From the power of hierarchy to the power of authenticity and added value

The organizations of the future have taken one of the main attributes of the Internet: transparency. Everyone knows what each one brings to the organization. And to the extent that the contribution of each of the members is transparent, knowledge and information naturally move to the nodes that create greater added value.

So far, we have been able to build hierarchical organizations. We have created them this way mainly for scalability reasons. If we think about it, these organizations took as a model the already existing structures – for example, the army – which were based on the principle of hierarchy. Over time, these hierarchical organizations have ended up becoming authentic organizations of power. In theory, this power is aligned with the real interests of the organization; that is, it acts for the good of all. But, unfortunately, as we have been able to discover, as institutions have become more complex and opaque, that power has ceased to serve the interests of the organization, and has on many occasions – as we can see every day in the media – to obey almost exclusively the personal interests of a ruling caste.

We have to change, but where do we start?

The time has come to change, that is clear. We are in a completely new era, in which the essential thing is to create organizations that are transparent in their added value, designed for people, based on values and socially responsible. The old, hierarchical, opaque and inflexible structures are no longer useful. We are sure of that. But the truth is that we do not know how to design and build the new agile and transparent organizations we need. We have hardly any references, nor an instruction manual. “Where to start?” we ask ourselves. Well, the Open Source model can be a good starting point, since it is one of the few experiences in which we have managed to put into practice the values that will characterize the organizations of the future. Let’s review them: -Horizontality vs hierarchy. In the face of “command and control” and the weight of hierarchy and bureaucracy, the new Open Source communities are committed to horizontal structures, in which everyone shares and contributes dynamically. People are judged by the added value they bring to the organization, not by the credentials they present. Anyone can participate and be recognized for the quality of their work, regardless of their age, their degree or any other external sign.

-Respond to changes vs. follow the plan. It turns out that today things change at full speed, and it is practically impossible to make medium-term forecasts. In the face of millimetric planning, and the “here we have always done it this way”, “Make it happen”, “less is more”, common sense, and the ability to change quickly to adapt to the new needs and new challenges of society prevail.

-Reputation vs. rewards and punishments. Until now, the performance of an activity has always been reinforced or corrected through the application of rewards and punishments by the bosses. In the new networked organizations, the alignment of the members is based on reputation, and on the loss of credibility that affects those who lack the codes and values agreed upon by all. Therefore, credibility – and this applies to both bosses and non-bosses – must be earned in daily action.

-Self-management vs. control. Coordination is done through mutual adaptation, commitment, and collaboration. A prevalent norm is that authority follows and derives from responsibility. The more an individual contributes to a project, and the more responsibility they take for concrete actions, the more authority the community grants them to make individual decisions. When there is value-added transparency, letting everyone manage their work can be the best way to motivate employees, and the most direct path to achieving shared goals.

Sun’s case study: what if we let people choose?

There is a seemingly simple question that most organizations have not been able to solve satisfactorily: who does each employee have to work with? Should the technicians sit with the other technicians or with the team of the specific project to which they are assigned? Do the pre-sales people have to sit down with the boss or with the technicians? Does the boss have to work in his office, with the salespeople or with the marketing department? At Sun we have decided that it is the employees themselves who find the right answer to these questions. In other words, we have created a flexible work environment where each person – whether project manager, technician, salesperson, or marketing staff – can choose, day by day, the most appropriate space to carry out their activity. Therefore, professionals are not assigned a specific workstation. When they arrive at the office, they are located according to the activity they are going to carry out that day, and access their network work environment through their identification card. They can also do it from their homes, which allows them to avoid traffic jams in the first hour, and access the office when they really need it. Obviously, such an environment must be supported by a culture based on trust, personal commitment and people involvement. The important thing is that, if it is the professionals who decide where to work, the organization flows to the nodes where more value is created. In other words: if a salesperson adds value with their attitude, their work and their experience, their collaborators will naturally seek to be close to them. On the contrary, if it is a salesperson whose ego makes them intractable, or who simply contributes little, the team prefers to work in any other space, for example with the pre-sales team, or with business consultants. The office thus becomes a flexible workspace, with collaboration “neighborhoods” instead of watertight departments. Our commitment to transparency and freedom in the organization has given us excellent results, and has generated best practices on 2.0 offices that we can share with our clients today. The reading we can make of this experience is clear:

By giving each person the freedom to choose their workspace, we are applying one of the fundamental attributes of the Network to our organisation: the transparency of added value. If we manage to make people’s added value transparent – that is, everyone knows what each one really brings – knowledge and information will naturally move to the “nodes” where greater added value is generated. This new philosophy has added effects on the efficiency of the organization. One of the most prominent: people who are not able to operate in this value-added environment are forced to

Getting out of your “comfort zone”; And if they are not able to react, change and contribute something of value, it is very easy for the pressure of transparency to lead them to leave the organization.

Towards authenticity

In this new transparent environment, it is useless to “dissimulate” or “pretend to do”. It no longer makes any sense to spend hours and hours in the office looking at the ceiling or the computer screen. Nor is it worth working exclusively to build and maintain power relations within the organization. Others know exactly what we are contributing. Therefore, the only possible path is that of authenticity. To be ourselves. To work with true passion to build together a new model of organization that is more effective, fairer, fun and balanced.