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86
Abst:
Charles Kiefer
Peter M. Senge
System Dynamics Research Conference
Rengselaerville, New York
October 14, 1981
METANOTC ORGANIZATIONS
Gur work during the past several years leads us to believe
that there now exists a small but significant number of American cor-
porations engaged in daring experiments if organizational transform
tion. ‘These companies have set about to fundamentally alter our
understanding of how a group of people can work together. They are
ccmmitted to the absolute highest in organizational performance and
human satisfaction. They view themselves as microcosmic demonstra-
tions of how society could work towards everyone's advantage.
We have come to call such organizations metanoic organiza
tions. ‘This term is based on the greek
tanoia meaning a fundamental
shift of mind (meta: transcending; noia: of mind). The greek term was
used extensively by New Testament writers to describe “...an immense
nev inward movement for obtaining one's rule of life...a change of the
inner man." ({1], p. 178). The term vas classically associated with a
reawekening of intuition and personal vision.
‘D-3324 <2
We use a term previously employed to describe an individual
shift in viewpoint to describe this new type of organization because
the igher
ence of this new organization is its functioning as a hi:
form of organism. The individuals within the metanoic organization
tend to assume an expanded sense of personal identificaticn. They do
not “give up" their personal identity for a organizational identity,
they transcend their personal identity. Who they are, in a very
meaningful sense, becomes inextricably linked to a higher purrose
towards which their organizational self is committed. It is cur
working hypothesis that an organization fused with this level of
commitment and participation operates with a fundamentally altered
point of view about itself and its relationship to the environment.
It transcends preoccupation with its own survival and exists to
realize a unique vision of a better world.
Although few organizations operate consistently with this
level of commitment, a surprising number seem to be mcving in the
direction of the metanoic organization. A recent study by McKinsey
[2] of high performing organizations showed that a common element of
all was commitment to a “superordinate goal” that transcended standard
organizational performance criteria such as growth and profitability.
Similar interests are evident in the fascination of American managers
with Japanese methods of developing teamwork and organizational
identity [3,4].
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METANOIC ORGANIZATIONS:
NEW EXPERIMENTS IN SOCIAL EVOLUTION
by
Charles Kiefer
Peter M. Senge
I. Introduction
Our work during the past several years leads us to believe that
there now exists a snall but significant number of American corporations
engaged in daring experiments in organizational transformation. These
companies fundamentally alter our understanding of how a group of people
can work together. They are committed to the absolute highest in organi-
zational performance and human satisfaction. They view themselves as
microcosmic demonstrations of how society could work toward everyone's
fulfillment.
Consider, for example, a medium size ($300 million in sales) high
technology manufacturing corporation committed to the precept that
“freedom and respect for the individual are the greatest motivators of man,
especially when innovation and creativity are the intended results." In
this particular company, such lofty proclamations are backed up by a
completely decentralized organizational structure where one of the primary
responsibilities of corporate management is to limit the size of operating
divisions. When divisions grow too large, they divide into two smaller
More manageable units. Division size is determined according to the
Charles Kiefer is President of Innovation Associates, a management
consulting firm in Framingham, Massachusetts. Peter Senge is Assistant
Professor of Management at the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management at MIT.
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criterion that no division should ever be so large that each person cannot
feel that their actions make a difference to the divisions' performance.
In an organization of 3500 people, the corporate staff numbers 18,
including secretaries. Every employee in every division shares in their
division's profits, which are consistently at or above targets. Turnover
and absenteeism averages less than 2% in. most divisions. Investment in R&D
within. the divisions tends to run consistently above the industry average.
“; Or, consider the case of a relatively small ($20 million)
organization providing extensive administrative and related support
services ‘to-hospitals. within a large metropolitan area. The organization
strives.-to "promote wellness. by having the institutions operate so,
effectively that their commitment to patient health and aliveness carries
over into all aspects of people's lives." In the first year after
developing this mission statement, sales doubled and services expanded
dramatically without adding a single professional staff member. The
organization -aggressively promotes a "you and me" rather than "you or me"
philosophy, with which the 20 telephone operators were so captivated that
they organized a: person of the week program to acknowledge and share in
other employees! successes.
Or, consider the case of a large traditional New England
manufacturing organization within a non-growth market that had lost money
for 8 out of 10 years before hiring a CEO 7 years ago who believed that,
"People can:produce results beyond what is thought possible if given an
opportunity to fully express themselves and be responsible for their
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collective productivity." Within one year, pretax profits increased 20%
and have stayed at that level since. Turnover and absenteeism declined
dramatically over the following years and have remained low.
These are but a few examples of a much broader phenomenon the full
scope of which is impossible to judge. In some sense, this search for new
forms of organizational self-expression is rooted in the profound shift in
attitudes and values observed by many sociologists. The new type of
organization we see emerging is wholly consistent with what Yankelovitz
{1981 ] calls a grass roots shift from an "instrumental" to a "sacred"
world view. More and more people are seeking work experience that is
intrinsically valuable over and above providing financial security.
We have came to call such organizations metanoic organizations,
This term is based on the greek word metanoia meaning a fundamental shift
of mind (meta: transcending; noia: of mind). In particular, the greek term
was used extensively in early Christian times to describe a reawakening of
intuition and personal vision associated with a profound revisioning of
reality. We use a term previously employed to describe an individual shift
in viewpoint to describe this new type of organization because the essence
of this new organization is its functioning as a higher form of organism.
The individuals within the metanoic organization tend to assume an expanded
sense of personal identification. They do not "give up" their personal
identity for a organizational identity, they transcend their personal
identity. Who they are, in a very meaningful sense, becomes inextricably
linked to a higher purpose towards which their organizational self is
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committed. It is our working hypothesis that an organization fused with
this level of commitment and participation operates with a fundamentally
altered point of view about itself and its relationship to the envirorment.
It transcends preoccupation with its own survival and exists to realize a
unique vision of a better world.
: How widespread is the emergence for metanoic organizations? What
might be their eventual impacts on management and society? Such questions
are mpossible to answer at this time. What is possible and important is
to begin ‘trying to making some sense out of the phenomenon. What are the
fundamental commonalities uniting these innovative organizations? What
principli underlie their growth? How can we begin to understand whether
there is in fact a major shift in management philosophy and corporate
design in the making?
As we have asked those questions, a framework for understanding has
‘begun to emerge. The elements of this framework are outlined below. We
offer it in the hope that it will aid in recognizing what is happening and
in encouraging further experimentation.
