Why Nothing Gets Done Around Here
Hundreds of thousands of hours are getting wasted on bad decision-rights. It’s got to stop. (Contains at least two good ways to fix this problem.)
Organization Design
How can we get more of what we want, and less of what we don't want, from where we work? How do we do that with intention? How do we allow for emergence?
44 Posts
The Matrix Design Canvas
A tool that helps managers and individual contributors design systems that get better performance out of dual-reporting roles.
Five Org Design Things N° 8
Turns out it's about learning, all the way down: How basic technologies shift strategy; Microsoft's org structure research; X-Teams; building Service Design capability; democracy at work
Netflix, Democracy, and ~Operational Excellence
Why Netflix's approach to complexity – going all the way back to 2001 – creates better results.
Five Org Design Things N° 7
Collaboration edition! Yumemi’s org design; Collaboration is dead; Elbows of data; How to make good documents; How to run good workshops
How Internal Capabilities Evolve
Platform teams are an alternative to matrix orgs and siloed, repetitive SBUs.
Activist Presentations & Corporate Structure
TLDR: Activist investors want lean SBUs, and they don't love that matrix
Why Does DARPA Work?
A few standout practices: Opacity; Outsourcing for stronger internal networks; Deep technical reviews of ongoing programs.
Five Org Design Things N° 6
The 95th percentile isn’t that impressive; how DRIs worked at Apple; Effective leaders decide about deciding; Rooting out bias in decisions; AI and interest rates
The Founding Flaw of Matrix Organizing
Last year I was on a podcast with my friends at Zappi, and we got to talking about matrix orgs – there's an old bug inside the system, and it'll never go away.
Org Structure predicts Code Quality
Because of course it does. That said, here's some research you can show your boss.
Five Org Design Things N° 5
Excess management, Big-biz hiring stall, AI for organizing, Issues at Salesforce, and my thoughts on carve-outs 'n' central services.