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Reading an Unknown Organization

Leaders in New Roles Thriving in Challenging Environments with the 3-P-Model Mindset

Editors: Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker, Doris Pemler

Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland

Book Series : Future of Business and Finance

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Table of Contents

About this book

This book focuses on "Organizational Intelligence" and its connection to the Three-Pillar Model, a framework developed by a global community of over 60 professionals from various sectors and published by Springer Nature. The model centers on three vital pillars for navigating the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world of organizational design and leadership: Sustainable Purpose, Travelling Organization, and Connectivity.

At its core, the book features interviews with executive leaders, including those in the C-Suite, who have recently assumed new roles in new organizations or have done so in their careers. The interviews are diverse and anonymized to encourage candid responses. The book explores how these leaders quickly gain a comprehensive understanding of their organizations, with a focus on coping with change, transformation, sustainability, and UN SDG coverage.

Offering real case study-based guidance, the book does not seek to provide a one-size-fits-all methodology but instead encourages readers to tailor its insights to their unique circumstances. It is a valuable resource for mentoring and coaching purposes.

Frontmatter

Introduction and Framing

Frontmatter

1. The Framing of the Book and Why Experience Can Be Both a Success and a Failure Factor

Abstract

In this chapter the purpose, direction, and framing of the book will be explained and the opportunities and threats as well as the advantages of experience discussed.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker, Doris Pemler

2. A Recap of the Three-Pillar Model and Its Importance for the Book’s Objective

Abstract

This chapter is both a recap of the Three-Pillar Model introduced in several books before and also a tailored reference and adoption to the topics of the current book. The underlying question is how the model can be used and applied to approach and read an Unknown Organization best. In other words, we try to connect in this chapter the capability to read Unknown Organizations (“Organizational Intelligence”) with the capabilities described and demanded by the Three-Pillar Model.

Peter Wollmann

3. General Concept and Proceeding

Abstract

This chapter explains the general concept of the book and the rationale behind it. Also, the concept including the questionnaire for the interviews is presented in detail, as this forms the background for the interviews with 22 carefully selected high-level executives and equally experienced professionals. The realization of the interviews and the concept for interview evaluation is described—underlining that the ambition of the book is not to condense a new overarching “reading concept or method” but to give the individual experiences and concepts of the interviewees the appreciation they deserve. Additionally, we will explain why the interviewees are anonymized.

One of the leading principles of the book is also that diversity (of both the interviewees and their statements) is welcome and encouraged, whereas the creation of a standardized methodology is not the aim as each organizational situation is unique. Therefore, general findings and principles have to be very carefully tailored to their specific setting. In other words, there is no fixed set of methods and tools set fit for all cases (Nonetheless, the interviews have shown that there are greater similarities and resonances of the interviewees’ change experience at a meta-level.). The book should rather show a broad set of applicable cases representing the diversity of reality. Every reader might choose which tale is fitting best to their own situation and which conclusions can be drawn for them. Thus, the book might be well used for mentoring and coaching purposes.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker, Doris Pemler

Outcome of the Interviews

Frontmatter

4. Evaluation Overview of the Interviews

Abstract

In this chapter, a high-level overview of the interview results is offered in order to frame the reading of the single interviews presented in the following Chap. 5–8. The underlying idea here is that understanding and evaluation of the information presented becomes easier for the readers if they have a rough and at the same time flexible pattern helping to classify their perception of the interviews and get a read on their content.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker, Doris Pemler

5. The Interviews: Cluster Executives

Abstract

This chapter contains all interview documentation in full length from the executives’ cluster.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker

6. The Interviews: Cluster Consultants

Abstract

This chapter contains all interview documentation in full length from the consultants’ cluster.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker

7. The Interviews: Cluster Academics, Diplomats, and NGOs

Abstract

This chapter contains all interview documentation in full length from the cluster of the Academics, Diplomats, and NGOs.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker

8. The Interviews: Cluster Others

Abstract

This chapter contains all interview documentation in full length from the cluster of our interviewees not fitting the other categories, the “Others.”