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II. A Framework for Understanding Metanoic Organizations
The key elements to metanoic organizations can be understood by
considering what it takes to put together a championship crew team.
Obviously, one starts with talented rowers. But talented rowers are not
— to make a championship crew. For one, they need something to strive
for. Not just any goal--if you want great performance you need a great
goal. Winning next week's race might provide sufficient motivation for a
better than average performance, but championship performance only comes
from striving to win the championship. To truly excel, the team must have
a vision that is sufficiently challenging and sufficiently long-term to
develop peak performance over an extended period of time.
But talent and vision alone are also insufficient. The rowers must
learn to row together. The translation of individual commitment and
resources into collective accomplishment requires alignment of individual
energies. Learning to row together represents a whole new skill. Many
find it difficult and frustrating. But, when the team starts to jell,
something very exciting happens. Each individual becomes aware of a new
dimension. One begins to sense a totally new feeling as those eight blades
strike the water in unison. There comes a unique rush of power with the
recognition of what the team can accomplish. When this condition of
alignment is allowed to develop over an extended period, individuals in the
crew often find that they become progressively more aware and attuned to
one another—to the point that they may almost mystically experience
themselves as the entire team during periods of exceptional performance.
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But talent, vision, and alignment are still not enough. If you
take the most talented, committed, aligned rowers and put them in a leaky
boat, they won't win many races. Clearly, a well-designed racing shell is
a fourth ‘element necessary for a championship crew team. A poorly designed
shell will more than make up for the best ‘crew.
Setting aside talent for the moment (we will return to talent in
Section VII), the crew metaphor points what we believe are three unique
elements underlying metanoic organizations: (1) vision, (2) alignment, and
“ (3) structure. Such organizations invariably have a clear sense of a
shared viSion, become highly aligned around that vision, and develop
effective organization structure and policy to efficiently translate
individual energies into collective results.
““dhe' three elements are distinct yet closely related.
Organizational vision. is purposeful. It represents the organization's
underlying purpose or mission in a visual form that people can relate to.
vision is symbolic. It serves either to distinguish the organization from
its counterparts (e.g., the "best", "number one", the "most innovative") or
to’ represent what it is that makes the organization unique. Alignment is
relational; it concerns how individuals within the organization relate to
one another and to the organization itself and how they develop the
commitment and natural resonance to collectively achieve their vision. A
shared common vision is one of thé most powerful forces causing alignment
within a group. On the other hand, a highly aligned group will often
evolve new collective visions around which to organize future work.
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Structure is also relational but at the systemic rather than
interpersonal level. By structure, we mean the basic interrelationships
within an organization which cause its observed behavior over time. Our
concept of structure is broader than the organizational chart and
encompasses key strategies and operating policies, as well as more
traditional elements of organizational design. Metanoic organizations pay
special attention to structural design for exactly the same reason the crew
team pays special attention to the design of its racing shell; poorly
designed structure can undermine alignment and erode vision.
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III. Purpose and Vision
Perhaps: the most salient characteristic of metanoic organizations
is a deep and overriding sense.of purposefulness in all of their actions.
It is often as. if the organization appears to have some underlying noble
mission. that it is called upon to perform. This mission serves not only to
set major. direction for all of the activities in the organization, but also
provides; as we shall see later, for a shared sense of identity.
Some organizations attempt to capture this underlying sense of
purpose through a carefully thought out and widely disseminated mission
statement or organizational charter. Others develop catchy phrases or
mottos, all of which serve to provide the participants in the organization
with some shared sense of identity. One thing that distinguishes metanoic
organizations seems to be in the nobleness of the underlying purpose,
something which can capture people's spirits as well as their intellect.
The power of a compelling organizational vision stems directly from
its use as a vehicle for elucidating organizational purpose. Since the
underlying purposes of organizations are generally intengible, they are
difficult to talk about. And yet, a shared sense of purpose is vital for
an inspired organization. Consequently, people must develop technigues and
vehicles which will enable them to talk about these intangibles. One such
vehicle, which is adopted by organizations we have investigated, is that of
a vision of a desired state of affairs.
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In the past, the notion of a vision for an organization has not
been common to management parliance. An organization which shares a common
and realizable vision of the future, which includes the organization's
place in that future, is in a remarkably powerful position. When such a
vision becomes painted in the imagination of all concerned, it cannot help
but capture their enthusiasm and spirit.
What are examples of such a vision? One might be demonstrating
that freedom and personal responsibility are nurtured by free enterprise.
Another might be to support well-being through providing the highest
quality medical service to the people of a region. Another might be the
designing and rendering of high quality products and services which also
contribute to the aesthetics of a profession. Each vision might be
different and, in fact, each person's vision within the organization might
be different than others. It's less important that everyone hold the same
Picture in their mind as it is for each person to have their own picture,
which is compatible with others. The interplay and discussion around these
various visions allows discovery of the fundamental underlying purposes and
principles of the organization, which then serve to unite everyone in the
organization.
A realizable vision strikes a delicate balance between challenge
and practicality. An effective organizational vision goes beyond
"motherhood and apple pie." Neither is it the type of image which is
foregone and too easily achievable. The vision must provide same stretch.
It must afford a genuine challenge. It is probably also true that this
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vision must include some noble principles such as quality, excellence, or
service to the ‘customer. ‘These are the qualities which will lift people
towards inspired performance. At the same time, the vision must be
workably grounded in reality. Without such a grounding, there is no
compelling reason to accept and hold the vision.
There is yet another value to holding a picture of a desired state
of future affairs. This lies in the focus on desired results as opposed to
process. Such a focus on results is much more powerful than a focus on the
processes used to achieve results. Managers have long intuitively known
this, but we suspect have sometimes wanted to believe otherwise because
they Beene attached to the processes within the organization which produce
the results. This has led, we would assert, to misplaced emphasis on
“process to the exclusion of results that the processes are designed to
“achieve.
The Apollo moon project was an excellent example of the power of
: ‘focusing on results. In the beginning, many involved in the engineering,
human, or administrative dimensions of the moon project felt that there
were overwhelming obstacles to prevent landing men on the moon before 1970.
Yet, the vision was deeply held by many in the project. In fact, the
vision was without doubt the sole unifying force underlying the many varied
tasks and contributors. This clear vision allowed for enormous creativity.
The Consequence was an array of breakthroughs of both technical and
logistical nature that created wholly new "processes" that could have never
been designed “in advance.
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Focusing on results does not imply that process should be ignored.
