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The human brain regularly develops rigidities in the form of biases, lack of self-confidence, and habits; and organisational constructs composed of human beings are no different, underlines Claudio Feser in Serial Innovators: Firms that change the world ( www.wiley.com ).
In the case of organisations, rigidities manifest through structures, org charts and reporting lines, performance management and reward systems, supporting cultures, capabilities, or simply collective experience, he points out.
Importantly, organisational rigidities tend to grow over time because, to deal with the increasing complexity and demands of dynamic markets, and to capture ever more wealth-creation opportunities, firms tend to add additional functions, councils, processes, values, and norms onto existing organisations, the author notes. “Only seldom do firms eliminate older organisational constructs that have become obsolete – older processes, older functions, or older committees. As a consequence, layers of new constructs are added onto older ones, making firms bureaucratic, inward-oriented, and slow in adapting to changes in the market.”
Before you lose hope in rigid organisations, the book assures that informed and thoughtful interventions can interrupt or at least slow down the process of ageing of firms. Foremost in the list of seven interventions is ‘cultivating the desire to make a difference,’ leveraging the innate longing of human beings to contribute to something that matters.
This calls for defining the purpose of the firm as being to make a difference to people, by developing new products and services that make the life of their customers safer, healthier, richer, better, more valuable, explains Feser. As example, he cites the simple question that Steve Jobs posed to John Sculley, an executive at Pepsi-Cola, when asking Sculley in 1983 to join as Apple’s CEO: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”
The author cautions that leveraging people’s passion to make a difference can backfire and quickly result in widespread criticism if it is done in a manipulative manner. He guides that a firm’s purpose should therefore be first and foremost honest and meaningful to the firm’s leaders, and they should visibly commit to it, well beyond mere words. “Visibly committing means investing leadership time, incurring costs, or forgoing other gains.”
A book that can set the broad direction for enterprises to sustain success, rather than let innovations be ephemeral phenomena.
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