tempo! communications in network organizations

8/14/2019 Tempo! Communications in Network Organizations

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At the time I am writing this (January 2010),American defense contractor KBR is facing alawsuit for causing the deaths of severalAmerican soldiers on duty in Iraq during 2003.The soldiers were guarding the Qarmat AliWater Treatment Plant, near Basra in southernIraq. In the plant the soldiers came into closecontact with an orange dust that caused skinirritation and vomiting. The soldiers were toldthe dust was a mild irritant. It turned out to

be a dangerous chemical sodium dichromate.

Allegedly, KBR knew aboutthe chemical for two monthsbefore the information reachedthe U.S. Army and measures were taken.

Information travels slowly in hierarchical organi-zations. The reason why information about thedangerous chemical did not reach the right peo-ple in time is more likely to be a systemic failurethan a failure of any one individual or group of

people.

In business, communication failures are usually,but not always, less catastrophic. Communica-tions failures are quite common though, and theydo have consequences.

This article describes a communications modelthat scales much better than the traditional hier-archical model. It is also a model that has beentested under severe conditions for decades, and

has been found very robust. I will describe thecommunications model in its optimal setting,

The BusinessStrategy NewsletterIssue 1-2010

The Tempo! newsletter contains supportingmaterial for Tempo!, a business strategybook written by Henrik Mrtensson

The Tempo! newsletter is published byHM MediaTech.

Email: [email protected]: +46 708 56 23 65Twitter:@KallokainSkype: rubyist 2009 by Henrik Mrtensson

Tempo!Communicationsin NetworkOrganizations

By Henrik Mrtensson
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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network organizations. However, you canadapt the ideas to a traditional organization, ifyou can make a clear distinction between an

organizational hierarchy as a hierarchy ofotherkinds of power, and a communications networkas a separate avenue of power. Such communi-cations networks do exist even in the mosthierarchically strict organizations. You can in-crease the agility and power of the organiza-tion by having an explicitly network-basedcommunications model.

I recommend that you stick with networkstructure all the way though. Network struc-

tures are simpler. The hierarchies add com-plexity, and should be used only after carefulconsideration1.

In Tempo! I show why network organizationsare superior to hierarchical organizations notonly in warfare, but also in business. Networkorganizations are structured to be faster, more

resilient, and more innovative than hierarchicalorganizations.

However, these benefits are not automatic. De-spite its importance, organizational structure is arelatively weak leverage point compared to manyother things that determine organizational per-formance. That means there are plenty of waysto counteract the benefits of having a networkorganization.

An all to easy way of sub-

optimizing a network structure is

to overlay a physical network

structure with strictly hierarchical

communications and authority

structures.

We are so used to hierarchically structured or-ganizations, that we often miss that many organi-zations have a natural network structure. Thisincludes franchise organizations, chains of book-

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1 Most organizations are designed as hierarchies by default, without conscious deliberation, and add ad hocnetwork structures as they grow. My opinion is that whichever organizational model you choose, you shouldthink it through and consider various alternatives before settling on the one that is best for you.

The Lattice Organization at W.L Gore

W.L. Gore, Ltd., best known for the Gore-Tex fabric, is a $2.5 billion company with8,500 associates. (Gore does not have em-

ployees in the traditional sense.)

The organization is built up by small teams,and the communications structure allowsanyone to communicate anything to anyoneelse in the organization. Gore refers to thisas a lattice structure.

The Gore communications structure can belikened to the neural pathways in your brain.Your neurons (brain cells) can grow new

pathways according to what is needed, andthey do not need to ask you for permissionfirst.

Your brain works all the better for this abilityto self-organize. So will your organization.


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stores and restaurants, many private educa-

tional organizations, and other organizations.

Some temporary organizational structures, likelarge project organizations, may also be organ-ized as networks.

Many existing network organizations neverrealize their potential, because it is easy to in-advertently lose the advantages.

An all to easy way of sub-optimizing a network

structure is to overlay a physical networkstructure with strictly hierarchical communica-tions and authority structures.

The figure on page 3 shows why this is a badidea: In hierarchical organizations each individ-ual has a narrow span of control. This meanseach person is dependent on directives from asuperior before taking action. Because of this, alot of information must travel up and downthe hierarchical structure.

Between a rock and a hard place

Managers in hierarchical organizations are facedwith a tough choice: They can try to process allof the information available, and be subject tomassive information overload or they can sim-plify by aggregating information, in which caseimportant information is filtered out and neverreaches them.

Either way, both the speed and the quality of de-cisions is reduced.

People in many organizations are of courseaware that they do have a communications prob-lem. A common solution is to spend a lot ofmoney on IT and think as little as possible aboutit. This can make the problem worse.

