WE (HUMANS) ARE AT THE PEAK OF OUR
CIVILIZATION IN TERMS OF ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL COOPERATION
AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION
THE GWP (GROSS WORLD
PRODUCT) IS AT ITS
HIGHEST AND GROWING
THE FASTEST IN
RECORDED HISTORY
SOURCE: HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/GROSS_WORLD_PRODUCT
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
IS QUICKLY ADOPTED AND MAKES
THE WORLD SMALLER AND MORE
EFFECTIVE. THERE ARE NOW
ALMOST 7 BILLION MOBILE
CONNECTIONS AND OVER 3
BILLION INTERNET USERS.
THIS SMALLER AND BETTER
WORLD WAS MADE POSSIBLE
BY MANY THINGS. BUT ONE
STANDS OUT, THOUGH NOT
CLAIMING THE SPOTLIGHT.
IT’S MANAGEMENT
TECHNOLOGY AND KNOW-
HOW.
WE’VE BUILT A MORE PRODUCTIVE, MORE
CONNECTED WORLD BECAUSE WE’VE
BUILT BIGGER AND BETTER
ORGANIZATIONS
AS THE MILITARY HAS BEEN THE SINGLE MOST
ENDURING FORM OF HUMAN ORGANIZATION
THROUGHOUT HISTORY (SECONDED ONLY BY
RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS), IT SEEMED LOGICAL TO
APPROACH ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT BASED ON
MARTIAL MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES.
THE LARGEST ORGANIZATIONS ARE ORGANIZED AND
BEHAVE JUST LIKE ARMIES. TOP DOWN COMMAND WITH
INTEL GOING UPSTREAM AND ORDERS GOING
DOWNSTREAM. THE MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES
“CONQUER” MARKETS, “TARGET” CUSTOMERS AND
“SECURE” MARKET SHARE.
AS COMPANIES NEED EFFECTIVENESS TO STAY
PROFITABLE, STRATEGY IS DESIGNED BY A SMALL GROUP
OF PEOPLE (THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS) AND
IMPLEMENTED TOP-DOWN BY AN EXECUTIVE STAFF.
TO DO SO – THE EXECUTIVE STAFF USES COMPANY
PROCESS DESIGN AND PROCEDURES THAT ARE FOLLOWED
BY THOSE LOWER ON THE HIERARCHY.
BASICALLY, THAT’S HOW LARGE
ORGANIZATIONS
WORK TODAY:
THE PROBLEM: THIS STRUCTURE IS NOT
WORKING ANYMORE.
WE SEE THE EFFECTS IN GLOBAL DEBT,
WORKING CONDITIONS AND INEQUITY.
US FEDERAL DEBT 1965 -2010
HTTP://WWW.IMF.ORG/EXTERNAL/PUBS/FT/FANDD/2011/03/PDF/PICTURE.PDF
BAD BOSSES
HTTP://WWW.INC.COM/MAEGHAN-OUIMET/REAL-COST-BAD-BOSSES.HTML
INEQUALITY
HTTP://WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM/BUSINESS/ARCHIVE/2012/12/A-GIANT-STATISTICAL-
ROUND-UP-OF-THE-INCOME-INEQUALITY-CRISIS-IN-16-CHARTS/266074/
INEQUALITY
HTTP://WWW.THEATLANTIC.COM/BUSINESS/ARCHIVE/2012/12/A-GIANT-STATISTICAL-
ROUND-UP-OF-THE-INCOME-INEQUALITY-CRISIS-IN-16-CHARTS/266074/
SO LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT: EVEN THOUGH
WE ARE MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN EVER, WE,
AS A SPECIES, ARE ALSO:
- MORE INDEBTED
- LESS HAPPY WITH OUR WORK
- EARN LESS THAN EVER
WE HAVE OUTGROWN OUR MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM
IN A WORLD WHERE ORGANIZATIONS
GROW BIGGER AND REACH FARTHER
THAN EVER, WE NEED A SYSTEM WHERE
SUCH ORGANIZATIONS CAN SELF-MANAGE
CAN WE FIND ONE?
SIMPLE: SOFTWARE
THERE ARE MANY
SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS AND
HARDWARE-SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS:
THE PRINCIPLE WE USE TODAY TO MANAGE ORGANIZATIONS WAS ALSO
USED IN THE BEGINNINGS OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING.
