Refugee camps have to work fast to supply people with their basic needs. As a result they are set up according to a standard plan - which leads to problems for the daily life of the people living there.
There are at least 4 lessons for the commercial world in this story
1. You will always think your organization structure is correct or "good enough' until you are confronted with the experience of your customers. If the design of your organization does not begin with the user experience then chances are your structure is based more on your convienience than user needs. In the end you will lose sales.
2. There is no "standard" plan anymore. What worked with Katrina will not work for Fukashima. What works for your next big customer may not be what worked for your last big customer. If you are still trying to become "agile" and your organization design has changed little in the last 10 years... well, then you may not be ready for "inventive".
3. Change fast or people die. Ok this may seem dramatic. However, over the past few years I have witnessed a number of people - who have families - experience a dramatic economic crisis in their lives. Not all could have been avoided. However, somewhere along the way there was that one business or one leader who could have and should have looked ahead and seen the coming disaster. Unfortunately, they waited until the last minute when it was too late to shift resources from recreation into re-creation.
4. You must survive in order to rebuild. Have you ever met a survivor? They are wonderful inspirations. Man is a wonderful creation. No matter how much we get wrong, we can learn, become stronger, and adapt. As long as we survive the crisis. How quickly you adapt. How deliberately you inact change... those will help you to be the winners in the end. Look at your organization now, 2013 will be a better year for many, if you are working on your structure, processes, and people performance right now you will be one of the surviving winners. If not...
www.pyramidodi.com
Its also big news today for Hospitals. However, Dr Cosgrove implies...it is not on the radar of many. However he points out the evolution that is taking place. More specializations - we knew that. More consolidations - we knew that too. However, most may not be so familiar with the fact that as many as 25% of hospitals are in the red.
Or they may not be so familiar with the massive increase in complexity in two big areas:
Other industries who have gone through similar transitions and the ones most successful are those who:
The skill of focus is the first "integrating cultures". However, to really win the game design of collaborative service systems will need tobe in the skill set of any successful healthcare leader.
Re-design is happening but too slowly to offset the costs of getting it wrong.
Billy Bennett is CEO of Pyramid ODI
www.pyramidodi.com