Organizing for Innovation
Who's the Boss? Me, you, them, us... it depends
W.L. Gore and Associates considere themselves to have a lattice organization structure. There really is no up, no corporate ladder. Everyone is intertwined with each other, dependent on and responsible to everyone else in the organization. There are no titles, just areas of expertise and knowledge. While a decade old, this article's insider's point of view still is relavent to the company's culture today: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/11/noboss.html
In the video below, Terri Kelly, President of Gore, discusses how the unpopular structure fosters innovation. The term she uses is "on-demand hiearchy." By allowing the leadership not to be fixed, but instead to shift along with the needs of the project, the person with most appropriate knowledge can lead the group. And lets be honest, not everyone knows everything in an organization or about the products. Allowing the leader with the knowledge take over when appropriate just makes more sense.
W.L. Gore and Associates have won awards internationally for such categories such as Fortune magazine's annual list of the U.S. "100 Best Companies to Work For." Retention is high as well as employee satisfaction.
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