{"id":21096,"date":"2015-02-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/global2020prd.wpengine.com\/insights\/xlr8-accelerate-by-john-kotter\/"},"modified":"2020-05-11T16:04:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T16:04:00","slug":"xlr8-accelerate-by-john-kotter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/insights\/xlr8-accelerate-by-john-kotter\/","title":{"rendered":"XLR8 (Accelerate) by John Kotter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-16453\" src=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/globe-connected-with-light-330x258.jpg\" alt=\"globe connected with light\" width=\"330\" height=\"258\" \/>I recently read the book <a title=\"Accelerate\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kotterinternational.com\/book\/accelerate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">XLR8<\/a> (Accelerate) by John Kotter.\u00a0 I like his work on managing change.\u00a0 In this new book, he starts with the proposition that agility and speed come from a shadow network of people that connect across the traditional silos and hierarchies. This network operates in parallel with the formal structure and drives innovation and agility.<\/p>\n<p>This is what we call the \u201csoft structure\u201d that evolves within a formal organization structure to get things done.\u00a0 In \u201c<a title=\"Making the Matrix Work\" href=\"https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/matrix-management\/making-matrix-work-book\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Making the Matrix Work<\/a>\u201d I distinguish between four types of soft structure \u2013 purposeful networks, cloud communities, star groups and spaghetti teams.\u00a0 We agree with Kotter that formal organization structure is slow;\u00a0blunt instruments are getting things done and the shadow soft structure is how things really work in complex organizations.<\/p>\n<p>One of the reasons why organizational structure changes often don\u2019t help is that they disrupt these soft structures and can\u00a0actually make them harder to operate.\u00a0 Is it not enough though just to call these all \u201cnetworks\u201d because each of these four modes of cooperation are suitable for delivering very different goals and require very different management and systems support?<\/p>\n<p>The resilience of the traditional hierarchy also makes it hard for these soft structures to attract resources and get things done.\u00a0 In particular, they experience a power imbalance with the functional and geographic silos. Resolving this is one of the reasons why organizations introduce some form of matrix structure. It may not solve the problem but it does give an environment in which these trade-offs can be managed.<\/p>\n<p>The rest of Kotter\u2019s book focuses on the challenges of change, his traditional area of research.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <cite>&#8220;<a title=\"XLR8 (Accelerate)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kotterinternational.com\/book\/accelerate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">XLR8 (Accelerate)<\/a>&#8220;: by John Kotter.<\/cite><\/p>\n<p>[banner heading=&#8221;Contact Us&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/contact-us\/&#8221; icon=&#8221;man_with_laptop&#8221; anchor=&#8221;Find Out More&#8221; align=&#8221;left&#8221;]We help organizations cut through today&#8217;s complexities of virtual, matrix and global working.[\/banner][banner heading=&#8221;Making the Matrix Work&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.global-integration.com\/matrix-management\/making-matrix-work-book\/&#8221; icon=&#8221;book_making_matrix_work&#8221; anchor=&#8221;Find Out More&#8221; align=&#8221;right&#8221;]To read beyond the word cloud and learn more about our book, Making the Matrix Work, visit our website.[\/banner]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recently read the book XLR8 (Accelerate) by John Kotter.\u00a0 I like his work on managing change.\u00a0 In this new [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","type-blog","training-matrix-management"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.6 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - 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