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December 01, 2006
Organizational structure
Check out this post on the ALA TechSource Blog The Hyperlinked Organization: Radical Transparency, Crummy Meetings & Micromanagement. My favorite comment about organizations is this paragraph:
Micromanagent Has No Place in a Hyperlinked Organization
To the librarian I once overheard saying, "It is my personal duty to make sure we have no typos on anything!" I must say: Don't miss the forest for the trees, Dear Lady. Typos can be corrected, especially online, and focusing too much on those little details may lead to missing the big picture. You're the one that staff may be e-mailing about, while they wait to launch the new wiki, you are still proofing the proposal for the wiki! A nimble organization can move quickly if not mired in proofing, re-proofing, and proofing one more time a policy change, FAQ, or other document.
I'd like to hear your thoughts on the following:
What's the best strategy for shifting our organizational focus to the big picture?
How can we become a more nimble, responsive organization?
How do we empower staff at the point of work with more decisionmaking authority and autonomy about that work?
Comment here, or come to office hours on Monday to talk!
Posted by janeblum at December 1, 2006 07:12 AM
Comments
Wow--this is great! I have so many thoughts on the above that I don't know where to start. I think that the three topics listed are of utmost importance and deserve, at the very least, a round-table discussion. Could we schedule one for those who are interested? Who else is excited by this prospect? I would love to hear other people's thoughts, too.
Posted by: schnitzr at December 1, 2006 08:40 AM
The new HSL journal club (w/ Pat Martin as coordinator) might serve as the forum for open dialog and discussion on these topics. I think the December session is already planned, but could be a great opportunity for January. I'm very interested in hearing other people's ideas on this too. I enjoyed one of the linked articles on "How to Run a Meeting Like Google." Lots of food for thought.
Posted by: nallee at December 3, 2006 04:56 PM
Thank you for posting this. I hope it prompts some soul searching.
Posted by: oriley at December 3, 2006 05:12 PM
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