Strategies for Organization Design

Design better organizations with humans at the center

In Strategies for Organization Design: Using the Peopletecture Model to Improve Collaboration and Performance, EY’s People Advisory Principal, Dr. Tiffany McDowell, delivers an insightful exploration of organization design. Dr. McDowell combines expertise in both applied management and psychology to solve stubborn company challenges with practical solutions. Readers will have the opportunity to apply these solutions immediately to create positive impact, deal with rapid change, and consistently innovate at scale.

In the book, you’ll learn to:

• Accelerate organizational transformation in a data-driven and evidence-based way
• Make your organization’s work mean and matter more to the people doing it
• Use insights drawn from network science, human motivation, behavioral economics, and organization theory to drive meaningful collaboration

A groundbreaking, yet accessible new approach to building an exciting, innovative, and future-proofed organization, Strategies for Organization Design deserves a place in the hands of managers, executives, and other business leaders—as well as the consultants and specialists who serve them and their companies—who are looking for hands-on solutions twenty-first century business challenges.

Preface ix

Chapter 1 Right Intentions, Wrong Focus 1

Chapter 2 Solving the Right Problem 9

Chapter 3 The Peopletecture Model 19

Chapter 4 Hierarchy 25

Chapter 5 Networks 37

Chapter 6 Hierarchy Versus Networks 59

Chapter 7 Measurement 65

Chapter 8 Membership 83

Chapter 9 Responsibility 97

Chapter 10 Teaming 111

Chapter 11 Purpose and Utility 121

Chapter 12 Peopletecture for Individuals and Managers 139

Chapter 13 Where Should You Start? 149

Chapter 14 Conclusion: What’s Next? 157

Appendix 169

References 179

Bibliography 193

About the Author 205

Acknowledgments 207

Index 209

TIFFANY MCDOWELL, PHD, is a Principal at Ernst and Young, LLP. She has advised dozens of Fortune 500 CXOs on the topic of organization design, has published in academic journals and on innovations in the field of organizational design, and has taught the subject at multiple universities over the years. Tiffany is uniquely positioned to be the authority on this topic, having built one of the largest and most successful organization design practices in the world by bringing scientifically proven ideas together with a long and successful consulting career. She completed her BA in Psychology at the University of British Columbia, her MBA at Simon Fraser University and her PhD in Industrial Psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology.

Business transformation and change management are challenging prospects. They’re made even more difficult by the sheer volume of strategies, frameworks, and methods intended to help guide the efforts of business leaders, but actually serve to muddy the waters and create confusion for decision makers.

In Strategies for Organization Design: Using the Peopletecture Model to Improve Collaboration and Performance, veteran organization design professional Tiffany McDowell, PhD, delivers an incisive and practical discussion of how to solve stubborn challenges with straightforward solutions.

In the book, you’ll discover how to use insights from the fields of applied management and psychology to create positive impact, deal with rapid change, and consistently innovate at scale in your organization. McDowell explains how to accelerate organizational transformation in a data-driven and evidence-based way while making your company’s work mean and matter more to the people doing it. She also draws from her expertise in network science, human motivation, behavioral economics, and organization theory to demonstrate how to drive improvements in meaningful collaboration between your people.

An indispensable strategic playbook for improved performance and more meaningful work, Strategies for Organization Design will earn a place in the libraries of executives, managers, team leaders, vice presidents, board members, and other business leaders, as well as academics and consultants with an interest in organizational design.

Strategies for Organization Design provides compelling answers to the “why” and—just as importantly—the “how” of architecting the organization of the future. Its hands-on approach covers the elements of organization design at the individual, team, and enterprise levels, offering you a step-by-step approach to crafting the perfect context for people to find meaning and for teams to reach new levels of performance.

PRAISE FOR STRATEGIES FOR ORGANIZATION DESIGN

“In a hybrid context, improving collaboration has never been more important. McDowell offers fresh perspective on how work actually gets done in organizations. By applying Organization Network Analysis (ONA) to understand horizontal collaboration, we instantly go from being 20% effective to 100% effective. This is a must-read for every manager.”
—Michael J. Arena, Author, Adaptive Space; Co-founder, Connected Commons

“Work is changing and so must organizations and their design. Tiffany McDowell’s book puts networks, relationships, people and their behavior center stage in exploring a fresh approach to how we structure work and teams and provides a curated view of key concepts along the way.”
—Jeff Schwartz, Author, Work Disrupted

“Organization Design, and all it entails, remains one of the most important (and mystifying) issues in business. Tiffany’s book is a must-read to help business and HR professionals understand the important new ideas, principles, and rules of this vital subject.”
—Josh Bersin, Global Industry Analyst

“Dr. Tiffany McDowell has written a must-read primer for anyone considering change in their organization. Having worked with Tiffany, I can personally attest to her innovative methods in organization design. Read this book — and learn from one of the best.”
—Kristie Rodenbush, CHRO and HR Educator

“In order to address the twenty-first century challenges facing organizations, we must redesign companies and allow humans to realize their full potential at work. Dr. McDowell uses Organization Network Analysis (ONA) to show us how to expand our focus from human capital to social capital, applying her comprehensive Peopletecture solution to address empowerment, engagement, innovation, and growth.”
—Manish Goel, Founder and Former CEO, TrustSphere