Business Euphoria: Powering Relational Organizations with Gangs, Gall and Gossip

By Duncan Robins

In the Networked Economy, organizational creativity and flexibility are imperative. Accelerating commercial and social changes coupled with the compounding demands of more powerful stakeholders will obsolete many traditional, rigid, hierarchical organizations.


Networked groups of small, entrepreneurial teams will be the dominant model of high-performance organizations. "Gangs, gall and gossip" will power these Relational teams, and destroy many others, based on how they address the fundamental social needs of people (to belong, to have purpose, and to communicate).


By practicing Relational Management, as described in this book, organizations of all types will become small, entrepreneurial, flexible and creative. They will tap their abundant social energy to build substantial economic and social value. And, they may even experience "Business Euphoria".

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: May 27, 2003
• ISBN: 9781469106212

Duncan Robins

About the author: Duncan Robins is a builder of high-performance organizations, an entrepreneur, a guest lecturer, and a consultant to owners, board members and executive teams. He is the former CEO of Yakima Products, and has worked with many organizations while employed by Bain, McKinsey and Morgan Stanley. Duncan graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Book preview

Copyright © 2003 by Duncan Robins.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

Contents

SECTION I

Introduction

When Dinosaurs Ruled the World

SECTION II

Relational Management

Practice #1—Build a Solid Relational Foundation

Practice #2—Form a Strong Physical Framework

Practice #3—Create a Supportive Social Environment

Practice #4—Establish Vital Connections and Networks

Practice #5—Encourage Successful Interactions

Practice #6—Manage Relationships Actively

Practice #7—Invest in Sustainable Productivity

SECTION III

The Relational Organization

Other Potential Relational Organizations

Business Euphoria

Parting Comments

NOTES

THANK YOU

To my teammates at Yakima who taught me so much; my family, friends and peers for challenging me to create and improve my book; my children, Day and Canyon, for distracting me from it; and my partner, Darcy, for the support and insights.

SECTION I

THE EVOLVING ORGANIZATION

Introduction

. . . GANGS, GALL AND GOSSIP

A new era is dawning. Commercial and social complexities are accelerating at a fantastic pace. Many corporations, government institutions and social organizations have been caught off guard. Antiquated structures, rigid operating policies, and bloated procedures are limiting their ability to respond to the compounding demands of many more stakeholders. Management teams are in disarray, or worse, being investigated. Many employees have disengaged. Numerous customers have left. And shareholders are frustrated.

A few researchers and a handful of organizations are rising to the challenge. They are experimenting and advancing new theories and practices. But more effort is needed. Managements of all organizations need a fresh perspective. One that will allow their organizations to take advantage of the significant social trends while satiating the increasing expectations of shareholders, employees, vendors, customers, community members and representatives of the environment.

I believe that building productive relationships and addressing the social needs of people are the keys to organizational success in this new era: the Networked Economy. Sound ob-vious? It should, but it isn’t. The solution is basic and natural, but not easily implemented in the West. Our impersonal, corporate pyramids, which were so successful in the Industrial Economy, will have to be altered. Networks of small, entrepreneurial teams (or cells), operating with significantly less hierarchy and bureaucracy, will be the dominant model of high-performance organizations in the new millennium.

Gangs, gall and gossip have negative connotations in our politically correct society, often for good reason. However, the primal energy which powers these social behaviors has huge, positive potential if channeled productively. We, as leaders, must acknowledge and address the social needs of individuals (our need to belong, to have purpose, and to communicate) and tap the energy that powers gangs, gall and gossip to construct productive relationships, winning teams and high-performance organizations. To motivate these constructive social behaviors, leaders must create supportive work environments that address employees’ primal needs (for safety and survival) and help to build their employee’s confidence and self-esteem.

Image524.JPG

In this book, I outline the seven fundamental practices of Relational Management, the science that supports them, and examples of them in use. I describe how to build the necessary physical frameworks and supportive social environments that address people’s basic needs. And, I suggest how high-performance, Relational organizations can be built by leaders focused on:

(a)   Relationships between people (rather than on physical assets, products, customers or individuals);

(b)   Team sizes and the social proximity of team members (rather than driving for economies of scale);

(c)   Supportive, social environments (rather than managing by command, control, coercion and blame);

(d)   Fluid networks of small, entrepreneurial teams (rather than building vast, hierarchical armies);

(e)   Successful interactions with current relationships (rather than diluting efforts with rapid additions);

(f)   Operational harmony and diversity (rather than chasing windfalls or conducting fire drills);

(g)   Dynamic, Relational maps within and across traditional boundaries (rather than static org charts).

. . . WHAT’S ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?

What’s all the fuss about?! A lot has changed since the turn of the twenty-first century. Y2K might not have crippled companies, governments or communities as some had predicted; however, our social and business environments have shifted. And many traditional, blue-chip institutions have been hard hit. Management teams, investors and community members are upset and scared. Their hierarchical, bureaucratic organizations have been caught with structures too rigid for this new era, the Networked Economy.

Commerce wasn’t always this dynamic. The mechanisms of industry stayed relatively constant for thousands of years. The haves dominated the have-nots, and most products and services were created by organizations of less than ten people. In fact, significant social and commercial change did not begin in the Western world (Europe) until roughly 400 years ago.

