[This article is adapted from a similar one published by The Bay Area Organizational Design Network in a 2007 issue of Practicing OD]
Having written about organizational dysfunction for over twenty years now, I am often asked about what I would propose as a model for greater system functionality or healthier, more functional organizations. To date my answer has been what I call “the conscious organization” – my label for an organization whose culture invites investigation and intervention whenever any dysfunctional behavior starts to surface. This is in stark contrast to the bureaucratic organization which develops a high tolerance for dysfunctional behavior and practices such as fusion, denial, co-dependence and gossip – all behaviors that distract from and impede full functionality and efficacy.
Admittedly conceptual, much like “learning organizations” were in the late 1980s before they came into vogue, the Conscious Organization hasn’t yet been tried, at least not to my knowledge. That doesn’t mean it isn’t practical, only that we don’t yet have a “poster child” organization to serve as a model or example.
However, there is an existing organization that possesses uniquely high functionality and many other characteristics deemed desirable by organizational theorists and practitioners alike. It has been tried. In fact, it has been around since the mid-1930s. It has passed the test of market fluctuations and economic cycles over seven decades. Started in the U.S. and now operating all over the world, it transcends cultural differences and plays well globally.
When it comes to results, this organization is remarkably successful. Since its beginnings it has consistently achieved its mission while remaining true to its purpose. Millions of people all over the world have had their lives enhanced by this organization yet only a small staff provides administrative support.
Additionally, this organization has practiced participative management since its founding, long before it became fashionable. Whenever there is some question about how to proceed or, in the rare occurrences when some disagreement occurs, decisions are made democratically, much like the dynamics described in the book The Wisdom of Crowds. People in charge in this organization rotate every six months so no one ever gets into a position of great power. There is no hierarchy or politics.
Its operating principles and formulas are publicly displayed so it is transparent in dealings with customers and workers. It practiced “open architecture” long before the phrase became popular in the high tech industry.
No investment capital was raised by venture capitalists or investment bankers to start or maintain this organization, despite the fact that one of the co-founders was a New York stock broker. No monies needed to be borrowed at the start-up or in the decades since to finance this organization. No public subsidies have ever been sought or required so there is no need for lobbying or seeking special treatment.
The organization does not seek out customers or promote itself but responds immediately when approached by people who need and want the products and services being offered. As a result, no advertising or promotion is needed to “convince” people to become customers. No marketplace or consumer “demand” needs to be created. Growth is based on the principle of attraction. Word of mouth is solely responsible for new customers.
At its core is a non-religious spirituality that engenders service and community, making it sustainable, fulfilling and socially just as well. Another core principle of the organization is relationship. It was started by two people in partnership and mentoring is widely encouraged in its community. Shared experience among its customers is vital to maintaining its vitality and functionality.
Sound too good to be true?
You might wonder: What is this organization? Where is it? Why haven’t I read about this before?
Well, chances are you have heard about it but, like most of us, you weren’t thinking of it as a model for a fully-functioning organization. No advertising. No capitalization. No debt or subsidies. No management hierarchy. Yet millions of people, all over the world, benefit from this organization and are extremely grateful for its existence. This organization is not hiding. It is in plain view all over the world!
Here’s a hint if you haven’t skipped ahead: the terms used by this organization to describe its non-religious relationship with Spirit are “a power greater than ourselves” and “Higher Power.” Now, do you recognize it? That’s right. The organization is Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in 1935 by two drunks, “Bill W.” and “Doctor Bob” a stock broker and a physician. It is estimated that there are currently more than 100,000 A.A. groups and over 2,000,000 members in 150 countries. That’s a lot of branches and many, many customers! In addition, there are tens of millions of other people who have benefited in the past but may not be currently participating in A.A. How about “customer satisfaction”? Ask any sober alcoholic and the odds are that he or she is profoundly grateful to A.A.
There are untold tens of millions of family members who have benefited from the services provided for their loved ones over the past seventy years and many more who’ve benefited from the spin-off 12 Step groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous and a couple of hundred others that have been remarkably successful thanks to their parent organization. What is affectionately known as the “big book” to millions of people around the world, Alcoholic Anonymous, has sold over 25 million copies so far!
