CONCLUSION


When an organization rejects rank-based practices and implements instead the peer-based practices I have introduced here, then all individuals will learn to speak, write, and listen persuasively. Peer-based organizations capture the power in the strange attractor by unleashing the potential in all their employees ”by increasing the flow of information through the company, by increasing the freedom of decision making, and by maximizing the flexibility and responsiveness of the organization through rotational leadership. The peer-based practices we reviewed are at the heart of peer-based thinking in organizations. Table 5 combines all the aspects of peer-based thinking, from peerbased assumptions and peer-based logic to peer-based practices.

Table 5: THE FOUNDATION OF PEER-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

Peer-Based Assumptions

Peer-Based Logic

Peer-Based Practices

Employees tend to be productive and self-motivated.

Inclusive: Everyone is invited to be a mentor to others and a creator of value, to participate in decision making, and to share in the exercise of power.

Promote open flow and sharing of information, including knowledge of business and financial conditions-with no secrets and no surprises .

Employees tend to be caring and willing to cooperate.

Influencing: Power is defined as influence on things and people.

Encourage employees to think strategically.

Leaders are no different than employees-they have their own unique strengths and weaknesses.

Participating: Getting things done is the natural path for people; people are self-motivated.

Give all members of the organization the authority to make the decisions affecting their work-expanding freedom and creating soft hierarchies.

Only with input and participation from all levels of the organization can leaders make effective decisions about current and future business conditions.

Abundance based: People are willing to cooperate and share with those who cooperate and share with them.

Encourage employees to be creative and learn constantly.

Individuals closest to where the work is done have a good grasp on what needs to happen.

Community formulated: People are by nature social animals who seek and enjoy working with others.

Rotate leadership and manage key organizational decisions by inviting participation by all members of the organization into the process.

You don't manage peers; you cooperate with them.

Equitable: Distributing the organization's resources more equitably in the organization will generate far greater returns to everyone in the long run.

Communicate throughout the organization honestly and truthfully.

Today, as the complexity and flow of information in world markets accelerate, we are witnessing the demand by people from every race and nation for greater freedom ”for the autonomy to make the decisions that affect their lives. This is pulling organizations away from conventional management practices and has opened up the need for peer-based organizational management. If we can create the space for peer-based organizations through the implementation of the correct assumptions, logic, and practices, they will naturally emerge without force or coercion and allow meaningful organizational life to evolve .

By rejecting rank-based management thinking and understanding human organizations in terms of energy flow, degrees of freedom, and structure, new possibilities open up through peer-based practices. The wisdom of peer-based management reverses the classical leadership view that only the few are meant to lead and the rest are destined to follow. This opens up the field of contribution to many more and conditions the possibility of peer-based organizations. It should be understood , however, that hierarchy itself is an important and useful type of organization required by a certain relationship of energy and structure. It is not hierarchy, but rather hierarchy along with rank-based management, that creates poor results and poor working conditions.

Even when companies come to realize that rank-based leadership creates unhealthy and unprofitable organizations, they continue it. This always surprised me until I discovered the underlying paradigm that leads us to believe that there is no other way ”the myth of leadership. We still need to learn how to create peer-based organizations that reject this myth and implement peer-based thinking. To help accomplish this, we will build on our last insight into four basic types of organizational attractors, beginning with the Big Chief and hierarchical organizations.




The Myth of Leadership. Creating Leaderless Organizations
The Myth of Leadership: Creating Leaderless Organizations
ISBN: 0891061991
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 98

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net