Alternative Designs: Instead of devoting attention to the existing spans in a traditional organization, one can instead redesign an organization so that interdependence is encouraged or even required. Simon identified several of these alternative designs: cross-unit teams and matrix structures. In the case of both designs, members of the system are required to embrace different priorities, perspectives and practices while working in different unis of the organization. They might be part of a functional unit (such as finance or marketing) while also working on a specific project or in a specific geographic region.
The alternative design might instead consist of temporary and collateral operations that enable members of a human system to engage in a variety of tasks and relate to other members of the system in a variety of ways. I will have more to say about these alternative organizational designs when I address the need for webs of collaboration. All of this enhances the capacity of any system to embrace diversity of perspective and practice while sustaining the collaborative spirit of those working in the system.
Process: Web of Collaboration
The forest web is not only a structure. It is also a process. Information and nutrients must flow through the existing forest web—otherwise this web serves no purpose. Similarly, human webs must not only reinforce interdependence, they must also promote effective collaboration. It is in this promotion that we find empowerment (Bergquist, 2003). Specifically, empowerment comes from the training of those who are operating within the web and from the introduction of facilitation tool that enhance collaboration. I briefly consider each of these promotional strategies.
Training
While the design of a human organization can enable collaboration and effective engagement in diversity, this organization can only operate with this design in a successful manner if it also provides the empowering capacity and willingness of its members to engage in Interdependent communication, conflict management, problem-solving and decision-making. This, in turn, requires that the organization provide training in these four areas of empowerment, as well as incentives that align with the consistent and effective provision of these four areas. For instance, an organization might provide all employees with a training program on effective communication that includes tools of active listening and of appreciation. Similarly, strategies for dealing with differences of viewpoint (such as identified earlier in this essay) might be offered as a way to increase effective conflict management, problem-solving and decision-making.
I find it particularly important for individual employees to identify their own preferred styles of communication, conflict-management, problem-solving and decisions-making—and have created several self-assessment tools to help employees identified their preferred styles (Bergquist, 2023a) There is one factor that makes training in these four areas a bit easier. In designing these instruments and applying them in many training programs, I find that that there are certain common features in the way that certain people communicate, address conflicts, solve problems and make decisions. Five categories of interpersonal relationships capture these different stylistic differences (Bergquist, Sandstrom and Mura, 2023).
