Of organisational goals & collective consciousness

Whenever I work with organisations, I am surprised that irrespective of the number of creative, dedicated, sensitive dynamic people in an organisation, it is only when the top management seeks a change and demands innovation that things start moving in that direction – and even then it is often not very effective. The best ideas do not come on demand, especially when the focus is more on quantity than quality. 

So what is wrong? How do we rethink the very idea of organisations?

It is amazing how powerful metaphors and associations are in our subconscious minds.

In design, it is an accepted norm to use strange associations to come up with wild, creative ideas. One such example is the design of the first Apple mouse by IDEO design firm. The movement of the computer mouse was actually inspired by the roll-on deodorant. Such strange associations are often at micro tangible level but what we often take for granted are the existing macro associations in our mind. 

Many of these associations are a result of social conditioning and collective consciousness. Let us consider our associations with the word ‘head’ – head of an organisation, head of a department, head of a family. 

Of course, the head comes with a body. The head, represented by the top management, controls the arms, legs, senses and orders them regarding actions to be taken. We take it for granted that unless there are unified purpose and discipline to fulfil the purpose, we cannot function. What would happen if our body would not listen to our mind?

The sad part is that we associate the same metaphor with organisations, institutions and nations. The top-down approach and the belief that there has to be one goal, one vision and each and every person should be obedient and do what is demanded by the person. This highly controlled and managed organisation may at best lead to expected outcomes but will never lead to unexpected, surprising, astonishing, creative outcomes.

What would happen if we were to change this association from the human mind and body to natural systems which are wonderfully dynamic, self-managed and efficient? 

When there are enough water droplets in the sky, a cloud is formed and it rains. Sometimes the results come from a combination of multiple systems. A mango ripens with a good balance of various parameters including soil, water and heat. If we were to consider organisations as natural systems, we would consider each individual to be important.

We would consider the collective energy of individuals to be more powerful than any single entity. And we would look for opportunities to collaborate constantly because we would recognise that collaboration helps in innovation. 

Further on we might start looking at dynamic systems – instead of classifying people in departments we would consider them to be dynamic energy bubbles, waxing and waning, positive and negative, individual and collective.

This would change the entire perception of organisations and bring about an organisational culture more conducive to innovation.

We need to understand that

1. Metaphors and associations are powerful
2. Know the macro associations we have in our mind
3. Question and change those associations for radical ideas
4. Rethink the existing meaning of organisation for an innovative culture 

Changing the metaphor for organisations can radically change the organisation’s structure and culture. This can trigger off a spate of ideas and innovations not even envisaged by the management.

The writer is a senior faculty at the National 
Institute of Design. She believes that there could be great wisdom in chaos and disorder