Roy Winkler, in a discussion of learning organizations that in general I
agree with, also made the comment that "There is a great difference
between bureaucracies based on the military model of organizations, and
the flatter, information-sharing, stakeholder driven organizations which
are able to learn from everyone."
We have had here a discussion of a high-performing military organization,
and also a discussion of American companies who flattened their
organizations compared to others who have learned to leverage their
'overhead' more effectively. I have also seen some flattened state
agencies that remain as bureaucratic as ever, and I once worked for a
small entrepreneur who had a flat organization, but was just as Roy
described above. Therefore, the jury is still out regarding whether
organizational 'flatness' is a driver of a learning organization. For me,
it seems counter-intuitive. Flatness does not seem relevant.
-- Rol Fessenden LL Bean 76234.3636@compuserve.com