12 Organisation Design Principles that Embrace Complexity

TOBYSINCLAIR.COM 12 ORGANISATION DESIGN PRINCIPLES THAT EMBRACE COMPLEXITY Inspired by Dave Snowden and friends panel series FOSTER INFORMAL FOLLOW THE GOLDEN NETWORKS RULES OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT Coordinate in centre, don't The majority of organisational learning happens within make decisions. Communicate informal networks. Learn to by engagement. amplify these. EMBRACE SYMPOIETIC USE SCAFFOLDING SYSTEMS A temporary that can be used to help the emergence of It is important to remember how things connect are more important than what they are desired outcomes USE TEMPORAL DISTRIBUTE COGNITION INTERVENTIONS AND DECISION MAKING How long does the Put the power of intervention need to exist for? organisational design into the power of people. Allow the design to emerge through self Not all changes should be permanent. organisation DON'T SCRAP THE LOWER ENERGY HIERARCHY NEEDED FOR CHANGE Be aware of both the formal Organisations with a lower energy gradient can enable faster learning. hierarchy and also the informal network INCREASE ADAPTIVE DON'T OUTSOURCE THE CAPACITY DESIGN Adaptive Capacity is like a budget. When you use it all the Often leads towards homogenous, monocultural organisational design organisation can become very rigid and freeze MANAGE CONSTRAINTS ENABLE RESILIENCE AND ROBUSTNESS Identify constraints, change constraints, see what happens. A system which is robust survives and change. A system which is resilient survives with continuity Find out which constraints which are brittle and what the of identity over time impact of change is. INFOGRAPHIC BY: WwW.TO BYSINCLAIR.COM