I'm reading a new book.1

A few months ago someone left four books in the breakroom on my hall. By the end of the day, no one had picked them up. So, I decided to take them home with me. It wasn't until a few days ago that I even looked at the books. I knew there were a couple about technology, but other than that, I didn't know much about them.

Well, the book that caught my attention out of the four was one titled Change the World: How Ordinary People Can Accomplish Extraordinary Results. I've only read the preface, chapter one, and half of chapter two, but thus far it is an excellent book.

Chapter two is titled Envision the Productive Community. There is a section named The Nature of Hierarchy. In this section the author, Robert E. Quinn, discusses the difference in hierarchy and what he labels, adhocracy. Adhocracy is an "alternative in which there [is] equality, openness, and cooperation. He makes it clear that a hierarchy is not necessarily the "frozen bureaucracy" that we often think of it as.

He defines hierarchy as a form of organization that emerges over time that can provide stability, control, and predictability. These are good things, but they are based on the past. They are based on solutions to problems that we have already faced. The problem with relying on a system based on previous results is that the world is forever changing.

I'd like to share a passage from the subsection The Emergence of Adhocracy. It reminded me of Visio Dei.

[Adhocracies] emerge when there is a need to understand new trends and identify appropriate responses so that the organization can come in alignment with the emerging realities. ... Rather than maintaining the status quo, adhocracies arise when there is a need to discover new paths.

Driven by the challenge of discovering and meeting new needs, we group together in flexible networks and search for information. We try action experiments, compare observations, and attempt to make sense of things. In this search mode, we care little about the status that people might carry from past hierarchies. We are only concerned with the competencies they can bring to solving present problems, along with their ability to effectively relate to others in the problem solving process. That dynamic is the essence of adhocracy, which is characterized by four key features: flexibility, learning, adaptation, and change.

It's probably worth noting that this is not a religious book. So, any use of words used in religion discussions, e.g. emerging, is merely coincidental. Also, it's worth noting that I am not making any kind of comment on the theological stance of Visio Dei. I am referencing the organizational makeup. Most of my precieved likeness comes in the form of our home groups. maybe that makes sense. Maybe it doesn't.

If you are still reading at this point, do you have any thoughts? Has anyone ever read this book?

1. backI realize at this point some of you are questioning why I would start yet another book when I have so many that I left unfinished.

Labels: books