2007-09-02 Reorganising The Illusion of Progress

Reading the latest memo from an additional Yahoo! reorganization, I found the memo quite similar to other memos seen in various companies and not always in the same field…

The notorious and shared common blocks are the following :

• "create better alignment with the core business units"
• "we are putting the right people in the right positions to focus on the right opportunities"
• "This move will drive further organizational alignment around our key audience properties"
• "developing holistic business strategies to delight and surprise these segments"

I saw in a comment containing a quote from Charlton Ogburn, Jr :

I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organising, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganising; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.

Yes, I know that's easy to take a quote. But I'm wondering why the wording when doing a reorganization in companies is always very similar and giving an impression to the reader that there is nothing new under the sun. It looks like when the approach of "reorganization" is taken is somehow a kind statement that we haven't found anything else to solve the problem. Maybe sometime a "reorganization" is giving a boost to a company due to the effect of moving the employee or operations… but moving the structure around the employee for just moving the structure. For sure, it will create a lot confusion and will probably increase inefficiency in the short and middle term. At least, I have some empirical example… I just think that company should not focus too much on their internal operation except if there are real impacts for the customers.

Tags: startup reorganization innovation entrepreneurship company