Many organizations are realizing that when people are assigned or choose roles to play in an organization they are often more creative and efficient than when they are confined to the duties prescribed by a title or position.
I just read a amazingly thought provoking blog written by IDEO CEO Tim Brown. In it he talks about IDEO’s quest for T-shaped people, who he believes are the engine of IDEO’s creativity and success. He describes these people this way: the vertical shaft of the “T” represents the depth of expertise/skill that a person exhibits while the crossbar of the “T” represents the amount they are willing and able to collaborate. People who are T-shaped are well rounded and versatile. They are better able to contribute their ideas to a discussion and are able to take on a variety of roles. It’s no wonder that IDEO is one of the firms pioneering the change to formalize role-based work and reduce the work that is based on position or title.
We have a ways to go to fully realize the potential of role-based work as we are caught in a web that pays and promotes people based on such criteria as degrees, years of experience, time in the current position and so forth. In a mechanistic, industrial world there may have been some correlation between experience, training and performance. But as we move into a time when out-of-the-box ideas and disruptive technologies are needed for success, these older measures correlate lightly or not at all with actual performance and organizational success. T-shaped people, free to take on different roles as work changes, are far more valuable than those trapped in rigid silos of scope and responsibility.
However, Baby Boomer attitudes about work, laws and policies will have to change and there will need to be sweeping changes in how Human Resources thinks about compensation, promotion, and development to fully transform organizations.
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