The design of enabling structures in organizations is to be seen as part of a fundamental “system” of intertwined perspectives.
The resolution of these four dimensions or perspectives can be made only when purpose becomes manifest. Purpose takes on the form of an enabling web of “protocols” that allow these four perspectives to be held coherently. These protocols if tacit are invisible, and their fabric broken if even one of the elements remains unattended.
Roles and contributions themselves need commitments and credibility among players to sustain their relevance in inter-personal relations. In that sense, without the community acknowledging, tacitly and/or explicitly, the expectations and actual “offering” of commitment and credibility, no individual can play his/her role or make any contribution.
To be able to sustain structure, one must also be clear about measures. To be able to sustain measures, one must clarify roles and contribution. Roles/contribution are distinct from functions and tasks. The latter is “allocated”. The former is “chosen” and lived.
Commitment/credibility in turn are given institutional visibility and authority through structure. Without structure, individuals have to depend on a network of personal relationships alone to make results happen. Therefore structure provides the institutional form in which impersonal results can be driven with institutionally accepted commitments and credibility born of that commitment.
In short, no single element of this system can come into being without all the others being created and lived simultaneously. Organizations wherein even one of these elements are missing have severe challenges of supporting sustainability beyond specific individuals and circumstances that drive success.
This leads us to the recognition that design for a new organization is nothing short of a fresh reaffirmation of personal and organizational purpose both to the stakeholders of the system and to society at large.