PROGRAMS WERE FED INTO COMPUTERS TO COMPUTE DIFFERENTIAL
EQUATIONS FOR THINGS SUCH AS THE TRAJECTORY OF A SHELL, A BLAST
RADIUS OR WEATHER PREDICTIONS.
THESE PROGRAMS WERE FED INTO A GENERAL PURPOSE MACHINERY (THE
COMPUTER) AND BASED ON THESE INSTRUCTIONS COMPUTATIONS WOULD
BE MADE.
BUT AS THE COMPUTER INDUSTRY GREW, SO DID THE COMPUTERS’
CAPACITY TO RUN PROGRAMS. WITH THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION
COMPUTERS BECAME MORE THAN SIMPLISTIC MACHINERY BUILT TO
OUTPUT SPECIFIC DATA. PROGRAMS COULD BE NOW WRITTEN TO ANSWER
MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS BUT ALSO TO OUTPUT IMAGERY, SOUNDS,
ALLOW USERS TO PLAY GAMES AND MORE.
TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE, A NEW PARADIGM IN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING
CHANGED THE WAY PROGRAMS WERE WRITTEN. INSTEAD OF THE
PREVIOUS FUNCTIONAL (PROCEDURAL) PROGRAMMING, THE CONCEPT OF
BUILDING A PROGRAM STARTED WORKING WITH THE CONCEPT OF
“OBJECTS”.
TECHNICALLY, OBJECTS ARE A COLLECTION OF DATA AND
FUNCTIONS.
CONCEPTUALLY THEY ARE THE BRIDGE BETWEEN MACHINE
PROCESSING AND HUMAN CONCEPTUAL THINKING.
WE INTERACT WITH THE WORLD AROUND US WITH THE
HELP OF THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT: THE OBJECTS. OBJECTS
ARE A COLLECTION OF DATA (FOR EXAMPLE A BALL MAY BE
ORANGE, TEXTURED AND A SPHERE) AND BEHAVIORS (IT
BOUNCES, IT FLOATS IN WATER)
TO IMPLEMENT OBJECT ORIENTED
ORGANIZATIONS WOULD MEAN THAT
INSTEAD OF THIS:
…ORGANIZATIONS WOULD BE BUILD BY
NETWORKING INDEPENDENT, SELF-
CONTAINED, SELF-MANAGED
ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTS. LIKE THIS:
HERE’S HOW A COMPUTER
MANUFACTURING
ORGANIZATION MIGHT
LOOK LIKE
(SIMPLIFIED)
NOTICE THAT
ORGANIZATIONAL
OBJECTS ARE
NETWORKED, RATHER
THAN HIERARCHICAL
TEAMS ARE ORGANIZED
AROUND PURPOSE AND
INTERACT WITH ONE
ANOTHER
SO … WHAT ARE THE BASICS
OF OOO
(OBJECT ORIENTED
ORGANIZATIONS)?
HOW DO WE BUILD SELF-
MANAGED TEAMS?
JUST THREE THINGS:
ENCAPSULATION
POLYMORPHISM
INHERITANCE
WHY BUILD OBJECT
ORIENTED
ORGANIZATIONS?
1. WE NEED A BETTER
SYSTEM
WE CANNOT HANDLE THE COMPLEXITY OF
GLOBALIZED ORGANIZATIONS WITH PROCEDURAL,
TOP-DOWN SYSTEMS
2. USING AN OOO APPROACH
ORGANIZATIONS BECOME
MORE EFFECTIVE, MORE
PRODUCTIVE, HAPPIER
THERE ARE OBVIOUS FAILURES IN TODAY’S MANAGERIAL
APPROACH. USING A PURPOSE BASED, NETWORKED
APPROACH, MANY OF THESE PROBLEMS MAY BE SOLVED.
3. GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS
ARE MAKING THE WORLD
SMALLER AND BETTER
LARGER ORGANIZATIONS, BUILT TO NETWORK AND CREATE
RATHER THAN EXECUTE MAY BE THE NEXT STEP IN OUR
SOCIAL EVOLUTION
QUESTIONS?
CONTACT ME AT
MIHAI.DRAGAN@GMAIL.COM
DOWNLOAD THE PRESENTATION AT
WWW.NETONOMY.NET

Building Self Managed Teams: Object Oriented Organizations