Most IT solutions, email, IP-telephony, mailinglists, newsgroups, video conferencing etc., haveone thing in common: They enable more informa-tion to be transmitted throughout the organiza-tion. This increases the information overloadmanagers (and everyone else) are subject to.

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Hierarchical organizations have communications structures that mirror their authority structures.Combined with a narrow area of control at each level, this creates an information processing prob-lem: Managers must deal with massive information overload.


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The U.S. Marine Corps has developed a hierarchical team structure for its own network organiza-tion. The leader of a team is a member of the team above. The Agile software development meth-odology Scrum uses the same basic structure when scaling to large projects.

One of the keys to success is to organize so that teams and groups of teams are responsible for

value streams, not functions. This reduces the need for communication between different units, be-cause they neither need to collaborate to closely, nor need to compete for resources.


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Network/Hierarchy HybridsVery few organizations are 100% networkorganizations, or completely hierarchical.

Even the most strictly hierarchical organiza-tion has informal networks. Many networkorganizations have some sort of centralauthority.

If the nodes in a network are larger than asingle person, there may well be a hierarchi-cal structure within each node.

Neither networks nor hierarchies are alwaysgood or bad. Rather, they are more or lessappropriate for different situations.

Figuring out when to use what is not rocketscience. The key is to raise awareness thatthere are different models, and that they are

more or less appropriate in different situa-tions.

DirectedTelescope

(Crawford Slip)

LateralCommunications

In addition to the hierarchical communications structure, the U.S. Marine corps also uses lateralcommunications, and directed telescope communications that bypass the chain of command.Note that Crawford Slip is a Strategic Navigation tool described inTempo!


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The drive to make organizations more costeffective has lead to a flattening of organiza-tional structures. Thus, a manager may havemany direct reports. This does make the in-

formation overload problem worse.

Bring in the Marines!The information overload problem does alsoimpact project organizations. For example, allAgile software development methods I knowhave features making them very suitable forscaling them up to large projects. In spite ofthis, scaling Agile has been perceived as difficultin the software development community. It haseven been questioned whether it is possible.

The reason is that the features that enablescaling are poorly understood.

If you check the leverage point power scale inTempo! you will see that communicationsstructures rate a 62. The physical structure ofan organization rates only a 10. This indicatesthat if the physical structure of the organiza-tion and the communications structure are not

aligned, the communications structure tends tohave the greater effect on organizational per-formance.

Consequently, you can easily lose the advantagesof having a physical network structure by impos-ing an unsuitable communications structure.

There are business organizations that have fig-ured out how to solve the communication over-load problem. The sidebar on page 2 providesone famous example, W.L. Gore. There are plentyof others, including the Virgin Group, BusinessNetwork International (BNI), and others.

However, there is one organization in particularthat is suitable as an example to learn from: TheU.S. Marine Corps. While not a business organi-zation, the U.S. Marine Corps has many problemsthat are similar to business organizations, and itoperates in a very competitive, highly stressfulenvironment, with a high degree of risk and un-certainty.

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2 This is the scale of leverage points for system intervention developed by Donella Meadows. The scaleranges from weakest (12), which is the ability to set numerical targets, to strongest (1), which is the ability toconsciously select the paradigm most suitable to solving a particular type of problem.

The key to successfully implementing an effective communications structure is to align theorienta-tion of every leader, formal and informal, in the organization. The first step is to provide new infor-mation that make people aware of the limitations of their current model. They must be unhappywith the status quo to the point where they are eager to change. This may require many iterationsthrough the OODA loop.


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The U.S. Marine Corps is suitable to learnfrom partly because it has learnt to deal withan extreme environment that is in many wayssimilar to todays business environment, andpartly because it publishes a lot of informationabout its own organization and strategy.

The illustration at the top of page 4 shows the

basic team structure used by the U.S. MarineCorps. If you work in a software developmentorganization that uses Scrum, you will recog-nize the structure as the Scrum of Scrumsstructure for managing large projects withmultiple teams.

This structure is a good start, but by itself, it isa hierarchical communications structure, with

all its inherent problems. The advantage overtraditional hierarchical authority and communi-cations structures, is that it is an explicit teamstructure with teams responsible for valuestreams not functions.

The bottom figure on page 4 shows a team-based organization structured according to value

streams. Note that this requires teams to becross-functional. Ideally, team members shouldalso be cross-functional, that is, they should betrained in more than one speciality.

The illustration at the top of page 5 shows thecommunications structures the U.S. MarineCorps have added to, and integrated with, theirbasic team based communications structure.

