We approach our goals with a set of organisational units, like management, marketing, design, development etc, specialising each unit to do and be accountable for a certain task. While there are plenty of ways to structure this pattern in a better way, scaling of such structures meet a distinctive set of challenges that over time limits growth and hinders innovations. Inevitably, we see common patterns of flattening the growth, complexity of management, hierarchical structures of control, highly ineffective strategy implementation and generally rigid structures that are unable to grow other than tirelessly consuming other organisations as predators and fueling itself with endless hunger of capital of different kinds.
Abstractality is a fundamentally different approach to growth. It challenges the status quo of principles of growth and approach to structuring the organisational pyramid. Instead of scaling the small organisation like rolling a small pancake, putting in more flour, making it a bigger version of its original size or attaching new pancakes to the sides that we’ve bought from another smart roller, we layer the organisation in the form of a pie with a cone shaped form. The unusual shape is formed by every new layer consisting of fewer parts, but increased complexity and abstract functionality. In practical terms, it instructs organisations to build a solid foundation of certain capabilities as a ground floor and build new organisational units on top, rather than in parallel, building their close relationships and joined capabilities that they can offer to the new layer.
Each such layer consists of its own management, monitoring, governance, innovation, development teams so it doesn’t have to be managed or controlled by the next levels. In the same manner, upper levels tend to structure their organisation in a way of creating a solid foundation for the next layers to use their services, without knowing or accessing the previous levels directly. Abstracting and increasing complexity of the service they provide to the upper level. The top level then, which we know as a C-Zoo, becomes a lightweight unit, consisting of a few people, directing their efforts in constantly designing and improving cohesion and collaboration between units, effectively working on structure discreetly, rather than a hero-management.
As the result of this paradigm shift, the top level, founders and a board of directors, act in just one role - An Organisational Architect, dramatically decreasing its level of mental and cognitive pressure, having to spread attention to a huge list of skills and ever growing stess levels. Bottom levels are too self-reliant and self-empowered to do the best they can, providing services to each other in an entrepreneurial spirit, without direct control, making far superior on-the-ground decisions and strategy planning.
Aspire to be like Mt. Fuji, with such a broad and solid foundation that the strongest earthquake cannot move you, and so tall that the greatest enterprises of common men seem insignificant from your lofty perspective. With your mind as high as Mt Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events not just the things happening near to you
- Miyamoto Musashi