However, by maintaining an overall focus on results, people become less
wedded to the process they have used in the past. This allows them to be
experimental in selecting those processes which might ultimately bring
results about most expeditiously. The principle here is simple and easily
understood: let the processes serve the result not the other way around.
Such focus on results has been found to be a common characteristic of many
high performing organizations (Peters [1980]).
The Metanoic Viewpoint
The ongoing process of creating and realizing organizational
visions eventually develops perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of
metanoic organizations: the deep belief that they can create the world
that they want. This viewpoint arises from a fundamental shift of
consciousness. By contrast, the vast majority of organizations simply do
not work as well as people in them would like. Disillusiorment,
dissatisfaction, nonalignment, and inefficient use of human resources are
the accepted norm in most corporations. They are usually attributed to
lack of commitment, communication, and talent. Yet these conditions
actually arise from a point of view from which people tend to operate in
their personal lives, as well as in organizations. In an extreme form,
this point of view is that, "things don't work and there's nothing I can
really do about it. I'm dissatisfied, but I'm stuck in a system too big,
too unresponsive, or too complex to influence and control." In many
organizations, this point of view has become so pervasive that it is
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treated as an absolute truth. It is the air we breath, and many are no
more conscious of this underlying assumption of unworkability than that
air. Moreover, once accepted, it can easily become a self-fulfilling
prophecy.
Metanoic organizations operate from a fundamentally different point
of view. Simply put, they believe that they can create what they want.
Through responsible participation, people can empower themselves, one
another, and ultimately their institutions to produce astonishing results.
They can create for themselves a life which is meaningful and satisfying.
There is no way to overstate the importance of this shift in viewpoint.
Just as a viewpoint of unworkability is self-fulfilling, so can a viewpoint
of workability be self-fulfilling.
This shift in viewpoint is analogous to what happened when man
first flew. Once manned flight had happened it was ro longer possible to
maintain the viewpoint that flight was impossible. It might be difficult,
there may be a great deal that we don't know, but it is definitely not
impossible. Accompanying this shift in viewpoint went a parallel shift in
how failures at flight were viewed. They suddenly became useful in an
entirely new way: failures became learning experiences. They revealed
design flaws to be corrected. Prior to flight, every failure was one more
piece of debilitating information proving that flight was not possible.
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Similarly, once people in an organization begin realizing their
deepest desires, they begin to realize the true depth of their collective
creative capacity. They begin examining more earnestly what they really
want in organizational and personal terms. They raise the stakes. And
they develop a remarkable tolerance for mistake making, knowing full well
that learning to fly is an inherently experimental process. But they know
flight is possible.
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IV. Alignment
A great deal of effort and time is being spent in organizations
today setting and reaching consensus on goals and objectives. As valuable
as this may be, metanoic organizations implicitly seek an even greater
power, the power available to a group of people who truly work as a unified
whole. We have chosen the word "alignment" to describe the condition
wherein people act as part of an integrated whole as opposed to simply
having a number of activities which they are all doing together. In a
highly aligned organization, people recognize their commitment to a common
purpose. It is somewhat similar to the use of the word in international
politics to describe nations which are aligned around common ideology or
philosophy. Our use of the word "alignment" however, denotes the
commitment to a higher purpose and not simply an agreement about a
philosophy or ideology.
Perhaps the easiest way to begin understanding the notion of
alignment is to focus on the individual level. Let us postulate the
existence of an individual or personal purpose in life. Of course, it
would be impossible to prove conclusively that such a thing existed, but in
the discussion of alignment we find it useful to adopt it as a working
hypothesis. Our model would suggest, as has been suggested by many
philosophers, that personal power and fulfillment come from acting
consistently with one's personal purpose or higher self. People acting in
this manner often seem to naturally develop the required abilities for them
to manifest this purpose. The process of continually discovering one's
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personal purpose and acting in accord with it is the process of falling
into alignment with one's self at an individual level.
There is an analogy at an organizational level. , People being true
to themselves naturally develop the desire to look for ways of further
expressing themselves. One means is through an organization whose purpose
is aligned with an individual's personal purpose. The individual then can
more fully express their personal purpose within such an organization,
thereby furthering the manifestation of the organizational purpose. By
taking those actions which fully support the organization purpose, the
individual is more likely to achieve their personal purpose. In an
analogous way to falling into an alignment with one's personal purpose, one
then falls into alignment with the organization purpose.
What appears to happen at this point is that the individual
identity begins to expand to include the organization purpose, the
identification with something outside of and larger than one's self. In
effect, individuals operating in. this special way experience an expanded
sense of themselves. Abraham Maslow described a state that might be
reached in which
"...the task, problem or purpose was totally introjected
by everyone in the situation; that is to say, that the
task or duty was not any longer something separate from
the self, something out there, outside the person and
different from him, but rather he identified with this
task so strongly that you couldn't define his real self
without including that task." (Maslow, p. )
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This is quite different from sacrificing one's identity to the
organization, although it may be possible to develop a degree of alignment
in this way. Alignment is actually a more fundamental condition. It
encompasses the full expression of individual freedom and responsibility.
There is a deep sense of personal satisfaction and fulfillment which
results from working within an aligned organization. Each individual is
manifesting results consistent with their true nature and purpose.
Performance in a highly aligned organization can be spectacular.
We have watched examples of organizations. increase gross sales 600% in nine
months, or reduce product development cycles by 65% after discovering their
‘true ‘purpose and joint commitment to that purpose.
With the phenomenon of alignment, previously wasted power and
energy is released. This energy is immediately available to do the work of
the organization. In effect, the organization empowers itself. It becomes
resilient, manageable, and leadable. People feel empowered by their
participation in the organization since their personal power is actually
amplified through that participation. They come to work enthusiastically
and leave each day feeling enriched and even more powerful than when they
arrived. An aligned organization naturally empowers people, both the
members and others who come in contact with it. Moreover, any step to
develop the capacities and abilities of individuals actually contributes
‘directly to the organization results. By contrast in an unaligned
organization, any steps to develop the people's individual power often
exacerbates the underlying conflict.
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Alignment is created by the energy of a common vision which
permeates the entire organization. This vision must be consistent with the
higher values and morals of the participants so that it lifts people out of
a preoccupation with themselves and unites them in the pursuit of goals and
objectives worthy of their highest effort.
