Today’s nonprofits are facing a myriad of new issues and challenges.
Associations must begin to consider and embrace new models of structure and organization or risk becoming obsolete and irrelevant.
Recently, Scott Oser started a discussion What If Associations Abandoned Hierarchies on ASAE’s Acronym Blog. Jamie Notter responded with The Trouble With Hierarchies. Most of the discussion on these two posts revolves around the fact that hierarchies help with decision-making. The primary thought has been that the absence of hierarchies means anarchy, chaos or a stalled association.
Many embrace a belief that organizations can’t exist without a hierarchical chain of authority. One of the problems with hierarchy is that it has too often bred authoritarianism, creating fear in some cases and dependence in others
W. Edwards Deming said, “In a strictly hierarchical organization, the only learning that takes place is the learning of the individual at the top. Everyone else obeys orders. An organization without learning will only survive in very stable conditions. In practice, of course, the lower ranks actually learn and adapt without being told to do so. But hierarchies tend to learn slowly, especially because a lot of effort goes into preserving the superior status of those at the top, inevitably an anti-learning activity.”
I have a different view on the traditional, top-down controlled, hierarchy. The Digital Age has created new methods of acceptable practices.
Gen Y and the Web 2.0 savvy are learning and working in different ways than the traditional hierarchy methods of Baby Boomers. That is resulting in new models of heterarchies and networks for collaborative efforts in both work and learning environments. Instead of top-down, command and control, authoritative, vertical structures of one-to-many, they embrace collective credibility and many-to-many peer collaborative heterarchies. Gen Y embraces authority determined by knowledge or function, and expertise of the crowd.
Wikipedia defines a heterarchy as a system of organization replete with overlap, multiplicity, mixed ascendancy and/or divergent-but-coexistent patterns of relation. In social and information sciences, heterarchies are networks of elements in which each element shares the same horizontal position of power and authority, each playing a theoretically equal role.
Wow, what if association’s employees each had an equal horizontal position of power?
Gen Y adopted learning without walls, unlike traditional hierarchy models. They are accustomed to commenting on blogs and Wikipedia, using Google docs for collaborative tasks, teaching themselves programming and figuring work-arounds to online video games. They follow links embedded in articles to build a deeper understanding. They comment on papers and ideas in an interactive and immediate exchange of ideas.
All these acts are collaborative and democratic, and all occur amid a worldwide community of voices. Gen Y and early adopters are bringing all of these concepts to establishments and forcing change or they are creating their own businesses and organizations with new models of structure.
Instead of seeing institutions such as nonprofits and corporations as a bundle of rules, regulations, and norms governing the actions within its structure, they are creating new models of organizations as mobilizing networks. They are tearing down traditional hierarchy silos in favor of networked cross-disciplinary arrangements where control shifts around depending on the project and the personality, skills, experience and enthusiasm of those who can make things happen. Much of the project work that is becoming common in large technology companies fits this kind of arrangement.
Reliability, predictability and trust are issues organizations must embrace alongside flexibility and innovation. Organizations, especially nonprofits, must rethink current structures and will be forced to adapt and change or fail.
I think that in the 21st century, the time is ripe for sustainable change in the ways that organizations get things done. What do you think?
Jeff, very thought provoking post! It’s hard to keep up with the new generation and create a work environment that supports their style and also engages the Boomers. In many cases the boomers have the relationships and institutional knowledge that got you where you are today. It’s tough for an organization to throw that out the window.
I think what you describe above is the desired state, but it’s going to take baby steps to get there. The baby step approach in 2009/10 though needs to be upgraded to Toddler steps (bigger strides, increased pace). Several months ago, I wrote an article about Breaking Down Silos that may help identify some tactical steps to start with. http://www.velvetchainsaw.com/articles/Breaking_Down_Silos.pdf
Dave Lutz – @velchain
Dave:
Thanks for the link to Breaking Down Silos and tactical steps. Business strategist and thought leader Gary Hamel has a great book about this as well, The Future Of Management. He has some interesting things to say about management styles and is an advocate of networked management. I also recommend the following short video from PBS’ Small Business School about Wahoo’s Fish Tacos and their heterarchy management style.
Very interesting post. I tweet for a non-profit as well, and I had to convince them twitter and facebook were good ideas! I, too, believe if we don’t adapt and bring in younger supporters… the non-profits won’t be successful. Thanks for writing!
@Carrie:
Thanks for adding to the discussion. I agree with you that’s its about finding ways to bring in younger supporters. I had a conversation earlier today with a colleague who’s company had entered the social media space in the second half of the year. They felt the need to get their ducks in a row first…which is a good thing. The ironic thing was the also felt the need to “control” the conversation…their words, not mine. I laughed when they said that. I also asked the following questions: Do you trust your employees to use the phone and email correctly? They why would you also not trust your employees to use social media like Twitter correctly? They responded with, “Wow, hadn’t thought of it like that.”
Control is an interesting point, I’ve always felt that the “control issue” hampers organizational adoption and effective use of social media outlets. Somewhere in the mix the idea that its a conversation is lost and as far as the organizations are concerned becomes little more than a direct marketing channel.
John:
Thanks for adding to the discussion. Great points about control and conversations. I’ve never understood some organizations resistance to engagement in social media. Organizational leadership allow their employees to use the telephone and email on their behalf and then for some reason get bent out of shape when their employees use social media on their behalf. Those leaders with those control issues illustrate their own distrust of their employees and their need to control things.
What Nonprofits Can Learn From The Digital Age: Hierarchies, Heterarchies & Networks…
Reliability, predictability and trust are issues that nonprofit organizations and associations must embrace in the digital age, along with a new flexibility and innovation. It’s a matter of organizations learning to change and adapt to meet the new no…
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