And what of overhead? you might ask. Since the dynamics of A.A. is so focused on service and relationships, most of the effort is donated by its members who freely give their time and energies out of gratitude for their recovery. There are no highly-paid senior executives or large bureaucracies. Therefore only a minimum of paid employees is required. In the U.S., for instance, the General Service Office only employs 85 people who coordinate services and publish books and pamphlets for millions of members!
Not only is there no hierarchy or power pyramid, people maintain anonymity so there’s little room for egoism or hubris. People who come into the program voluntarily contribute a dollar or two each time and the local secretary-chair, a volunteer, rotates regularly so no one ever acquires any power over the groups. Its “corporate charter” can be found in the “12 Steps” and the “12 Traditions,” which have stood the test of time with little if any modification since they were first drafted.
What if more of our organizations were founded on such a brilliant platform of self-reliance, service, community and non-religious spirituality? Most likely it would not be practical to apply all aspects of the A.A. model but think about what a difference it would make if even some aspects were used in designing or transforming otherwise less-than-fully-functional organizations. For instance, A.A.’s Sixth Tradition states in part that they will “never endorse, finance or lend our name to any outside enterprise.” This is because it could cause problems and divert A.A. from its primary purpose. Can you imagine how much heartache could be avoided if corporations “stuck with their knitting” and stopped merging and acquiring? Besides the pain M&A activity causes, eighty percent of them fail and make money only for the deal-makers! Everyone else loses.
What if our corporations possessed the same innate respect for non-religious spirituality and were as life-affirming instead of life-draining? What if they were content to offer only services and products that were truly wanted and needed? What if they were committed to serving the long-term future of all humankind and accepted fair profits instead of short-term profit maximization at the expense of people and the environment? What if places of worship focused more on supporting their members having a direct relationship with God, as A.A. does, instead of being so literal and rigid in their interpretations of doctrine or dogma?
What if more of our public institutions could be like A.A. in their approach to unselfish service and fostering community. Imagine our society’s organizations placing “principles before personalities” such as stated in A.A.’s Twelfth Tradition or the “common welfare should come first” as included in the First Tradition?
What a difference life and work would be if society’s organizations adopted some of these principles!
Admittedly conceptual, much like “learning organizations” were in the late 1980s before they came into vogue, the Conscious Organization hasn’t yet been tried, at least not to my knowledge. That doesn’t mean it isn’t practical, only that we don’t yet have a “poster child” organization to serve as a model or example.
However, there is an existing organization that possesses uniquely high functionality and many other characteristics deemed desirable by organizational theorists and practitioners alike. It has been tried. In fact, it has been around since the mid-1930s. It has passed the test of market fluctuations and economic cycles over seven decades. Started in the U.S. and now operating all over the world, it transcends cultural differences and plays well globally.
When it comes to results, this organization is remarkably successful. Since its beginnings it has consistently achieved its mission while remaining true to its purpose. Millions of people all over the world have had their lives enhanced by this organization yet only a small staff provides administrative support.
Additionally, this organization has practiced participative management since its founding, long before it became fashionable. Whenever there is some question about how to proceed or, in the rare occurrences when some disagreement occurs, decisions are made democratically, much like the dynamics described in the book The Wisdom of Crowds. People in charge in this organization rotate every six months so no one ever gets into a position of great power. There is no hierarchy or politics.
Its operating principles and formulas are publicly displayed so it is transparent in dealings with customers and workers. It practiced “open architecture” long before the phrase became popular in the high tech industry.
No investment capital was raised by venture capitalists or investment bankers to start or maintain this organization, despite the fact that one of the co-founders was a New York stock broker. No monies needed to be borrowed at the start-up or in the decades since to finance this organization. No public subsidies have ever been sought or required so there is no need for lobbying or seeking special treatment.
The organization does not seek out customers or promote itself but responds immediately when approached by people who need and want the products and services being offered. As a result, no advertising or promotion is needed to “convince” people to become customers. No marketplace or consumer “demand” needs to be created. Growth is based on the principle of attraction. Word of mouth is solely responsible for new customers.
