What is an Organisation?

You can’t improve it if you don’t understand it

You can’t improve your organisation if you don’t understand what an organisation is.

So I googled organisation, this is what I found:

Organisation: noun

/ɔːɡ(ə)nʌɪˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/

1. An organised group of people with a particular purpose. – “a research organisation”
2. The action of organising something. – “the organisation of conferences”
3. The quality of being systematic and efficient. – “their lack of organisation”
4. The way in which the elements of a whole are arranged.  – “the functional organisation”

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know…

We create organisations because if we synchronise our efforts we achieve more.  We create synergy.

Organisations are all about coordination, communication, purpose and effectiveness. So if our efforts aren’t synchronised we don’t have an organisation.

I don’t think anybody will disagree

The dilemma

Why do we spend so much time and effort optimising individual and functional performance?

• Performance management
• Incentive schemes
• Centres of excellence
• Functional strategies

And so little time coordinating and synchronising our efforts?

You can have the best people and the best functions, but if they don’t work together your performance will be dreadful.