Durham, NC
Bryan formerly managed the Open Organization section of Opensource.com, which features stories about the ways open values and principles are changing how we think about organizational culture and design. He's worked on Opensource.com since 2011. Find him online as semioticrobotic.
Authored Comments
Scott asks:
I'm thinking here of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs)—like World of Warcraft or Eve Online—in which designers craft the most challenging levels such that completing them absolutely requires team participation. No single player can tackle the late stages of World of Warcraft by herself; succeeding demands combining myriad skills in order to tackle obstacles. Leaders might act like MMORPG designers, molding challenges from the ground up in ways that draw associates into their orbits. Great leaders might develop and frame goals not only as opportunities for team members to join forces, but also as something that requires leveraging the skills of everyone on a team. Of course, this is only possible if leaders know those associates' talents through and through. And that, of course, is only possible if they engage with them regularly.
Jono asks: "What do you feel is the most effective way to crisply communicate the main benefits of an open organizational model to a senior leadership team in a company?"
I'm very interested in hearing the stories of folks who've managed to do this, particularly in cases where leadership doesn't have a background in open source principles, values, and technologies.
Certainly, using examples from open source communities (e.g., Linux, as Guy notes above), is one way to explain open organizational dynamics. But what if your interlocutor doesn't have any experience with these communities—or with open source projects more generally? Surely, having to first explain Linux before being able to explain open organizations is a bit tedious and, well, potentially overwhelming for someone new to the ideas.
What have others done to navigate this hurdle?