The Open Organization: A New Era of Leadership and Organizational Development

212 Pages·2014·3.28 MB·English

by  Philip A. Foster

The Open Organization
This is a rich, well-prepared, well-researched and well-developed book which will become
a seminal and foundational work on the Open Organization. I appreciate the depth
and breadth of thought continuity as Philip maintains a focused lens in presenting
the tenants, characteristics, realities and possibilities of the Open Organization.
I look forward to seeing this work become a relied upon source for those developing and
studying the Open Organization.
Diane M. Wiater, Regent University, USA and Editor,
Journal of Practical Consulting
Dr Foster’s book The Open Organization highlights the challenges many 21st century
organizations face. Demographics, an aging population, a shrinking workforce, culture,
technology, and a world economy are changing the way we engage human capital.
In The Open Organization, Dr Foster offers solutions to these pressing challenges
and challenges leaders to rethink outdated organizational models.
Skip Prichard, President and CEO, OCLC, USA
The Open Organization is both an in-depth look at how far we’ve moved from the
closed, bureaucratic systems of the past and a manual for how to operate in a world
where adaptability isn’t just a competitive advantage…it’s a requirement for survival.
David Burkus, Oral Roberts University, USA
and author of The Myths of Creativity
The Open
Organization
A New Era of Leadership
and Organizational Development
PhiLiP A. FOsTEr
Maximum Change Inc., Tennessee, USA
© Philip A. Foster 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Philip A. Foster has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to
be identified as the author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4724-4011-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-4724-4012-9 (ebk – ePDF)
ISBN: 978-1-4724-4013-6 (ebk – ePUB)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Foster, Philip A.
The open organization : a new era of leadership and organizational development / by Philip
A. Foster.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4724-4011-2 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-4724-4013-6 (ebook) -- ISBN
978-1-4724-4012-9 (epub) 1. Organizational change. 2. Leadership. I. Title.
HD58.8.F686 2014
658.4’06--dc23
2014015798
The Open Organization is a registered trademark of Open Organization, LLC. Open
Organization LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Maximum Change, Inc.
III
Printed in the United Kingdom by Henry Ling Limited,
at the Dorset Press, Dorchester, DT1 1HD
Contents
Foreword vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
Part I FoundatIons oF an Open OrganizatiOn
1 The History of Leadership and Organizational Structures 3
2 The Open Organization Defined 17
3 GitHub: “Creating Awesome”—A Case Study 31
Part II ElEmEnts oF an Open OrganizatiOn
4 The Open Ecosystem 41
5 First Principles 63
6 Communication 81
7 Knowledge Commons 89
8 Leading the Open Organization 97
Part III thE twEnty-F Irst CEntury organIzatIon
9 Cultural Literacy 111
10 Embracing Open in the New Millennia 127
11 Should You Go Open? 139
12 Beyond Organization 3.0 153
References 159
Index 181
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Foreword
What makes certain organizations more successful than others? Why should
some organizations benefit from these processes of success and not others?
Organizational design and its management has long been the fixation of leaders
and scholars alike. Cracking the code to the perfect organizational ecosystem
appears to be the dividing line between great success and mediocrity. Added
to this pursuit, the twenty-first century launched with great financial volatility,
rapid changes, and a level of cultural and global diversity unknown by previous
generations. This volatility demands new approaches and methods for the
delivery of products, services, and ideas. We no longer can afford to manage
organizations with nineteenth and twentieth century models and structures.
The pressures of shifting demographics, culture, and technology in this new
century require new approaches to organizational leadership and structures.
We begin to find that the most successful emergent organizations are agile, self-
forming, and self-led. Welcome to the era of the Open Organization.
The idea of an Open Organization challenges the thinking of many classically
trained business school executives. These ideas are in direct conflict with years
of nature and nurture within the confines of classical business hierarchies. For
organizations to compete in a new world the notions of what is leadership and
organizational structure will be challenged and forever changed. Globalism,
technology, and a diminishing workforce are all players in the emergence of a
more agile competitive structure we call the Open Organization.
Philip A. Foster, DSL
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Preface
From my very first corporate job in the early 1990s I discovered that the
way organizations “do” business is ineffective. In fact, I think the way we
“do” business stinks! How we view and treat human capital is not sustainable
nor is it any longer realistic for a twenty-first century world. The “way we’ve
always done it” is no longer an excuse for perpetuating outdated and ineffective
approaches to leadership and organizational design. What began with my
frustration over ineffective leadership and customary hierarchical rituals spans
over 20 years of fascination, study and hands-on practical leadership and
organizational design; culminating in the solutions I put forth in this book.
What I have learned is that solutions for the future viability of any organization
must be scalable, agile, self-forming, and self-led. In this new era it is not
difficult to find the organizations that are getting it right. But why should only
a handful of organizations succeed when there are boundless opportunities for
all organizations to embrace a new way of thinking and doing?
Organizational design requires new approaches and innovative ways
of thinking. The world is pressed on all sides by a diminishing full-time
workforce, differing cultural, generational, political, and religious views
and the organization of the twenty-first century must be more agile than the
previous centuries. The twenty-first century organizational design will require
an ability to share ideas, knowledge, resources, and skills across organizational,
generational, and cultural boundaries within and outside of the organizational
system for the purpose of achieving desired goals. This book explores the
challenge to find an organizational design that will address generational,
cultural, industry, and other environmental factors in which the system must
operate. This book explores the impact of motivation, culture, and generational
differences on the organizational system defined as an Open Organization.
Philip A. Foster, DSL