If organizations need to learn anything today it’s how to overcome silos. Silos are the number one enemy of productivity and competitiveness. They also seriously threaten the quality of life of employees. A recent article by former Navy Seal Chris Fussell ‘The battlefield experience that made me realize the danger of silos and isolated teams’ is a […]
Science against Silos – Why Organizations Need to Be Systems
The world of management is changing fast, and yet we still live in an environment where the prevailing organizational design is “functional/hierarchical” and organizations are thought of as a collection of silos. At the same time, we know that we are experiencing increasing levels of complexity. Why is it so hard to manage these increased […]
A New Organizational Model for the Digital Age
As we’re enjoying a visit here in Victoria, BC from Goldratt’s original publisher, Larry Gadd who published our foundational work, ‘Deming and Goldratt: The Decalogue’ – the first book to be published by North River Press on the Theory of Constraints that was not by Goldratt himself – it’s a good occasion to look again […]
The Traditional Hierarchy Organization Doesn’t Work Anymore
Why are people still stuck in adopting a traditional hierarchy and functional organization structure when there are clearly so many drawbacks? When organizations are created and organized in a matrix of vertical hierarchy and functions, an inevitable consequence is the existence of a series of “walls” or divisions that inhibit the resources involved in producing an optimal […]
Meaningful Work: Elevating the Individual in the Organization
Why do we work? Work has almost completely changed its shape in the last 40-50 years, and the aim that work is designed to accomplish should change accordingly. Work can no longer simply be the organization of many elements to achieve a profit for a tiny minority. People today have different expectations and a different […]
Organizations as Networks: The Physics of Management
Networks are not just Facebook etc. but also a way we have of understanding nature. Network Theory is a new realm of physics and it matters for management. We were recently asked what we now do differently since the Decalogue methodology, based on Deming and the Theory of Constraints, has become informed by Network Theory. […]
How Innovation Can Make Companies Smarter
Dr. Domenico Lepore, an international expert on systems thinking for management and Founder of Intelligent Management Inc. completes this mini-series on innovation. Focus and continuous innovation An organization requires great focus in order to keep up with the continuous innovation process. The focus needed can only be developed as a result of an improved “collective […]
Innovation, Leadership and Quality: How They Interconnect
Dr. Domenico Lepore, Founder of Intelligent Management Inc. and international expert in Quality and Systems Thinking for organizations, continues his series on Innovation. Leadership: definition and role Earlier in this series we suggested the first 2 steps towards prosperous innovation: 1) creating an operational definition (see Prosperous Innovation) 2) challenging the assumption that imagination is […]
How Can Organizations Adapt for Unprecedented Speed?
The challenges facing organizations today are rapid, complex and unknown. They struggle to read the stimuli, absorb them and react within a timeframe that is now necessary. That is because their design and leadership model is still rooted in an outdated, mechanical understanding of reality. How can organizations adapt? The hierarchical functional model is failing […]
Everything Is a Project
When you really think hard about it, everything we do of any relevance is a project. With the exception of repetitive processes, e.g. bookkeeping, whether it’s creating something from scratch, manufacturing a product, on-boarding a new employee or pitching to a new customer, all these activities require resources with certain competencies to carry out tasks that […]
