Today, the core challenge – and primary opportunity for value creation – is the utilization of complex knowledge formed through the contributions of many individuals and discrete events. This requires creating a collaborative enterprise – an organization that is adept at bringing ideas and information together in new and useful ways.

The Twentieth Century business challenge was the mastery of scale and scope. Organizations that mobilized productive effort at the best volume, cost and quality were the ones that dominated the economy. To meet this challenge, organizations optimized around strong hierarchies and the division of responsibility. Only top leaders were expected to worry about the overall goals, freeing workers to focus on performing the defined work. Strong units or “silos” formed, allowing each component skill to be developed to high levels of competency and providing excellent control through strict accountability. Frederick Taylor explicitly worked to remove knowledge from the daily production process and to center knowledge in a few managers and engineers. Value was maximized by making organizational behavior routine. Continue…