Organization evolution--page 2

Organization evolution definition

Moving through the stages of development IN a world moving toward unimagined futures.

This evolution can be seen in the histories of prominent organizations that have survived. Exploring these histories will give you a concrete jumping off point.

Examples of stages:

Initial attention directing (discovery of something useful to explore ), calendarizing, initial homework and calendarizing , homework and understanding , ... operational action ... abandonment. Having a system for doing this -- an effective MASTER ACTION LIST is a crucial element.
The understanding at a genetic level that there are going to be unimagined futures and that something absolutely adequate needs to be done now (maybe calendarizing the concern).
The transformation or perception shift from an individual view to an organization view -- see Chapter 2: "The Society of Organizations" in Post-Capitalist Society by Peter Drucker . The perceptual shift from boss to comprehension of management dimensions -- See ENTIRE Chapter 4: "The Dimensions of Management" in Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices by Peter Drucker. Using these perceptual shifts to guide one's action design -- broad and detail .
The acceptance that someone needs to take responsibility for producing society's goods and services.
Chapter 11 in The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker discusses management in the new venture. Chapter 12 discusses Entrepreneurial Strategies
An early stage is creating functional areas -- production, sales, merchandising, finance (money raising activities) etc. The vast majority of organizations get stuck at this point. What is the connection between customer satisfaction and preferences and functional work?
Practicing basic management -- getting beyond expediency (See heading "A warning to business" at the end of Chapter 4: "What the nonprofits are teaching business" in The Essential Drucker)
Mentally preparing for the unexpected opportunities for innovation -- the unexpected success (least risky and easiest), the unexpected failure; the unexpected outside event. See Chapter 3: "Source: The Unexpected" in Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker
See The Winning Performance (How America's High-Growth Midsize Companies Succeed) by Donald K. Clifford, Jr. and Richard E. Cavanagh. Chapter 5 lists four stages of leadership: founder/start-up CEO; the hands-on operator; the organization builder; and the organization leader.
See Chapter 8: "The Three Stages of Business" in Sur/petition: Creating Value Monopolies When Everyone Else Is Merely Competing by Edward de Bono. The stages he mentions are: product values, competitive values, and integrated values.
Developing a systematic entrepreneurship capacity is a stage. A dimension of this is entrepreneurial management -- discussed in chapters 12 through 15 of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
See Management Challenges for the 21st Century by Peter Drucker
The topics listed in these tables of contents can be viewed as stages
Use Google to find matches for "organization evolution." Look at web directories for organization change listings (http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Management/Organizational_Change/)
See organization histories for examples of macro stages of development.
See The Next Society

Stages are not absolutes. They have to make sense -- from a systems (social, economic etc.) standpoint.

Stages can start all over following a rethink of the business or with a new venture. Stages are not necessarily cumulative or permanent. Somehow the wisdom that comes from seeing many things come and go and the benefit of a strategic work plan needs to be passed on to a younger generation.

The wisdom that what needs to be done is not linear, sequential, obvious, or easy -- see evidence . (Sequential -- stages neatly follow each other) (Linear -- tomorrow grows out of today)

The wisdom that a strategic work plan is needed. Just reacting to what's put in front of us won't cut it. We need to put on our blue hat.

Conceptual mountain peaks.

One of Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats is blue. "The blue hat is for thinking about thinking; control of the thinking process; summary of where we are now; setting the next thinking step; setting the program for thinking." The blue print is part of the blue hat function. It is a design and an attention directing tool.

" ATTENTION-DIRECTING TOOLS

Many of the tools of thinking are simply attention-directing tools. Perception is a matter of directing attention instead of just letting it flow where it will.

Sometimes the tools or structures allow us to do one thing at a time instead of doing everything at once.

Sometimes the structures are there so that we can do things in the most effective sequence. In a way that is the purpose of notation in mathematics.

So even though the mind has its own characteristics we can do things that allow those characteristics to work in our favour.

There is no contradiction between the natural behaviour of the mind and the idea of deliberate thinking."

by Edward de Bono

Example of combining attention directing, the blue hat, how the world works, and connecting:

In the beginning paragraphs of Part 1, Chapter 2: "Purposeful Innovation and the Seven Sources for Innovative Opportunity" in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Peter Drucker states: "Entrepreneurs innovate. Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. It is the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth. Innovation, indeed, creates a resource. There is no such thing as a "resource" until man finds a use for something in nature and thus endows it with economic value."

In late January 2002, ABC Nightline did a feature on coltan . This is an example of converting a material into a resource. The web page also contains some material on how this change is reshaping the world.

Conceptual dimensions and levels seen from above (click pictures to see larger views):

The first diagram presents an synthesis of time, place, and culture with an organization evolution overview, life design concept map, career work map and an example of a major CEOs work map.

The second diagram in a concept map that visualizes the changing social and economic picture. There is a reference to Adventures of a Bystander that is very informative.

The third diagram is a simple model of the economy. I created it by taking the industry groupings in Forbes Annual Report on American business and arranging them in a flow sequence. This was done in 1990 or so. A version of this diagram could be done at various stages in history. Superimpose a version in each of the boxes in the second diagram -- they are different.

The fourth diagram presents some details for the symbol farthest to the right on the third diagram -- structure of the economy. Note the thought bubble in the lower left corner of the fourth diagram.

