Podcast: Flattening the Pyramid: Transforming Hierarchies into Horizontal Structures

Tradition is a funny thing. On one hand, the familiarity of no surprises and tried-and-true outcomes can be a comfort. On the other hand, tradition can stifle creativity, effectively squashing the question of “Is there a better way?”

In this episode of Behind the Curtain: Adventures in Continuous Improvement, podcast co-hosts Dr. Mohamed Saleh and John Dyer talk tradition. They suggest that organizational structures other than traditional vertical systems may better foster open communication and shared mental models.

Moreover, “the one way to destroy the silos completely and permanently would be to change the organizational structure.”

Specifically, the continuous improvement experts explore horizontal organizational structures. Among the structures they discuss are organizing by institute (in health care), value stream or focused factory.

“It's almost like running a small business within a large business,” Dyer notes.

“One of the things I love talking to people about is … when you do have that kind of mentality of a small business, how would you run this? … How would you do things differently?” Dyer says.

And while traditional vertical organizational structures support performance goals that can lead to siloed thinking, horizontal structures support team thinking, he adds. “[Focused factory employees] may have a few individual goals, but the majority, over 50%, is based on how that focus factory performs. So now we all have to be pulling in the same direction, because we're either all going to win or lose together.”

That said, Saleh and Dyer issue words of caution about horizontal organizational structures—such as the potential for conflicting marching orders—as well as potential solutions.