But the notion of loose coupling doesn’t stop there. It also begins to reshape organizational design and behavior. Think about the organizational equivalent of component-based software or modular product design. Rather than traditional hierarchies driven by command and control management styles, we are likely to see relatively independent organizational modules brought together to perform one set of processes and then different arrangements of modules to perform other processes. Some of these modules will belong to the same enterprise, but modules from other enterprises may be brought in to perform specific tasks on an as needed basis. Richard Veryard in The Component-Based Business: Plug and Play offers an intriguing early exploration of some of these organizational design opportunities and issues.
Even business strategy will become more loosely coupled. Conventional business strategy approaches emphasize the need to develop a detailed strategic blueprint and then tightly couple operational initiatives to execute the blueprint. As uncertainty grows in business environments, these hard-wired approaches to business strategies are becoming less and less viable. In their place, companies are developing much more loosely coupled and layered business strategies.
The quote above by John Hagel is from 2002, though we are still just scratching the surface when it comes to adopting this notion.
The social web is clearly reaching its "Now what?" moment. Early adopters who were once overflowing with enthusiasm are more frequently expressing feelings of disenchantment. Millions of people are now able to connect with each other like never before...but to what end? People who want to see themselves as change agents are finding themselves talking more and more, yet doing less and less.
One of the challenges in this newly fluid social environment is that we tend to gravitate towards people similar to ourselves. Many pundits have maligned our tendency to form echo chambers, seeking out people with opinions and values similar to our own. Less commonly recognized is the tendency to engage with people who fill functional roles similar to our own. Echo chambers tend towards all talk and little action because they fail to attract people with complimentary skill sets.
Loose coupling will be critical to any self-organizing group that intends to move beyond talk and to initiate action. In practice, individuals in collaborative environments will need to develop a keener understanding of the particular strengths they bring to the table. The better able individuals are to express their own unique strengths, the more they will engender opportunities for others to pull them towards mutually beneficial roles.