Alignment is probably best developed as a natural by-product of
focusing on a lofty result rather than trying to become aligned. In the
past, we have observed a number of organizations and teams who have focused
on becoming a better team, with the expectation that results would
naturally go up. In side-by-side comparisons, we have seen consistently
that those teams which focus on a result or a vision, and who have the
desire to be aligned, achieve both the results and the alignment. Those
teams in organizations which focus on creating alignment and a sense of
teamwork, often achieve neither the alignment and teamwork nor the result.
The process seems to work in much the same way as trying to be satisfied
or fulfilled in life. Satisfaction and fulfillment appear to come as a
natural by-product. from fully committing yourself to your own higher
Purposes and goals and participating fully in their manifestation.
Individuals who focus predominantly on their own personal satisfaction
often become locked in a self-reinforcing search for an ever more elusive
target.
When you begin to see yourself as part of a larger whole, you also
begin to see that you are not that different from other players on the
team, on the same team. Most organizations ostensibly compete with other
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organizations, yet it never ceases to surprise us that most conflict
manifests within the organization. When one begins to feel a part of a
larger whole, one also begins to feel far less separation and a more
natural relationship with others in the organization. The organization
itself takes on the quality of a well-working partnership and the potential
for deep personality conflict diminishes greatly.
At the same time, a new potential for creative ideational conflict
emerges. Highly aligned organizations often have more open disagreement
about strategies, tactics, and policies than less aligned organizations.
In fact, our observation is that a high degree of alignment is a necessary
condition for creative disagreement. The quality of interpersonal rela-
tionships existing in a highly aligned organization allow people to engage
in ideational confict without devolving into damaging personality
conflicts. Since effective ideational conflict is often vital for creative
Solutions, one often finds an increase in such conflizt in successful
organizations.
The feeling of working as a unified whole is exhiliarating. It's
much more like being a part of a living organism than simply a mechanistic
organization, a mere collection of parts. Like the organs in the human
body, each person's task is unique, yet vital. There is a feeling that the
whole team, that the whole organization must make it together.
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Personal Responsibility for Total Organization Performance
The creation and maintenance of alignment allows individual
members to accept personal responsibility for not only their ow
performance, but also that of the organization as a whole. It is no longer
possible to operate with the viewpoint of "I'll get my part done and leave
the rest to someone else." While personal responsibility requires an
individual to discharge his or her accountabilities, it also demands a
broader viewpoint. Individual actions must be conceived as part of a
larger whole: "I'll get my part done, and I'll make sure that we all get
the whole project done."
Individuals operating with the viewpoint of personal
responsibility for total organziation performance have power and influence
far beyond that accorded to their role or position. In effect, they have
made two fundamental choices: to support the purpose and vision of the
organization, and to play the game jointly rather than individually. When
these choices are freely made they allow the creation and maintenance of
alignment. Equally important, they result in a deep sense ‘of personal
power that comes from owning the whole game.
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Vv. Focus on Structure
Responsibility for structure may be the most neglected dimension
of leadership. Most presidents or CEO's see themselves as the “captain of
the ship” or the "navigator" charting the organization's direction. This
is easy to understand in light of the visibility and accountability that go
with leadership. But what good is it to be the captain of a ship that
takes three days to make a left turn, or, even worse, that turns right when
the captain says left.
Responsibility for "designing the ship" is often neglected because
(1) there is less visibility and credit for this aspect of leadership than
for "captaining", (2) there are generally long lags between structural
change and changes in performance, and (3) there may be great uncertainty
regarding the ultimate consequences of different organizational designs.
Underlying all the above reasons is a more general lack of understanding of
the nature of structure in an organizational context.
To understand the meaning of structure it is helpful to return to
our metaphor of the crew. The structure that determines the crew's
performance includes the design of the shell. In a highly competitive race
small differences in shell design can be critical. There is clearly a
physical dimension to structure,
But there is more than that. In a human system, structure
includes the "policies" which guide key decisions. One such policy for the
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crew concerns the use of the rudder by the coxswain. Whenever the rudder
is inserted in the water it creates drag which slows the shell. Hence it
must be used sparingly to control direction. The ideal is to insert the
rudder only during the stroke and only when it is absolutely necessary.
Good coxswains develop finely tuned perceptions of lateral movement and
expert judgment, so as only to use the rudder when absolutely necessary.
These perceptions and judgnent, integrated within a "steering policy", are
also part of the structure determining the crew performance. Similar
policies guide the rowers in slightly varying the stroke as another means
of adjusting direction. When seen as a whole, the crew and shell
constitute an elegant and highly complex feedback system continually
processing information about current, direction, wind, stroke speed and
synchronization to propel the shell with maximum efficiency towards its
destination. When we speak of structure, we speak of this entire feedback
system.
Most generally, we use the term structure to describe the complex
web of interrelationships that determine organizational performance over
time. This notion of structure subsumes (1) the "organizational structure”
of reporting relationships represented by the organizational chart and (2)
the "policy structure" created by the values, strategies, information
flows, and explicit or implicit rules that determine key decisions.
Understanding of dynamic systems in the physical sciences and engineering
suggests that structure is organized into feedback loops—"positive loops"
that generate growth and "negative loops" that are responsible for control
of stability. An example of a positive loop is the reinforcing
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interrelationship between new product development, sales revenues, and the
capacity for further product development. Examples of “negative loops" are
demand and supply adjustments to price or availability.* This same basic
dichotomy of positive and negative feedback is capable of explaining a
broad range of phenomena in the social systems, as in physical systems.
Past research has shown that many key organizational behavior patterns of
growth, stagnation, and instability can often be explained by clear
understanding of underlying feedback structure.**
Although few organizational leaders are formally trained in
applying systems thinking to organizations, it is our observation that
leaders in metanoic organizations share a uniquely systemic view of their
organizations, They develop a deep appreciation for the interrelationships
between key policies such as those governing capital investment, hiring,
inventory management, price setting, debt acquisition, and new product
development. They understand the significance of delays in capacity
expansion, hiring and training new personnel, product development, and
management development when altering the course of an organization. In
short, they develop an intimate personal feel for how the organization
functions as a system and how to work with, rather than against, the forces
of the system, While most managers are entangled in analyzing how to react
to the external and internal events they believe to determine
organizational performance, leaders in metanoic organizations focus on a
deeper level of causality. They concern themselves less with "who is doing
* See, for example, Milsum, Forrester, (1961).
** See, for many examples, Roberts (1978).
eg
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what to whom" and focus more on structural. design as the basis for creating
an organization capable of generating desired performance regardless of
external events.
