Comments on: Monolithic and Holographic Organizations

By: 5 Management Zingers: Vol. 5 No. 6

5 Management Zingers: Vol. 5 No. 6 — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 15:37:20 +0000

[...] Monolithic and Holographic Organizations by Chris Bailey on the Alchemy of Soulful Work is a must read for all of us to think of our organizations with a fresh metaphor that captures work and organizations in 2008. In fact, I recommend that you read the article a few times, assess how well you organization is doing, and then remember that you are the organization: Rather than viewing an organization as a bland, uniform, static structure, consider the organization as a hologram. Within a holographic image, each section contains a complete image of the original object. So the real beauty of the holographic perspective is acknowledging that the organization is a vibrant collection of all the individuals within it. It recognizes that each individual is fully reflected in the whole. The organization is the individual and the individual is the organization. The interests of each individual and the organization are interconnected and interdependent. [...]

By: Ben Martin, CAE

Ben Martin, CAE — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:04:07 +0000

Very interesting riff, Chris. Thanks for the link!

By: David Zinger

David Zinger — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 03:05:21 +0000

Chris,

Collaboration sounds good as long as we don’t have to dress in some moose costume and I have to be the tail end! I always liked Winnie The Poohbah and now we just have to find our holographic woozle.

By: Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:23:32 +0000

For you, David…you shall be henceforth known as the Great Grand Poobah of the Chris Bailey fan club with full honors. And you shall have your official moose hat as soon as I find a moose to make it from…they don’t seem very plentiful here in Texas for some reason.

You know…we need to figure out a way to collaborate soon. Not sure what it might be, but two smart guys like us will figure it out.

By: David Zinger

David Zinger — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:58:40 +0000

Use the force…no wait a minute…that almost sounds like the monolith speaking…of course the force we are talking about is internal yet in a holograph it will also manifest internal…

My work is focused on employee engagement and trying to help people develop new views and practices on the topic. I have decided to excerpt a quote from your article and put it in a feature on ZENgagement this week at http://www.davidzinger.com.

Okay I guess I am in the Chris Bailey fan club…send the Mickey Mouse ears and the secret decoder when you get the chance.

Keep up the your exceptional writing and point of view.

David

By: Chris Bailey

Chris Bailey — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:09:24 +0000

Dang, David…if I was quicker and more clever I would have had a picture of the holographic Princess Leia from Star Wars where she says, “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.” Don’t know why that just sprung to mind, but there ya go…

Let me know how the metaphor goes over in your session. There’s definitely a rich vein of ideas and imagery here that will likely call for further exploration in the near future.

By: David Zinger

David Zinger — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:18:09 +0000

I loved the questions about the cost and price of control from the monolith and I think the holographic metaphor is very powerful and creative.

Terrific statement:

So the real beauty of the holographic perspective is acknowledging that the organization is a vibrant collection of all the individuals within it. It recognizes that each individual is fully reflected in the whole. The organization is the individual and the individual is the organization. The interests of each individual and the organization are interconnected and interdependent.

I will offer this next Saturday at Slacker Manager as one of the Top 5 Zingers of the week. I have already copied the article and I can see voicing the metaphor in a few in person sessions I am doing.

Thanks Chris, this was a gem or should I say a holographic gem?