Innovative organizations will exhibit a curvilinear flow of activities and energies rather than the more linear flows associated with Second Wave organizations. There will be times of intense activity which may involve long hours of work. These activity periods will be followed by planned sabbaticals during which the participants will rest and reflect on their work.
Human energy development (HED) strategies will expand the concepts associated with human resource development. HED will support continuous learning, experimentation, innovation, fun, creativity and the development of the whole person. HED programs will focus on technical skill development, intrapersonal and interpersonal dynamics and innovative learning. Interdisciplinary knowledge and skill development also will be expanded. Every team member will plan learning programs based on organizational, team and personal needs with assistance from a development facilitator. Learning processes may involve video, telecommunication and computer technologies in conjunction with self-exploration and group education. Individuals and teams will be encouraged to interact with people from different organizations, cultures and disciplines.
Lectures on a wide variety of topics will be integrated with job-related activities. Dialogues between different groups will be encouraged. Networks will facilitate continuous and innovative learning. Individuals with advanced skills will be assigned as mentors.
Innovative organizations will be composed of subcultural networks and autonomous teams. The organization will have three levels. Networks will be developed to serve as temporary multifunctional units to accomplish tasks. Functional units will serve as places for an individual to learn specialized skills. They also will serve as a place where individuals can reflect upon past accomplishments and regenerate their energies.
Performance will be evaluated by peers and by the individuals themselves. Such evaluations will be related to accomplishments relative to the general organizational mission, specific task requirements and level of innovation. All such evaluations will be developmental in orientation, in order to assist members in improving the quality of their performance.
All stakeholders will benefit from the organization's accomplishments. The individual will be able to select from a variety of rewards, both financial and non-financial. Examples of non-financial rewards are sabbaticals, assignments providing increased autonomy and the provision of extra resources allowing individuals to pursue special-interest innovation projects.
Energy and innovation facilitation concepts will replace current management concepts which focus on regulation and suppression of human energy. Energy and Innovation Facilitators (EIFs) will focus on energizing the work environment, with the individual and team being responsible for accountability and management. EIFs will serve as advocates, developers, scouts and information collectors, but will not possess the formal trappings of present managers. They will be found in a variety of positions throughout the organization. EIFs will be selected by their peers on the basis of their expertise, level of personal self-esteem, facilitation abilities and their energizing orientation.
Executives who want to transform their firms into innovative organizations must begin with a personal transformation. This starts with an in-depth examination of personal beliefs regarding the immediate and ultimate purposes of humanity, the full range of human needs, the nature of management, the organization of work, the value and effectiveness of technology and alternative visions as to what the future might be.
Executives will need to gather information from their stakeholders. They should send out scouts to explore new ideas. Scouts should be employed to facilitate dialogues within and outside the company and play the role of the "court jester." Information-gathering activities should be followed by a formal, open process of envisioning a "desired" future state involving all stakeholders or their representatives. The visioning process must yield a specific set of beliefs upon which the organization's new structure will be designed. An important measure of the effectiveness of the envisioning process is the type of energy it attracts from stakeholders.
This vision should be extended throughout the organization, resulting in each work team and individual possessing a vision. Each vision should be energy-directing and meaningful. Team and individual visions should be incorporated into the redesign of the present work system. The entire process must be open, participatory and ongoing. The process should be simple. The organizational vision, as well as team and individual visions, must be carefully explained to all new stakeholders to ensure their commitment.
Executives must focus on carefully designing these transformational processes. In some cases, they may have to create a new organizational culture. Innovative beliefs based on these changes need to be actualized by organizational members. The process of culture transformation must begin with an alignment of executive behaviors with these themes. This alignment will create an energy field of personal integrity and strength, and draw organizational members toward the vision. If, however, executive actions express the idea of "do as I say and not as I do," the transformation will not take place. Executives also must express their commitment by allocating sufficient time and resources to the creation of the new culture.
Executives should employ the services of Organization Development/Transformation (OD/T) and technical consultants to aid them in the design and facilitation of transformation processes. The role of an OD/T consultant is to serve as a stage manager. Technical consultants can serve as educators and advisors. They must not, however, dictate any form of change. Consultants should instead create learning environments. Transformation processes must allow organizational members to freely explore and change their present mindset. These processes must be in line with the present belief systems of the various organizational subcultures. Using manipulation or force would only result in distrust and failure.
Organizational members must recognize that the process of transformation will involve a cycle of death and rebirth. They likely will experience considerable distress during the transformation. They may resist the transformation and become angry about the process and with executives and consultants. They will experience grief over the death of the old way of life.
Organizational members should be allowed to express their feelings about the changesÑthis will allow them to proceed through the cycle of death and rebirth. Activities which will allow members to experience this process without a loss of spirit should be created. Processes which will actualize unknown energies will be required to bring the organization into its new state of being.
Executives also should recognize that certain organizational members may not be willing or able to adjust to the new culture. These individuals may react from a state of fear resulting in intense resistance to change. It is critical that these individuals be treated in a manner reflecting the values of the new culture. The manner in which such individuals are treated will dramatically affect the level of commitment of all stakeholders. Executives have a number of alternative strategies for dealing with these individuals compassionately. They may be requested to resign or retire from the organization; in which case, the organization should provide support systems for transitioning them into a new life. These individuals may also be transferred into positions involving more traditional activities. This will allow them to be productive and keep their values without giving them the opportunity to inhibit or destroy any aspect of the transformation. They should not be forced to participate in "positive thinking" or "mind game" training programs. Voluntary therapy and transition programs should be available for individuals experiencing difficulties coping with the transformation.
In some cases, executives may decide to develop the new vision by creating a new and separate organization. Organizational members who are drawn toward the energy field of the new vision and who are in agreement with its values can act as co-entrepreneurs with executives in creating the new enterprise. The old organization should be allowed to die a natural death as its members retire and its products become obsolete.
Organizations now find themselves in the midst of the Third Wave. This article has suggested some of the shifts in perspectives, managerial concepts and organizational practices which will characterize organizations of the future. Fragmentary applications of these ideas are already being tested and modified. It is a time of new visions, boldness, innovation, learning, and a compassion for those who are experiencing difficulties in adjusting. The transformation has begun, and will continue at an accelerated rate. Executives must support the creation of innovative organizations or experience the death of their enterprises.
The challenge that executives and the other organizational members now face is to transcend the fears associated with the forces causing global transformations. Organizational members will be like Luke Skywalker in the film, The Empire Strikes Back, when he confronts and kills Darth Vader in a cave only to find out that he is fighting an illusionary image generated by his own fears. Members must recognize that by not confronting their own fears, they will be locked in a destructive conflict with themselves over their inability to transform their firm. The full experiencing of these human conditions will allow organizational members to form a new vision of themselves. It will also allow them to form a vision of their role and the role of their organization in this new context. It will cause the "sleeper" to awaken from within, allowing them to create a second renaissance.