It was only a matter of time.  If you look at the bullet points at the bottom of this post and you have been following emergent thinking about the future of work and / or Enterprise 2.0, you will recognize that many of us who have been thinking and writing about this new environment have covered off most, if not all, of the bullet points.

 

I'm delighted to have stumbled across this new (to me) initiative (more below) for helping organizations in today's networked world of work create what these folks call "organic leadership" in "natural hierarchies".

As some readers will know, I have for several years been yapping about what I call "wirearchy" ...

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"a dynamic two-way flow of power and authority based on knowledge, trust, credibility and a focus on results, enabled by interconnected people and technology"

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... and as part of my discourse have mused from time to time about the eventual appearance of fractal patterns of purposeful human activity (notably in workplace / organizational settings).

 

In fact, a quick comparison of the elements called for in this May 2002 World Future Society piece titled "From Hierarchy to Wirearchy - the future of workplace dynamics", demonstrates considerable alignment with the elements set out further below in the Leadership StrateGems program.

 

The core components of wirearchy are:

• a crystal clear vision and values



• a strategically designed and integrated technology infrastructure


• comprehensive, clear and completely open communications



• pertinent objectives and focused measurement



• characteristics of culture that create, support and enable responsiveness, adaptability and fluidity

leadership that is clear, focused, open, authentic and shared

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Recently I have discussed this notion with Dave Snowden, who to my surprise confirmed that there's already interesting research underway on that very subject (I cannot remember the names of the researchers he mentioned). And so it was with delight that I discovered this morning, via the Program For The Future Conference (an interactive conference inspired by Doug Engelbart's vision of harnessing technology for human betterment) that Strategems is pursuing research and education into "fractal org charts".

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Just as modern pesticides deplete soil nutrients, contaminate groundwater, and generate inferior produce, the command-and-control structure of top-down human hierarchies poisons work environments through internal competition and control.

 Organizations that have natural hierarchies function more like Nature’s ecosystems than top-down pyramids, continually expanding and evolving rather than remaining fixed and stagnant. In such organizations, leaders and staff are united in their commitment to reaching the group’s goals and utilizing collective intelligence instead of competing against each other internally and wasting time and resources.

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The Leadership StrateGems program is designed to help executives reconstruct their hierarchies organically with nested layers of responsibility and create exciting work environments with unlimited possibilities within the parameters of shared vision and purpose.

Communicating a vision is both an art and a science: it requires not only inspiration from within but also an understanding of the tremendous power of groups in action, working toward a common goal. In this modular program, leaders learn how to increase loyalty and cooperation, improve morale, direct competition energy outward, reduce turnover, and transcend common communication issues through focus in these ten key areas:

• Organic Leadership


• Shared Vision


• Natural Hierarchy


• Collective Intelligence


• Diverse Personalities


• Direct Communication


• Emotional Intelligence


• Group Participation


• Personal Mastery


• Transformation Architecture