Organization Design Processes

Moving from a powerful image of the preferred future to an organization that lives and breathes the essence of the provocative propositions is a process that takes many forms. The challenge is to invent a process of organization redesign, unique to the organization’s culture, that avoids the trap of a mechanistic problem-solving world-view.

Two very different approaches to this challenge are (1) the individual action approach and (2) the whole system design approach. They can be described briefly as follows:

The Individual Action Approach

In this approach (also known as the Requests, Offer, and Commitments Approach), participants are asked to think about the parts of the dream that they want to bring to life. Each participant is given the opportunity to publicly state a simple commitment, make an offer, or articulate a request.

Simple commitments describe actions that can be easily taken, typically within one to two weeks and are within the existing authority and resources available to the person making the commitment.

Offers are a form of “gift.” For example, a participant may “offer” access to a database he or she controls. Or someone may “offer” financial assistance to get a project started. An “offer” may be made in response to a request for collaboration. Offers can come in any shape or form—the more specific the better.

Requests are focused on what one person or group needs from another person or group. For example, “The western region call center requests a meeting with the chief information officer to explore upgrading of our e-mail system.”

Although particularly appropriate to situations where the focus is on team or small unit development rather than increasing effectiveness in a complex organization, this approach can be effectively combined with the more systemic Whole System Design approach described below.

The Whole System Design Approach

In this approach, the core group or sponsor team begins by choosing either to (1) select from among the major existing models of organization architecture (for example, the Open Socio-Technical Systems framework, the McKinsey 7S framework; the Weisbord Six-Box framework; the Galbraith Star framework; the Nadler/Tushman Congruence framework, etc.) or (2) create from scratch its own framework/model. (Later in this chapter is a model created by Watkins and Cooperrider that enables organizations to create a customized process appropriate to their own needs.)

We prefer the second approach because it is more organic and in keeping with the spirit of AI—but either can work.

Once group members have identified within these frameworks the key elements, (information systems, relations with the board of directors, work flows) they then write Provocative Propositions about them as described in the previous chapter. This is somewhat like creating a set of design principles that are then used to guide the more detailed design and implementation of a particular element. The process of requests, offers, and commitments can then be used to move these provocative propositions/Design principles forward.