At its core is a non-religious spirituality that engenders service and community, making it sustainable, fulfilling and socially just as well. Another core principle of the organization is relationship. It was started by two people in partnership and mentoring is widely encouraged in its community. Shared experience among its customers is vital to maintaining its vitality and functionality.
Sound too good to be true?
You might wonder: What is this organization? Where is it? Why haven’t I read about this before?
Well, chances are you have heard about it but, like most of us, you weren’t thinking of it as a model for a fully-functioning organization. No advertising. No capitalization. No debt or subsidies. No management hierarchy. Yet millions of people, all over the world, benefit from this organization and are extremely grateful for its existence. This organization is not hiding. It is in plain view all over the world!
Here’s a hint if you haven’t skipped ahead: the terms used by this organization to describe its non-religious relationship with Spirit are “a power greater than ourselves” and “Higher Power.” Now, do you recognize it? That’s right. The organization is Alcoholics Anonymous, founded in 1935 by two drunks, “Bill W.” and “Doctor Bob” a stock broker and a physician. It is estimated that there are currently more than 100,000 A.A. groups and over 2,000,000 members in 150 countries. That’s a lot of branches and many, many customers! In addition, there are tens of millions of other people who have benefited in the past but may not be currently participating in A.A. How about “customer satisfaction”? Ask any sober alcoholic and the odds are that he or she is profoundly grateful to A.A.
There are untold tens of millions of family members who have benefited from the services provided for their loved ones over the past seventy years and many more who’ve benefited from the spin-off 12 Step groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous, Sex Addicts Anonymous and a couple of hundred others that have been remarkably successful thanks to their parent organization. What is affectionately known as the “big book” to millions of people around the world, Alcoholic Anonymous, has sold over 25 million copies so far!
And what of overhead? you might ask. Since the dynamics of A.A. is so focused on service and relationships, most of the effort is donated by its members who freely give their time and energies out of gratitude for their recovery. There are no highly-paid senior executives or large bureaucracies. Therefore only a minimum of paid employees is required. In the U.S., for instance, the General Service Office only employs 85 people who coordinate services and publish books and pamphlets for millions of members!
Not only is there no hierarchy or power pyramid, people maintain anonymity so there’s little room for egoism or hubris. People who come into the program voluntarily contribute a dollar or two each time and the local secretary-chair, a volunteer, rotates regularly so no one ever acquires any power over the groups. Its “corporate charter” can be found in the “12 Steps” and the “12 Traditions,” which have stood the test of time with little if any modification since they were first drafted.
What if more of our organizations were founded on such a brilliant platform of self-reliance, service, community and non-religious spirituality? Most likely it would not be practical to apply all aspects of the A.A. model but think about what a difference it would make if even some aspects were used in designing or transforming otherwise less-than-fully-functional organizations. For instance, A.A.’s Sixth Tradition states in part that they will “never endorse, finance or lend our name to any outside enterprise.” This is because it could cause problems and divert A.A. from its primary purpose. Can you imagine how much heartache could be avoided if corporations “stuck with their knitting” and stopped merging and acquiring? Besides the pain M&A activity causes, eighty percent of them fail and make money only for the deal-makers! Everyone else loses.
What if our corporations possessed the same innate respect for non-religious spirituality and were as life-affirming instead of life-draining? What if they were content to offer only services and products that were truly wanted and needed? What if they were committed to serving the long-term future of all humankind and accepted fair profits instead of short-term profit maximization at the expense of people and the environment? What if places of worship focused more on supporting their members having a direct relationship with God, as A.A. does, instead of being so literal and rigid in their interpretations of doctrine or dogma?
What if more of our public institutions could be like A.A. in their approach to unselfish service and fostering community. Imagine our society’s organizations placing “principles before personalities” such as stated in A.A.’s Twelfth Tradition or the “common welfare should come first” as included in the First Tradition?
What a difference life and work would be if society’s organizations adopted some of these principles!
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