Leverage Points. In particular, leaders in metanoic organizations develop .
a deep appreciation for the systems principle of "leverage points." This
principle provides a primary guide for the way metanoic organizations deal
with complexity.
The principle of leverage points suggests that in most complex
systems there are only a small number of interventions that can affect
fundamental patterns of organizational behavior. This principle contrasts
sharply with the trend toward increasingly complex solutions to
increasingly complex managerial problems. This trend was illustrated
several years ago by a goverrment official who denied criticisms that the
administration had failed to develop a coherent national energy plan. In
response, he pointed to over one hundred energy-related initiatives that
had been sent to Congress by the administration. Such a policy viewpoint
represents the antithesis of the principle of leverage points.. It grows
out of a mistaken belief that effective policy design results in an
initiative for each problem symptom. The principle of leverage points
shifts management attention away from the futile task of devising a
programmatic band aid for each problem symptom and towards the search for
“trimtabs" as Fuller calls them, the "foci of power" as described by Platt
(19731, or what Forrester [1971] calls "high leverage policies." We find
that leaders in metanoic organizations have highly developed skills in
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locating high leverage policy changes and focusing management attention on
these few significant areas of intervention.
The Assumed Proximity of Cause and Effect. Underlying the focus on
leverage’ points is a still more profound shift in viewpoint intrinsic to
the metanoic organization. This shift concerns the very nature of
causality. For most American managers, nothing is more real than the
“bottom line." Performance measured by profits, sales growth, marketing
effectiveness, productivity, return on investment, or market share tends to
dominate attention, Although emphasis on performance is vital for any
successful business, it also underlies most ineffective interventions in
organizational systems.
When, for example, effectiveness of current marketing efforts
decline? “pressures to rapidly restore market effectiveness naturally lead
to training programs, discounts, advertising campaigns, or increased sales
commissions. That is, a corrective action is taken that is obviously
related“to'the problem symptom, falling marketing effectiveness.
Similarly, declining manufacturing productivity is apt to be met by
Programs to boost manufacturing skills and morale, improve equipment, or
establish quality circles. Such interventions often represent low-leverage
changes because they are based on an underlying often unrecognized
assumption that cause and effect are clearly related in time and space.
The most significant implication of the principle of leverage points is
that high leverage interventions are generally not closely related in time
and space to the most obvious symptoms of problem behavior. Leverage
D~-3324 25
points are generally non-obvious from the behavioral or performance
perspective that dominates most organizations. Only when a structural
viewpoint evolves, do high leverage interventions become understandable.
For example, consider the case of a manufacturing firm losing
marketing share due fundamentally to inadequate capacity expansion causing
lengthening delivery times. Such conditions often exist in a corporation
that markets aggressively while maintaining tight financial controls.
However, imagine that the fundamental causes of the problem are not
apparent due to a host of related symptoms of decline such as falling
product quality, increasing competition, and management turnover. Because
the most obvious symptom of decline is falling marketing effectiveness, the
firm attempts to restore effectiveness through increased incentives to
marketing personnel. If that such a policy change is effective, it may
actually make matters worse. If the incentives succeed in increasing
orders, production capacity will eventually be overstressed even further,
leading to still longer delivery times. But, the undesired consequences. of
the even longer delivery times will not be evident immediately, due to
delays in customer perceptions and reactions. Consequently, the incentive
program may become widely recognized within the organization as a success
for many months before market share begins to turn down once again. In the
ensuing decline, there will be strong pressures within the firm to locate
blame for the decline elsewhere than the incentive program, since its
success has already been established.
D-3324 26
The above scenario obviously oversimplifies but it serves to
illustrate the dangers of an assumed proximity of cause and effect. Firms
dominated by this implicit assumption can literally drive themselves out of
business, without ever awakening to the role of their own assumptions in
causing the demise. the assumed proximity of cause and effect is rooted in
an event-oriented view of causality. Such a view is behavioral not
structural. It describes the causality of billiard balls crashing into one
another but not the principles required to design an organization where
fewer "crashes" need take place.
In metanoic organizations, structure is as "real" as performance.
People realize that performance is controlled by structure, even though
structure is inherently abstract and difficult to observe. Such
understanding shared by a significant segment of individuals allows
metanoic organizations to resist the pressures that overwhelm normal
organizations to "fix" problem symptoms. They develop tolerance for
recognizing but not reacting to problem symptoms, while continuing to
search for changes in policy- or organization structure that could have
long-term enduring consequences.
The search for structural leverage points draws people into an
inherently systemic view of the organization which differs fundamentally
from the “‘symptom-response" orientation. Problems having their most
obvious manifestations in marketing and sales may have their underlying
causes in capacity expansion policies. Problems in product development may
ultimately stem from inappropriate growth goals or financing strategies.
D-3324 27
As an organization develops the capacity to locate leverage points, it
tends less and less to "push harder" on marketing personnel or product
development engineers in response to obvious problems in those functional
areas, However, systemic thinking may be difficult to assimilate into
established organizations, especially ones that are traditionally organized
around functional. concentrations of decision-making authority. Hence, one
should expect that effective implementation of systemic thinking may have
radical implications for formal organizational structure, and management
philosophy (see inset on Kollmorgen).
D-3324 28
VI. Balance of Reason and Intuition
But, how are leverage points located if they are truly "non-
obvious"—that is, not closely related in time and space to problem
symptoms. Here we come to perhaps the most difficult aspect of the
metanoic organization to describe, the emergence of intuition. The
Philosopher and poet, Matthew Arnold explained metanoia as "...an immense
new inward movement for obtaining one's rule of life...metanoia is: a
change of the inner man." (Arnold, p. 178] Arnold argued that metanoia
embodied the essence of the radical method of the early Christians which
was aimed at "restoring the intuition."*
By intuition we mean knowledge gained by means other than sensory
input and deductive reasoning. Unfortunately, common usage reflects the
poor understanding of intuition characteristic of our society. Intuition
is often used interchangeably with "common sense," or as a sort of short—
hand to describe one's initial insights into a situation before having
thought the problem through. When a manager says "Intuitively, I had
expected the solution to be such and such," he or she generally is
describing their state of understanding before analysis. This concept of
intuition prejudices us into seeing intuition as a poor man's substitute
for rationality.
* Arnold's analysis is consistent with a great deal of recent scholarly
work reassessing early Christian philosophy. (See, for example, Robinson
11977] and Pagels [1979]).
