that we can have an effect on our environment, our growth, and
our results. This is why localness is one of our core values.3
In 1988, former Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke similarly
expressed his commitment to localness, along with a reminder of its
implications for top management.
We have 166 affiliate companies in 59 countries and an accelerating
growth rate. Our commitment to decentralization demands a
flexible organization permitting rapid decision making.4
That same year, Fortune quoted him on the subject:
Those of us in top management often say to each other that we
had more fun running a J&J company than anything since. If you are
having as much fun running a big corporation as you did running a
piece of it, then you are probably interfering too much with the
people who really make it happen."5
But there is no guarantee that energetic, committed local decision
makers will be wise decision makers. Local decision makers can be
myopic, failing to appreciate the impacts of decisions on the larger
systems in which they operate. It can fail to take in the benefits of
experience. It can be short term. The quality of local decision making
is the second core in localness: "How can organizations achieve
control without controlling?"
CONTROL WITHOUT "CONTROLLING"
Just because no one is "in control" does not mean that there is no
"control." In fact, all healthy organisms have processes of control.
However, they are distributed processes, not concentrated in any
one authoritarian decision maker. As, my MIT colleague Dan Kim
suggests, imagine what would happen if the immune system had to
wait for approval before releasing antibodies to fight an infection.
You might imagine the conversation:
LOCAL AGENT: We've got a nasty-looking infection starting here.
CENTRAL AUTHORITY: Keep a close eye on it. Let me know if it
looks like it's getting out of control.
By the time the central authority finally grants permission to act,
the infection has overrun the whole system. The essence of organic
that we can have an effect on our environment, our growth, and
our results. This is why localness is one of our core values.3
In 1988, former Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke similarly
expressed his commitment to localness, along with a reminder of its
implications for top management.
We have 166 affiliate companies in 59 countries and an accelerating
growth rate. Our commitment to decentralization demands a
flexible organization permitting rapid decision making.4
That same year, Fortune quoted him on the subject:
Those of us in top management often say to each other that we
had more fun running a J&J company than anything since. If you are
having as much fun running a big corporation as you did running a
piece of it, then you are probably interfering too much with the
people who really make it happen."5
But there is no guarantee that energetic, committed local decision
makers will be wise decision makers. Local decision makers can be
myopic, failing to appreciate the impacts of decisions on the larger
systems in which they operate. It can fail to take in the benefits of
experience. It can be short term. The quality of local decision making
is the second core in localness: "How can organizations achieve
control without controlling?"
CONTROL WITHOUT "CONTROLLING"
Just because no one is "in control" does not mean that there is no
"control." In fact, all healthy organisms have processes of control.
However, they are distributed processes, not concentrated in any
one authoritarian decision maker. As, my MIT colleague Dan Kim
suggests, imagine what would happen if the immune system had to
wait for approval before releasing antibodies to fight an infection.
You might imagine the conversation:
LOCAL AGENT: We've got a nasty-looking infection starting here.
CENTRAL AUTHORITY: Keep a close eye on it. Let me know if it
looks like it's getting out of control.
By the time the central authority finally grants permission to act,
the infection has overrun the whole system. The essence of organic
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