Salvaging Info

December 8, 2008

I’m cleaning out an old file share before it gets deleted.  I ran across an internal posting I wrote last year, summarizing a talk I attended.

What type of organization do you have?


The Competing Values Model: (Robert Quinn)

An organization needs to decide what its primary quadrant is. The quadrants that are diagonal from each other are in dynamic tension with each other.

How does our organization deal with failure?

  • Is failure allowed? Then we support innovation & open systems.
  • Is failure not an option? Then we are a process & control organization.

What do we do with an unproductive asset?

  • If we turn it loose, we lean towards the Rational Goal Model.
  • If we mentor, we learn toward Human Relations.

(The axis refer to the type of organization you are fostering, not what happens in the short/long run. – E.g. the top row depicts the habits of long term thinkers.)

Long Term

Human Relations Model – collaboration, motivation

Open Systems Model – innovation

Short Term

Internal Process Model – Management & Control

Rational Goal Model – productivity & accomplishment

Stable

Chaotic

One Response to “Salvaging Info”

  1. dave225 Says:

    Most organizations are moving toward the lower right quadrant. These organizations need project management and strong, upfront business analysis.

    (from “Beyond rational management : mastering the paradoxes and competing demands of high performance” Robert Quinn 1988)


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