A new organizational design was not the goal, but rather was a key enabler to the transformation we were seeking.

Connecting across boundaries is simply the way that work needs to get done today in complex, multi-dimensional organizations.

Hierarchy is often used as a proxy for “rigid.”

Both forms of agility—local and enterprise—matter in the 21st century, and the tension can be productive. The essential role of leaders is to find the right balance in order to gain the benefits of small, divisional, local units as well as the benefits of large, integrated organizations that exploit the collective assets of scale. In a truly

To succeed, it’s about having the right conversations with the right people. Continuously.

how to create a classification of leadership work, with each layer inclusive of the work below but not duplicating it.

The group developing the organization model explores how different configurations and relationships between the parts of the organization will yield new behaviors, decisions, and business results.

The design of the vertical organization is essentially the design of roles, power dynamics, decision rights, and management and reward systems to create the right mix of authority, accountability, and responsibility not just in individuals, but also in whole layers of leadership.

Steve Drotter pointed out that in a well-designed hierarchy of leadership, each leader does not just do a bigger version of the work of the leader below. Rather, at each layer there should be a change in time horizon, time allocation, and complexity of problems to solve (Drotter, 2011).