The Great Managerial Transfer
The coming transfer from hierarchies of individuals to networks of teams, an exploration of executive comp, and a look back to the 1950s.
Clay Parker Jones
I lead Organizational Design at Airbnb. Previously: August, Undercurrent.
Disruption is on Decline
I think it's because of org structure and approval processes. Implications for marketing organizations abound.
The State of Teaming: Most are bad. Some are really, really good
Researchers examined +200k teams to see how performance is distributed. There's a LOT of poor-performing teams, and a lot more exceptional teams than expected!
Are.na's About Page
Are.na is a place to collect content and work on ideas in private or with others – and their About Page is as good as I've seen.
Skills Maturity Matrix + Organizational Pace Layers
People love Skills-Maturity Matrices, and with good reason – they help bring clarity to next steps and learning opportunities. We can make them better by applying Pace Layers to them. Here's how.
Centralization (For Marketers)
Centralization isn't a good thing or a bad thing. It's a pendulum that swings back and forth, and the key is to centralize and decentralize with intention. And to learn from what you've done.
Pace Layers for Organization
Pace Layers help visualize, distinguish, and discuss different kinds of work and teams within an organization. Here, I bring together a bunch of great thinking into a single construct. Enjoy!
Use DICE instead of RACI
RACI is vague, hard to use, and reinforces the "what the hell is happening here" status quo. DICE is specific, easy to use, and shines a bright light on dysfunction.
Scheduling at Black Glass
I adore shared scheduling as a tool for designing business. tl;dr At Black Glass we're synchronizing five "office closed" weeks and four mandatory (at a minimum!) weeks of PTO.
Software for Scaled Organizing
TL;DR: PowerPoint is a terrible tool for organization design, and we need a trusted alternative designed to match our values. And, sorry, leader-owned maps of reporting lines aren't the answer.
The Trouble With Hierarchy
Hierarchy lets leaders learn more; it pushes the org to learn about itself, not about customers; it creates busywork. A network of teams is the answer.
John Collison on Stripe's Org Design
Three takeaways: the power of small, coherent teams; speed as a quality of life metric; focusing on the value of the marginal team.