AGILE IN ACTION: The knowledge worker and the new organisation

Sunday, January 22, 2006

The knowledge worker and the new organisation

This week's edition (21st January 2006) of The Economist includes a supplement about The New Organisation.

Fifty years ago William H. Whyte, an editor with Fortune Magazine, defined corporate life as one of conformity. He described The Organization Man as leading a submissive existence having taken the vows of organisation life. Organization Man lived in a structured, hierarchical world where lines authority was clearly defined and decisions were made above him. This environment suppressed individualism and self-motivation, and removed any need to take risks. The New York Times praised Whyte for recognising that the entrepreneurial scramble to success has been largely replaced by the organisational crawl.

Today, Organization Man has evolved into Networked Person, a knowledge worker who thinks for a living, takes decisions all the time, is highly mobile and in constant communication with co-workers. Tim Hindle of The Economist says the way people work has changed dramatically, but the way their companies are organised lags far behind. Current thinking sees innovation and growth depending on knowledge workers. Organisations therefore need to be restructured to accommodate and empower knowledge workers so that their creativity thrives.

The Toyota Way

Toyota's employees are self-motivating knowledge workers who think creatively about improving their particular area of the organisation. They are largely self-directing and their decision-making is guided by values inculcated from the organisation's culture. The supplement identifies the following Toyota values:

Kaizen or continuous improvement. More a frame of mind than a process. Each day employees are determined to improve how they work.
Genchi genbutsu. Go to the source, e.g. the factory floor, and deal with only the facts.
Challenge. Employees are encouraged to see problems as opportunities for learning and improvement.
Teamwork. Share knowledge and put the company's interests before those of the individual.
Respect people, their skills, and their knowledge.

Toyota's just-in-time production decentralises decision-making and empowers the workers on the factory floor. They're responsible for the flow of supplies because they have the necessary information at their fingertips to maintain stocks at their lowest level, thereby minimising waste. Philip Evans and Bob Wolf of the Boston Consulting Group say, leading is not treated as a discipline distinct from doing. Rather, the authority of leaders derives from their proficiency as practitioners.

The new organisation

The command-and-control style of management and The Organization Man are becoming extinct. The new organisation empowers self-directing, self-controlling knowledge workers giving them the freedom to innovate, experiment, learn and improve, in order to attain the organisational objectives to which they're committed.

Tags: knowledge worker