D-3324 29
In fact, studies into the process of scientific inquiry and
creative management have repeatedly pointed to the essential role of
intuition. Intuition is the vital resource that directs the gifted
scientists's rational analysis. In a recent interview, Nobel Laureate
physicist Steven Weinberg said that the development of intuition
represented a key advance underlying his capacities as a scientist. He
described how he has come to rely strongly on incentive hunches in
directing his research rather than pure rational analysis.
A recent Fortune article (Rowan 1979) describes how successful
businessnen rely on intuitive powers more than they usually admit. David
Mahoney, Chairman of Norton Simon observes that "The chief executive
officer is to supposed to say 'I feel.' He's supposed to say, 'I know.’
So we deify instinct by calling it judgement." Professor Henry Mintzberg
of McGill University concludes from extensive study, that the top CEO is a
“holistic, intuitive thinker who...is constantly relying on hunches to cope
with problems far too coplex for rational analysis.
A key to developing creative skills is to view intuition as a
developable ability. In general, Western education systematically thwarts
the development of intuition through emphasis on factual information and
rational analysis. If undeveloped, intuition does indeed became a second
class intellectual capacity—so, in that sense, the common meaning of
intuition is an accurate description of most people's current abilities, if
not their ultimate potential. Metanoic organizations reverse this
imbalance. They create an environment that nurtures intuitive development.
They do so through continual emphasis on (1) the uniquely personal
intuitive source of vision, (2) alignment, (3) and systemic thinking about
’ structure.
D-3324 30
Intuition and Vision
The source of the type of vision that transforms an organization
lies in the confluence of personal purpose and unique insight into the
future. Intuition appears to be the channel that mediates purpose and
insight. Personal purpose can never be determined rationally. In a very
real sense, one never knows his or her true purpose. Rather, one develops
progressively enhanced capacity to recognize which of a variety of possible
activities are most consistent with one's purpose. In just the way
Weinberg describes the scientist's intuitive sense of when to pursue a
particular research track, our work clearly shows that people can develop a
sharpened intuitive sense of the consistency of alternative objectives with
their personal purpose. This intuitive capability extends to a visionary
capacity concerning organization and environment. The capacity to see into
the future with uncommon accuracy has often been attributed to highly
successful business leaders. In a test of senior executive's precognitive
powers conducted at New Jersey Institute of Technology, researchers found
that 80% of company presidents who had doubled sales in the past 4 years
scored abnormally high on precognition tests. A control group of
presidents from companies with modest performance records exhibited no such
special skills,
Intuition and Alignment. Intuition is equally important for alignment.
Aligrment manifests as the functioning of a group of people as one. In
organizations, this is often created by focus on a common vision. But, if
one observes the functioning of a highly aligned group, one glimpses the
D-3324 31
inherent role of intuition. As individuals deepen their awareness of each
other, individual activities fall into an easy, almost unconscious,
synchronization with each other. Various projects come together in a
natural and extraordinarily efficient way that simply couldn't be planned
rationally in advance. It is almost as if each individual knows what is
going on in the rest of the organization and unconsciously executes their
part so as to maximize the efficiency of the whole.
To explain this phenomenon, we have adopted the working hypothesis
that people are fundamentally connected at a level only intuition can
comprehend. This is ultimately what makes it possible for highly aligned
groups to develop a deep sense of common vision and the seemingly magical
capability to literally operate as a unifed whole. Philosophers have for
ages discussed the existence of deep values that unite all people. Huxley
[1945] calls this undercurrent of human consciouness the "perennial
philosophy" and shows how it runs as common thread through the diverse
religions and philosophies of the world. We would suggest that the source
of the perennial philosophy is the intuitive comprehension of mankind's
fundamental unity.
Lest this sound too abstract to possibly be relevant to
organizations and businesses, it is important to recognize that each of us
probably has at one time or another, experienced this transcendent
characteristic of alignment. Unfortunately, for most of us the experience
has not been in an organizational context. For most people in our culture,
the clearest alignment experiences have been in sports and the performing
D-3324 32
arts. Nonetheless, these’ experiences are valid sources of insight into the
nature of the phénomenon-and the role of intuition. =
The former basketball star Bill Russell describes the experience
of alignment as it can emerge on a world-championship sports team.
Every so often a Celtic game would heat up so that it became
more than a physical or even mental game, and would be magical. That
feeling is difficult to describe, and I certainly never talked about
it when I was playing. When it happened, I could feel my play rise
“ to"a'new level. It came rarely, and would last anywhere from five
minutes to a whole quarter or more. Three’or four plays were not
enough to get it going. It would surround not only me and the other
Celtics, but also the players on the other team, and even the
referees.
At that special level, all sorts of odd things happened. The
game would be in a white heat of competition, and yet somehow I
wouldn't feel competitive--which is a miracle in itself. I'd be
putting out the maximum effort, straining, coughing up parts of my
lungs as we ran, and yet nothing could surprise me. It was almost as
“if we were playing in slow motion. During those spells, I could
almost sense how the next play would develop and where the next shot
would be taken. Even: before the other team brought the ball in
bounds, I could feel it so keenly that I'd want to shout to my
teammates, "It's coming there!" except that I knew everything
would change if I did. My premonitions would be consistently
"correct; ..."
Russell goes on to describe the unique sense of personal relationship that
pervaded those special times.
"...I always felt then that I not only knew all the Celtics by heart,
but also all the opposing players, and that they all knewme. There
have been many times in my career when I felt moved or joyful, but
these were the moments when I had chills pulsing up and down my
spine." .
People often report similar experiences in chamber music ensembles, theater
troupes, or symphony orchestras that rise to "special" levels of
performance.
D-3324 33
As an organization becomes more open to intuitive modes of
comprehension, alignment can develop in ways completely appropriate to an
organizational context. For example, people may leave a lengthy business
meeting in which a large number of important problems were effectively
dealt with unable to remember who said what or who adopted what position.
Their feeling of teamwork was so keen that who contributed what was
irrelevant.
Intuition and Structure. By focusing on the systemic nature of an
organization, metanoic organizations subtly emphasize intuition as a
necessary complement to rational analysis. Developing a viewpoint that
recognizes that cause and effect may be distant in time and space
counteracts common pressures to extensively analyze the pieces of an
organization in isolation from one another. Synthesis becomes the
necessary complement to analysis, and holistic modes of understanding are
legitmated. Concomitantly, deep respect for intuitive understanding
develops. This appears to be essential to an organization's capacity to
identify and focus on leverage points.
But it is probably also true that intuition alone is insufficient.
