Transforming the Organization, Part 1

Organizations are living, not engineered, systems, and changing them is best done “biologically,” through understanding the sometimes burdensome appliances their evolution conjures. Institutional evolution is not some logical progressus toward a goal by the shortest route or with the smallest expenditure of energy. It is not a matter of simple observable cause and effect, but a complex web of adaptive behavior influencing behavior. Leaders who aspire to transform organizations are unlikely to succeed unless they understand the dynamics of their environment; conceptualize and put into action strategies that will enable the organization to gain and maintain a competitive advantage; and include their people, all along the way, in the process.