After discovering and conquering the wealthy New World (the Americas), the kingdoms of Spain, Portugal, France, and England ordered huge amounts of gold and other treasures to be brought home. Their bursting treasuries were tapped to fund large military and infrastructure projects. Massive quantities of newly minted coins entered the European economies. For the first time in modern history, a liquid currency (gold, silver, and copper coins) was plentiful enough to trade and create wealth for enterprising people other than the aristocracy.

Wealth spread to a growing middle class, and the power and importance of land diminished. The backbone of the European feudal system (land ownership and its accompanying rights) was weakened forever. And the seeds of free markets, free speech, and freedom from indentured servitude were sewn.

It was just over 200 years ago that those seeds germinated and began to grow. In 1776, Adam Smith published the Wealth of Nations, the steam engine was improved, the United States of America won its freedom, and the great industrial machine began to turn. The pace of business and the rate of commercial change have been accelerating ever since.

Advances in key technologies took advantage of those seeds of freedom. More efficient engines (steam-diesel-gas-electric) powered world-changing transportation machines. Steam engines, trains, automobiles and airplanes catalyzed commercial change as they broadened the scope of suppliers’ markets and their resource base. New communication technologies (printing press-telegram-telephone-Internet) gave consumers faster and broader access to information about a growing selection of products/services and their relative costs.

As markets grew, capacity was added. Competition among suppliers increased, as did consumer knowledge and power. Suppliers, in an effort to win consumers, offered more new products, more often with more variety at continually decreasing, real prices. Consumer power and expectations grew with the ever increasing supply. Suppliers, attempting to fulfill consumer needs for choice, quality and efficient delivery mechanisms, required even more technology to adapt to the increasing speed of business.

Companies had to become more knowledgeable, more efficient, faster and more flexible. Process re-engineering aided by the implementation of major information technology projects enabled many top-performing companies to master their markets for brief periods of time. However, the pace of change continued to accelerate. Heightened expectations of consumers, employees, shareholders, and community members, vicious competition amongst suppliers, and the supersonic advances in information technology have caused many organizations to lose control, direction and even economic viability.

Many organizations are nearing terminal velocity. No matter how much they polish and tweak, it won’t be enough to survive what is coming. They will need to become significantly more fluid and innovative. They will be expected to create sustainable economic engines, provide appealing environments for employees, and have positive influences in their communities and on the environment. To meet these demands, a major reinvention of the Western organization is needed. Bring on Relational Management!

Image533.JPG

. . . RELATIONAL MANAGEMENT

The first Europeans to settle in the New World were amazed by what they saw, not just by its riches, beauty and size, but also by its people and their communities. Europeans, who had lived under dictatorial rule for centuries, were astounded by the Native Americans’ ability to live a life of liberty, equality, harmony and abundance.

Many of these native peoples lived in small, Relational communities without dominant rulers. Their chiefs influenced and led by example, rather than by coercion, command and control. All members of these communities were given respect, even elders and children. And everyone contributed to the communal effort.

Relational organizations today will look as odd to our many classically trained managers as the native communities appeared to those first Europeans. Relational Management is an iterative, dynamic process that requires a very different (more social approach to management) than most Western organizations are practicing today. However, many of the methods that form the basis of Relational Management have been practiced before. They have been proven to be resilient, powerful, and natural. Yet, they aren’t taught in our schools, or emphasized in most modern organizational models. These Relational methods have taken a back seat to the quantitative, rational theories that have dominated Western organizations for the past century.

I have attempted to separate the Relational methods that we were discovering, developing and implementing at Yakima into seven fundamental practices (1. Build a solid Relational foundation; 2. Form a strong physical framework; 3. Create a supportive social environment; 4. Establish vital connections and networks; 5. Encourage successful interactions; 6. Manage relationships actively; 7. Invest in sustainable productivity) and substantiate each in a rational, linear way. But, as you will soon realize, Relational Management is anything but rational and linear. It is about the power of relationships, people, and their social complexities. All seven practices are interrelated. They build on each other dynamically. This gives them strength and energy, but also makes them difficult to describe in a two dimensional art form.

. . . BUSINESS EUPHORIA

Once in a blue moon, a high-performance organization is created. And all that are touched by it experience Business Euphoria, the pinnacle of organizational performance. Business Euphoria is a wonderful, exciting and energizing experience that delivers rewarding and sustainable outcomes to everyone involved: employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, community members and the environment.

This concept may sound soft, or even mythical. But it isn’t. Business Euphoria is real. And although not entirely rational, it can produce substantial economic and social rewards.

I experienced Business Euphoria while stewarding Yakima through a major metamorphosis. We changed from a sleepy, underperforming car rack manufacturer to a very profitable, high-growth consumer products company. It was an amazing, exhilarating and life changing time. We developed as individuals, as teams, as a family, and as an organization. And, we routinely surpassed the highest financial and social expectations of our toughest stakeholders.

The Yakima gang was passionate, diverse and outspoken. Our market had matured. Our growth had stalled and we were losing money. Yet, we had the gall to challenge conventional methods and large, powerful competitors. We had owners who believed in our potential, and a team that committed to a mission and a shared set of values. Our magic was in our trust and belief in each other. Our power was in our network of friendships which we built by making personal connections, laughing, gossiping, and delivering on our commitments.

Friends in the industry, customers, vendors, and the community asked us to share our secrets. We shared often, in conversations, meetings and presentations. We didn’t have any fancy words to describe what we were doing. We were just doing what worked, seemed right, and felt natural.