or resolve conflicts are increasingly overwhelmed by the noise of day-to-day.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser March 31. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

As the level of nose increases, so does the likelihood that leaders will either fail to effectively move information between teams or leave their superiors out of the loop as they scramble to put out the fires.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser April 1. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

When you are in a small team at the tactical level—whatever the industry—you are closest to your organization's pressing problem set, and can see or feel solutions either take hold or fail.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser April 2. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

The impersonally ordered bounds of a bureaucracy assume leaders will be able to identify where and when cross-functional collaboration is necessary, then enable that cooperation and interaction. In a complex environment, this expectation compounds anxiety for leaders.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser April 3. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

The speed with which humans within the system can connect and solve emerging issues becomes the limiting factor within the bureaucracy.

Chris Fussel in 'One Mission'

Fabio Walser April 4. 2019 X-board: 'One Mission'

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X-board: 'One Mission'

The ralities of competing in the twenty-first century are unavoidable, for the outside world has changed drastically: it is flatter, faster, more interconnected than ever before.

Some organizations that once functioned well are finding themselves where the Task Force found itself in 2003—possessing all of the talent and resources they need but unable to break out of silos and responding quickly to a shifting environment.

Part of the issue we all face comes down to the speed and scale of information flow.

Anyone still convinced that the organizational structures and leadership models of the twentieth century will magically work in today's exponentially more complex world will quickly encounter inconvenient truths.

Today's organizations clearly face new types of interconnected and complex environments; therefore, they require an organizational model designed to handle such complexity. That is the challenge of our time.

For generations, organizational structures haven been heavily influenced, if not defined by, the idea of bureaucracy: a centrally controlled method of managing sprawling lattices of teams.

A formalized org chart that doesn't account for human and environmental subjectivity can quickly destroy teams' sense of mission.

Not only does pure bureaucracy destroy narrative unity, but it also puts people in positions where they cannot keep up with a rapidly changing environment.

In a bureaucracy, senior leaders are granted authority over tactical units and are expected to play the role of 'information pumps' between units.

The overwhelming amount of information moving in today's environment makes being an effective information pump increasingly time-consuming.

Managers who are expected to create and manage cross-functional collaborations or resolve conflicts are increasingly overwhelmed by the noise of day-to-day.

As the level of nose increases, so does the likelihood that leaders will either fail to effectively move information between teams or leave their superiors out of the loop as they scramble to put out the fires.

When you are in a small team at the tactical level—whatever the industry—you are closest to your organization's pressing problem set, and can see or feel solutions either take hold or fail.

The impersonally ordered bounds of a bureaucracy assume leaders will be able to identify where and when cross-functional collaboration is necessary, then enable that cooperation and interaction. In a complex environment, this expectation compounds anxiety for leaders.

The speed with which humans within the system can connect and solve emerging issues becomes the limiting factor within the bureaucracy.

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