What most distinguishes metanoic organizations is not simply their openness
to intuition, but the unique balance they achieve between intuitive and
rational modes of understanding. This balance is necessary in
communicating intuitive insight and, in developing intuitive capabilities.
One person's intuitive insight into organizational structure has little
impact within an organization unless that insight can be transferred to
D-3324 34
others. Few CEOs, no matter how strong their position, ‘can effect basic
changes in policy or organization structure by fiat. They must have tools
to clarify and communicate intuitive insight, so that insight can be
shared.
Even more importantly, our work has shown to the absence of
appropriate analytic tools can actually stifle intuitive development. This
problem is best illustrated by the brilliant student who consistently
"intuits" the correct answers to complex problems but who has not yet
mastered the appropriate analytic tools to show that the answers are
correct. First, he will be unable to convince others that his answer is
correct. Second, he will lose confidence in his intuition as his answers
go unaccepted or, if his analysis contradicts his intuition, he will
actually convince himself out of his intuitive insight. This points to
what! we believe are the two basic causes for the generally poor level of
intuitive development in our society in general and in our management
education in particular: (1) direct discouragement of the intuitive mode
in favor of the analytic mode, and (2) emphasis on "reductionistic"
analytic techniques inappropriate to systemic understanding. If, as much
research has indicated*, intuition is inherently holistic and oriented
towards comprehension of inter-relationships, analytic methods that focus
only on understanding parts of a system in isolation from one another are
fundamentally inimical to development of intuition.
* For example, see Ornstein [1973].
D-3324 35
Hence, appropriate methods of systemic analysis can assume a
critical role in the development of metanoic organizations. It is not
surprising that many of the most advanced organizations we have worked with
are run by individuals with strong systems engineering backgrounds. Their
engineering background prepares them to think more effectively about their
organizations as a complex living system. They frequently analyze complex
problems metaphorically, by comparison to similar dynamics in complex
engineering systems. However, few are skilled in use of nontechnical
conceptual tools for systems thinking, primarily because those tools have
not been widely available in the past.* As such tools become more
accessible to senior managers, we expect them to have considerable
impact. **
* It is important to note that most so-called systems analysis and
operations research techniques fall short of providing the general systems
thinking skills called for. They can be useful, but all to often are
technically sophisticated and conceptually primitive. What we are talking
about are tools for the senior manager that aid in clarifying his or her
own thinking, and Serve as a communication vehicle. When effectively used,
‘such tools can draw on more technical analysis to buttress clear thinking
not replace it. For similar thoughts, see some of the recently published
reflectives on the state of operations research and management science
{references].
** Several new systems thinking books point in the right direction of what
is needed. See, for example, Kauffman [1979] and Roberts [1978] although
designed for high school students, is excellent for senior managers as
well.
D-3324 36
VII. Implications for Leadership
Metanoic organizations require a different type of leadership.
Leaders in metanoic organizations can truly lead, rather than cajole,
coerce, or manipulate people into desired patterns of performance. Leaders
in metanoic organizations do not need to motivate people, rather they must
attend to the variety of barriers that can de-motivate. Leaders in
metanoic organizations are able to operate with the certainty that people
truly want to produce outstanding results and are committed to producing
those results with one another. In particular, leaders in metanoic
‘organizations ‘are responsible for (1) a generation of and communication of
the organization's vision, (2) keeping the organization on course when
obstacles arise, (3) organizational and policy design, (4) maintaining an
envirorment that empowers people, and (5) articulating the organization's
societal role. —
Vision
In metanoic oganizations, the leader's primary job is to catalyze
the discovery of and alignment around an underlying purpose. Initially
this may entail traditional management techniques of setting directions,
goals and objectives. Ultimately, one moves to the state where the
organization continually discovers its direction. This implies that one
might initially be focused on creating and articulating a vision for others :
to capture and enroll in, but eventually everyone's vision is equally
important, since the juxtaposition of differing visions allows the
D-3324 37
discovery of underlying purpose. By each sharing his or her vision,
everyone participates in a critical leadership function and develops a
sense of "ownership of the game".
As this process develops, each individual begins to establish a
very special relationship with the vision, that of a custodian or
caretaker. It's not so much vision as their vision. Individuals
experience themselves as a vehicle or channel for their own higher purpose,
they embody it and breathe life into it. It is the leader's role to see
that each individual in the organization has the fullest opportunity to
discover, what George Bernard Shaw called,
",..the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose
recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a
force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little
clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the
world will not devote itself to making you happy.”
Staying on Course
Once a course is set and the organization has imparted on the
course, it invariably encounters opposing forces, some external like
competitors and some internal like dissidence (well-meaning or otherwise).
These are the times that test the clarity of the vision and the courage of
those holding the vision. Because an organization is invariably off course
when it is moving towards a reality which has never existed in the past,
leaders in metanoic organizations assume responsibility for re-establishing
the vision and re-enrolling and aligning people around that vision when the
going gets tough.
D-3324 38
Times when the vision is tested are among the most difficult tests
of a metanoic or any organization. A vision that is easily adjusted in the
face of external pressures is hardly a vision. Continual changes in course
will only dissipate alignment and underline the entire visioning process.
On the other hand, blind and rigid pursuit of a vision can be equally
disastrous. Ultimately, leaders in metanoic organizations develop the
wisdom to know when it is appropriate to alter a vision. Whereas
leadership in most organizations frequently adjusts goals in the face of
evidence that the goals are difficult to achieve, leaders in metanoic
organizations have a greater tolerance for the uncertainty that is required
in achieving grand visions.
Organizational and Policy Design
Leaders in metanoic organizations naturally assume broad
responsibility for organizational and policy design. They view as one of
their major tasks that of developing and maintaining ways of thinking about
the organization as a unifed organism. One of the functions of vision is
that of “defining the organization in terms of what it, as an entity, seeks
to accomplish. Leaders of metanoic organizations continually keep before
the people in their organization the key questions "Who are we?", “What is
our vision or purpose?", "How are we different?", and “What are our major
strategic objectives and our strategies for accomplishing those
objectives?" Leaders in metanoic organizations likewise work continually
to reinforce systemic thinking.