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ControlCommand ControlCommand

Traditional ParadigmScientific Management

Theory X

New ParadigmSystems ThinkingQueueing TheoryManeuver ConflictManeuver Warfare

LeanAgile Software Development

Theory Of ConstraintsStrategic Navigation

Theory Y

Deterministicthinking

AnalyticThinking

ProbabilisticthinkingSynthetic

thinking

Analysis is a stepin the syntheticthinking process

ComplexhirerarchicalOrganization

Self-organization(Usually network organization

with nodes built aroundvalue streams)

The U.S. Marine Corps has explicitly replaced the traditional view of Command & Control (to theleft) with a feedback model (to the right). These models are the result ofvery different world views.The figure shows some business related paradigms, and which Command & Control model theyare associated with. Underlying modes of thinking are also shown. Note that the meaning of the

word control is different in the left and right models. To the left it means specify behavior. To theright it means get feedback.


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Like W.L. Gore associates (sidebar on page 2),marines can communicate with whomeverthey need to3.

The U.S. Marine Corps makes an importantdistinction between different kinds of commu-

nication:

Push communication is when the party havingthe information initiates contact with the re-ceiver. For example, if I call you to tell yousomething, I push information at you.

Pull communication is when the receiver asksfor a piece of information, and gets it from thesender. For example, if I call you to ask for in-formation, I pull information from you.

Push and pull communications differ not onlyin the kind of information you get, and when,they also have different social ramifications.

For example, pull communications can be veryeffective for information gathering, especially insituations where the rate of change is rapid,but used the wrong way, or in a culture notsuited for it, it can destroy bonds of trust andcause internal conflict.

Push communications, on the other hand, isgood for monitoring known Necessary Condi-tions (Key Performance Indicators) and forpressing panic buttons, but can easily causeinformation overload and slow the organiza-tion down if overused.

Trading PowerAs mentioned before, information is power,and the power to direct information is in the

mid range on the Meadows leverage pointscale.

Managers in traditional, Scientific Managementbased, organizations focus to a large extent on

low leverage system intervention, like settingnumerical targets. Power is considered to be alimited and scarce resource. From that perspec-tive, giving subordinates control over informationflows, will diminish the power of managers.

The more power my subordinates

have, the more power I have.

U.S. Marine Corps leaders focus on high levelsystem intervention, and they do it from a per-spective of bounty: The more power my subor-dinates have, the more power I have.

In effect, U.S. Marine Corps leaders trade in lowand mid range leverage in order to gain more

high level leverage. W.L. Gore leaders (which arecalled leaders in W.L. Gore parlance) do exactlythe same thing. You can find the same basic idea,in varying degrees, in the Virgin Group, South-west Airlines, and many other successful compa-nies.

Command & ControlThe figure on page 7 shows two very differentviews of command and control. The U.S. MarineCorps abandoned the model to the left for a

very good reason: It wasnt flexible enough todeal with a rapidly changing environment.

The model to the right works a lot better. Withthis model, leaders set the objectives, but under-lings decide howto accomplish them, and theyprovide feedback not only about results but onleading indicators4 of results.

The U.S. Marine Corps communications model isdesigned to support the command and controlmodel to the right.

Somewhat unexpectedly (for us civilians), thetight military command structure, coupled with

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3 The U.S. Marine Corps is also self-organizingduring military operations. A unit may detach itself from onecommand structure and temporarily attach itself to another if it helps the unit accomplish its mission. This ispossible because leaders are trainedto work this way.

4 Tempo! provides a complete example of how to build a structure of measures using both leading and trail-

ing indicators. In general, leading indicators are used to manage, trailing indicators are used to verify out-comes. Traditional management methods often use trailing indicators to manage, which is like steering a carby looking into the rear view mirror only.


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an understanding of the need for educationand training, has probably made it easier forthe marines to make the transformation be-tween the structures than it is for most civilianorganizations.

The power to decide what to teach and howto teach in military boot camp is a power fewbusiness organizations can match. Neverthe-

less, it is a challenge business organizations allover the world must meet in the next fewdecades, or competitive pressure will makethem go the way of the dinosaur.

As shown by the U.S. Marine Corps, educationand training are the keys to implementing ef-fective communications in business organiza-tions. Without it, there is little point to im-proving the communications model because itwill be used to transmit too much information,

irrelevant information, and send information tothe wrong destination.

Tempo! contains the basic knowledge, thecommon orientation, necessary to create andimplement kick-ass business strategies.

Effective communications is a key factor bothin creating an effective strategy, and imple-menting it. I hope this article provides addi-tional value to Tempo! by serving as a starting

point for your effort to improve your organi-zation.

Please do tell me what you think: Did you findthe article of value or not? Is there somethingthat should be added, or useless fluff that shouldbe removed? I do value your opinions and yourthoughts, as they will help me reshape my ownorientation during coming iterations in my per-sonal OODA loop.

Please comment on the Scribd download page

for this document, send me a tweet(@Kallokain) or email me.

