The traditional organisational design of a hierarchy has one primary objective: maintaining equilibrium. However, when you have to be rapidly adapting to evolving conditions, you need a self-organised network. An article on the management-issues.com website identifies the advantages of such an organisational design.
Nothing is black or white
Don’t be confused: both hierarchies and networks can be found in all organisations. Every network contains hierarchies – and vice versa. In a hierarchical organisation there are often self-organised networks formed by employees who know how to stay unnoticed. They are politically savvy, able and willing to bend the rules to achieve their goals. These people are often workers who are so dedicated to their customers that they can solve a problem quickly without having to deal with slow and faceless bureaucratic procedures.
Complex adaptive systems are the future
What are complex adaptive systems? They are systems where vast networks of components have no central control. The rules governing such systems are simple. And yet these systems produce collective behaviour that is very complex. Information within such systems is well processed and adaptation (thanks to learning or evolution) takes place effectively.
As stated above, complex adaptive systems may create some hierarchies; however, the basic structure is still a network. Collective learning enables them to adapt according to the changing circumstances.
-jk-