D-3324 39
Leaders in metanoic organizations understand that the foundation
of systemic thinking is appreciation of the nature of complex systems. For
example, one organization has developed an elaborate demonstration
involving a series of roller skates interconnected with springs of
different "spring constants" (i.e. strengths) and with different weights on
the different roller skates. Individuals are encouraged to attempt to
control the movement of the roller skate at one extreme end of the string
only by moving the roller skate at the other end of the string. The
demonstration starts with two roller skates and then a third roller skate
is added, and then a fourth, and so on. Usually, somewhere between 2 and 4
roller skates, people begin to get the message that it's impossible to
control the behavior of even a slightly complex system through manipulating
a few of its external inputs. Senior managers in this organization use
this demonstration to (1) show the futility of attempting to rigidly
control the behavior of complex systems, and (2) to underscore the fact
that they, cannot in any sense manipulate organization behavior from "on
top."
Responsibility for organizational and policy structure includes
both developing appreciation for the characteristics of complex systems and
deepening understanding of the specific relationships between different
functional areas in one's own organization. Leaders in metanoic
organizations naturally see understanding interrelationships as one of
their primary functions. They devote considerable amounts of their own
time to understanding interrelationships and sharing that understanding.
The important point to emphasize is that the senior management in metanoic
D-3324 40
organizations does not delegate analysis of organizational structure purely
to in-house consultants or technical analysts. While consultants and
technical analysts may play an important part, the leaders themselves must
learn to think and communicate more systemically in order to effectively
lead.
Sustaining an Environment that Empowers Individuals
A championship crew requires championship rowers. But personal
skills are often only fully realized within the context of a championship
team. Effective teams create an environment that empowers individuals to
their fullest potential. One of the major skills of leaders in metanoic
organizations is empowering others. They become the sort of people around
whom others simply naturally grow and develop. Implicit in the nature of
the metanoic organization is the continual pressure for the leaders to
"give the game away" to the people they lead, to empower others to run the
organization. They are committed to the discovery and realization of the
full potential and capacity of each individual. They see each individual
as ‘possessing their own personal greatness, the full expression of which is
“vital for the organization. The organization is built around the peculiar
talents of the individuals. It continually challenges those talents and
encourages those people to give the fullest of themselves.
While many of the above are ideals espoused -in most organizations,
the metanoic organization has a unique capacity to realize ideals of
empowerment. This capacity grows from the relationship between alignment
D-3324 41
and empowering. In an unaligned organization, empowering individuals can
intensify conflict and disunity. To take a simple analogy, if two
individuals are attempting to go in the opposite direction, increasing
their personal power only increases the wasted energy caused by their
conflict. On the other hand, if two individuals are attempting to go in
the same direction, their collective ability to move in that direction is
only increased by increasing their personal power. Similarly in an :
organization, alignment is a necessary precondition for individual
empowerment to translate into organizational empowerment. Hence, only in
the highly aligned organization, can the individual's quest for growth
align with the organizational's quest to obtain its vision.
Leaders in metanoic organizations utilize a repertoire of
behaviors conducive to interpersonal development, such as positive
reinforcement and acknowledgement, but they also become expert in subtler
forms of interpersonal relationship. Our work with gifted leaders suggests
that there is an underlying principle or key to the ability to empower
others. Simply put, people who empower others have the capacity to truly
see other people's greatness and to hold that greatness as part of their
personal vision. This is not to say that they merely try to build up each
other's confidence. The particular behaviors they employ are those which
are appropriate to the individuals with whom they are working. In some
cases they might be extremely harsh and critical and in others very gentle
and encouraging. But beyond the behavior they employ, they continually
stand in the light of the other person's true nature and purpose. Their
relationships with other people grow out of their recognition of the
D-3324 42
other's true nature and purpose. Everything they do is done to allow
others to more fully realize their underlying purpose. In this sense,
their committment to the people around them is absolute.
Leaders in organizations often establish norms for interpersonal
relationship within the organization. In the metanoic organization, the
norm truly becomes knowing one another and demanding the highest from one
another. It is not always comfortable for people to operate within the
context of such relationships. When people demand the highest of one
another they often are less tolerant when they know the highest is not
being reached for. Many people find that they would prefer to be
comfortable in their working relationships rather than to strive for the
highest. These people usually find their way out of metanoic
organizations. Those who are left are the “real players". They play the
game to the fullest, knowing full well that it is a game. But it is a game
they have chosén to invest with meaning and relevance.
D-3324 43
Societal Role of the Organization
Metanoic organizations develop a unique source of social
responsibility. Societal responsibility develops in most organizations
because it appears to be necessary. Everyone wants to be a good “corporate
citizen" and to avoid the difficulties that arise from being a poor
corporate citizen, particularly in the contemporary political environment.
In metanoic organizations people are operating out of a deep sense of their
own personal purpose and vision. They naturaly come to view the
organization as a vehicle for expressing their personal purpose.
Consequently they naturally demand that the organization manifest their own
deepest values in its relationship with society at large.
Leaders in metanoic organizations may spend a substantial amount
of their time dealing with non-corporate societal issues. Oftentimes, they
do this because they feel they have a voice that needs to be heard, a
viewpoint on how organizations can work which is relevant to understanding
how society at large can work. They do this in much the same way an
elected representative of any constituency represents his or her
constituency in public forms. They feel they are a spokesman for the
people who work with them, and one of their primary responsibilities is to
effectively articulate their corporate philosophy and vision. In many
instances, leaders of these organizations are quite active in national
politics. Often, surprisingly, they advocate policies which do not
directly improve the econanic opportunities for their particular industry
but which they feel are important for the overall vitality and health of
- the economy as a whole. This again is consistent with their role as a
D-3324 44
representative of their constituents, doing what they can to provide for
the security of future generations. In a political environment which has
great difficulty focusing on long-term issues and resource allocation,
enlightened business leaders with a deep sense of commitment to their
organization and their people can be one of the most powerful voices for
longer-term thinking.
Interestingly, leaders in metanoic organizations also often have
more time to engage in the role of societal activist than leaders in
traditional organizations. The very nature of their management philosophy
is to turn over control to others within the organization. This tends to
free up more of their time for activities which are simply not possible for
leaders in traditional organizations to engage in. Thus, it seems to us
entirely possible that the emergence of metanoic organizations will
concomitantly bring an important new voice in public policy debates. To
the extent ‘that these leaders engage societal issues from the viewpoint of
creating what we want rather than protecting what we might lose, theirs'
may be a very different voice than the voice we have grown accustomed to
hearing from the business community. In essence, these leaders will be
attempting to bring the philosophy of the metanoic organization to the
society as whole.
D-3324 45
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Maslow, Abraham, Eupsyhian Management.
Milsum, John, Positive Feedback.
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