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker

Key Take-Aways and Further Reflections

Frontmatter

9. The Most Important Takeaways

Abstract

In this chapter, we collect those takeaways that are in our perception and evaluation the most creative, surprising, animating, and important ones from the interviewees. The target is to give our readers a very condensed and easily readable overview which animates the reader to go back to the detailed interview documentation in order to explore more detailed facets and to reflect if, or in which personally tailored way, the takeaways might best be applied.

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker, Doris Pemler

10. A ChatGPT Proposal to Read an Unknown Organization and How to Regard and Use It

Abstract

This chapter describes an experiment: how does AI (AI = Artificial Intelligence) answer the question of how to read an Unknown Organization? Where is it similar to the answers from the 22 interviewees and where do we find differences? What do we learn from the experiment for our coping mechanisms with Unknown Organizations? And when might we apply ChatGPT without concerns and doubts—and when should we better rely on the experiences and consideration of real professional people?

Peter Wollmann, Lukas Stricker, Reto Püringer

11. Navigating the Unknown in Organizations: And How to Read the Respective Organizational Capabilities

Abstract

As organizations adapt to this new era of perpetual and unpredictable change, the fabric of team structures and leadership is undergoing a profound cultural transformation—a radical paradigm shift that extends far beyond what our society has encountered to date. As we navigate this evolving landscape, it has become increasingly clear that traditional organizational structures and paradigms, originally designed for a context characterized by gradual shifts and a relatively stable work environment, are no longer sufficient as solutions to address the profound economic, social, political, and environmental challenges companies are presented with. This prompts the question: How can individuals effectively navigate this terrain of uncertainties within organizations impacted by these complex, interconnected, and transformative challenges? What adaptations are necessary for organizational leadership to confront these uncertainties, and successfully guide their organizations and teams through them?

The conventional approach to problem solving typically involves identifying issues and devising corresponding solutions. However, in the face of the unprecedented challenges currently gripping society—ranging from global pandemics and rapidly changing natural environments to significant shifts in social and political power structures, biotechnological advances, Artificial Intelligence, and financial crises—we find ourselves unable to rely on our usual problem-solving paradigm. This chapter delves into unconventional methods, urging leaders of organizations to adopt a different lens through which they perceive and interact with the world—and how they read their own and an unknown organization. While the innovative organizational structure outlined in the Three Pillars by P. Wollmann (P. Wollmann et al. (eds.). 2020. Three Pillars of Organization and Leadership in Disruptive Times, Future of Business and Finance. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.) represents a fundamental shift in how organizations can be run to adapt to these demands, the focus of this chapter is on the transformation leaders and their teams must undergo. It emphasizes a more nuanced analysis of how our behaviors, thoughts, and connections align with our intrinsic human qualities to support this innovative approach. Reading an (unknown) organization means therefore to evaluate the maturity degree the organization has already gained on this necessary journey.

Jacqueline Hofste

12. At the Book’s End a Striking Analogy: An International Sommèliere and a Wine and Olive Oil Expert Read Unknown Organizations in the Form of Wine and Olive Oil Producers and Relate the Outcomes to the Three-Pillar Model

Abstract

In this chapter, a significantly different and tangible perspective is taken: two well-known experts in an agricultural field of everyday but nevertheless high-end products—wine and olive oil—discuss their experience how to read new unknown organizations which means producers—and there are many in the world, in each continent and many countries, in different sizes and with a different focus. The charm of the chapter is that nearly everybody knows something about production, products, and produces, many have already visited producers or read about them. So, there is a certain common knowledge and it might be exciting to share the experts’ views presented in the discussion. The discussion is framed with some introductory and summarizing comments by the lead editor.

Christal Lalla, Doris Pemler, Peter Wollmann

Title: Reading an Unknown Organization
Editors: Peter Wollmann
Lukas Stricker
Doris Pemler
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-031-67408-2
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-67407-5
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-67408-2