References and Acknow-ledgementsPublications on the Web: Cyberwar and Netwar:

New Modes, Old Concepts, of Conflict by JohnJ. Arquilla and David F. Ronfeldt

Tactics, MDCP 1-3. U.S. Marine Corps publica-tion PCN 142 000002 00.

NBC News Investigation: Toxic Water in IraQ,http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspx

Material Safety Data Sheet,http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodi

umDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdf

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Qarmat Ali RevisitedLooking at the documents in the Referencesand Acknowledgements section, one thing be-comes clear5: Communications followed thehierarchical power structures. KBR employees

and military personnel were in differentchains of command. Information did not travellaterally between the two chains of commandnearly as fast as it travelled vertically within achain of command.

Whatever else that may or may have not con-tributed to the accident, the communicationschannels were designedto work the way theydid. The same way communications structuresare designed in most organizations.

If lateral communications had been part of theorganizational structure, as in the U.S. MarineCorps and in W.L. Gore, exposure to danger-ous chemicals might not have been entirelyprevented, but counter measures would have

been faster, and would have encompassed allthe people on the site.

Though the consequences cannot be com-pared, Qarmat Ali shares one feature withmany failed business projects all over theworld: A preventable and very common mis-take in communications structure design con-tributed to the failure.
http://twitter.com/Kallokainmailto:[email protected]?subject=Tempo!%20Communications%20Feedbackhttp://twitter.com/Kallokainmailto:[email protected]?subject=Tempo!%20Communications%20Feedbackhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspxhttp://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspxhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdfhttp://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspxhttp://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspxhttp://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspxhttp://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/articles/2120353.aspxhttp://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/RRR.fall95.cyber/cyberwar.htmlhttp://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/RRR.fall95.cyber/cyberwar.htmlhttp://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/RRR.fall95.cyber/cyberwar.htmlhttp://www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/RRR.fall95.cyber/cyberwar.htmlmailto:[email protected]?subject=Tempo!%20Communications%20Feedbackmailto:[email protected]?subject=Tempo!%20Communications%20Feedbackhttp://twitter.com/Kallokainhttp://twitter.com/Kallokain


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Qali Water Environment Plant EnvironmentalIssue,http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/MSDSSodiumDichromateaugust_2003_site_assessment.pdf

Water Treatment Chemicals,http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/TVNews/Nightly%20News/Blog/PDFs/20090930KimbroDocument.pdf

Photographs

From stock.xchng network spheres, Image ID: 1008232

network neurons 2, Image ID: 1043923

network, Image ID: 985516

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There are several sample vision and missionstatements from successful, purposeful compa-nies.

There is also an account of a battle between apurposeful organization with a vision I helped

develop, and a corporation with little visionbeyond greed.

How to use Business Battle Maps with Strate-gic Navigation describes how to create simple,yet useful, network battle maps, and integratethem in the Strategic Navigation planningprocess.

There are also notes on how to use battlemaps with 36 Stratagems, an idea generatorthat has proven useful for business strategycreation.

How to use BusinessBattleMapswithStrategicNavigation

Henrik Mr tensson

8July,2009

Abstract

Thispaper proposesthat havinga battlefieldmapisas importanttobusinessstrategists

and change agents as it is to military strategistsa nd commanders.Anetworkbattlemapiseasytomake,andcanhelpdeterminesystemboundaries,

and serve as input for gap analysis. It is also a valuable presentation aid, and useful

when looking for solutionsto complex problems.This paper outlines how to use network battle maps with Strategic Navigation, a

fast paced business strategy method combining Maneuver Conflict and The Logical

Thinking Processfrom The Theory of constraints.

The Kallokain Blog

At the Kallokain blog you will find hundreds ofarticles about management, strategy, Theory OfConstraints, Lean, and related topics.

The Kallokain YoutubeChannel

The Kallokain Youtube channel is dedicated tobusiness excellence through Systems Thinking.

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About Henrik Mrtensson

Henrik Mrtensson is a management consult-ant and business advisor.

Henrik has worked for Ericsson Hewlett-Packard, Volvo 3P, Volvo IT, Wirelesscar, FMV,Scania, Astra-Zeneca and many other compa-nies.

Henrik is a prolific writer, with more than 250

published magazine articles, and several techni-cal manuals to his credit. His blog, Kallokain,was nominated for NOOPs list of most influ-ential bloggers in 2008. Henrik is also a mem-ber of AgileZones Most Valued Blogger pro-gram.

Henriks videocasts about management on theKallokain channel at YouTube have been viewedmore than 30,000 times.

You can contact Henrik by

phone: +46 708 56 23 65email: [email protected]: rubyistTwitter: @Kallokainor, visit Henriks web sites:

www.henrikmartensson.org

kallokain.blogspot.com

www.youtube.com/user/kallokain

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