Together these four illustrations can be viewed as a set of blue prints -- a master view and then some detail views that present different levels of detail. (Don't confuse this with the blue print mentioned throughout this page)

In almost all competitive arenas there are different levels of competition and performance. In football there is professional, college, high school .... Within these levels there are levels of performance -- look at the season records over a 20 year time span. It would probably be safe to say that no college team could beat the worst pro team.

Make a mental connection to the next end note -- transform our world .

World-class management mental patterns are the action drivers. Make a mental connection to the dimensions of management mentioned in the end note on stages .

Transform our world.

This is so important that I recommend a thorough reading of the Introduction: The transformation and chapter 1 (From Capitalism to Knowledge Society) from Peter Drucker's Post-Capitalist Society. Then make a mental link to examples from the news and the next end note.

Impact our lives in multiple ways: where we work, the work we do, where we live, the quality of our life, the taxes we pay, the impact of government, what is taught in schools, .....

Real world evidence. The answer can be seen in the daily news coupled with a little multiplication -- the number of organization crisis stories, product abandonment sightings or new capability sightings in a five year period. An article on the challenges CEOs face . Global Crossing . Real Investors . Think about the pattern these stories create. Also see my collection of examples from the news articles and Rampant Enron-onomics . Superimpose these stories on the concept maps below and see what it reveals. You can click on the diagrams to see larger versions.

11/12 of the original Dow Jones are gone. Remember the companies used in the In Search of Excellence study? Less than 1 in 1,000 ever reach mid-size.

These stories and events would not be observable in a linear, sequential, obvious world

Unimagined futures. There isn't one unimagined future but an unending series of them and they are different for each of us even though we all live in the same interlinked world. There are going to be different futures and we lack the mental patterns to imagine them -- its a double headed monster.

Tool for acquiring useful ideas and integrating them into our work and lives.

For ideas to be useful they must be relevant to the future and informed on how the world works as a system.

The blue print leads to a strategic work plan that generates our to do list and schedule. It involves deciding what to do and what not to do.

Click here to see the concept map shown above -- this is part of the blue print. Master action list.

See Chapter 16: "Know Your Time" and Chapter 17: "Effective Decisions" in The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker.

We should probably decide on a time balance between: background or foundational understanding; exploring for idea sources (where am I going to get some help -- management concepts and knowledge specialty assistance); exploring ideas and concepts; calendarizing them; implementation thinking; operational planning; actual doing and the operacy involved; course correction work; and abandoning.

Why do we use blue prints? What purpose do they serve? Think about a blue print for a home, a factory, an information network, or a life.

Making our maximum contribution , being healthy and being trustworthy are crucial objectives. Impact on the outside world -- making a positive difference -- is implied in maximum contribution. These objectives apply to multiple futures as well as the present.

A strategic work plan: work areas, work modules, sequences, scheduling. A blue print that leads to a strategic work plan

Work modules: Foundation (how the brain works; our human ecology -- the terrain on which work takes place -- and some historical overview); management (mission, theory of the business, strategy, organizations); and specialized knowledges.

Maximum contribution requires a foundation of reality vision and familiarity with the terrain. It requires doing informed homework.

Social pawn -- Adapted from the American Heritage Dictionary: A chess piece of lowest value ... 2. A person ... used to further the purposes of another: an underdeveloped nation that was a pawn in international politics. Example -- Japan's Banking Rot.

Healthy. This is tough to describe because it may not exist as an absolute -- see symbol 6.15 on the blue print . As a former CPA, I know people want to look to the bottom line for a simple answer. A scan of the daily business news shows its inadequacy. In part being healthy involves the financial (economic) capacity to cover the full cost of satisfying the customer (they won't switch) at a price the customer is willing to pay and expend the necessary money to get into the future -- mistakes included. Included in the foregoing is the cost of marketing and innovation objectives implied by the current "theory of the business" and strategy. In most industry (competitive) settings there are very few organizations that meet this criteria. Even this is inadequate in many situations -- the IBM selectric typewriter, Wang word processors, Word Perfect, and Lotus spreadsheet software are examples. Having enough real innovations in process and far enough along to fill the net revenue gap that will eventually exist is crucial to health.

Real innovations require a substantial organization to implement them worldwide, so future organizational development work is important. Being the right size is important.

How we really view ourselves is a part of being healthy -- our contribution to social and economic development.

Unhealthy: those who don't keep pace with a changing world find themselves in an unhealthy position -- the same position as that of the blacksmith or the inhabitants of the underdeveloped world.

Try reading through the examples from the news and looking for signs of being healthy and unhealthy.

Can an organization be healthy and vulnerable at the same time -- see the Wal-Mart article in the examples from the news?

Trustworthy. For other people to vigorously partner with us, they have to trust us. Doesn't mean being perfect. Among other things it means really trying. It means being real about the world. It means not sticking one's head in the sand. It means doing the right thing. It means not "trashing the neighborhood" for our own benefit. Part of being trustworthy is the wisdom of not trusting one's own memory. Any experienced pilot works from a checklist (a systematic, tested approach). Think Enron (Unfit directors and Rampant Enron-onomics ?)

Managing vs. mismanaging and leading vs. misleading.

The Economist Weekly e-mail newsletter -- The world this week: Politics 5th -11th January 2002 contained the following advertisement: "TAKING CHARGE: TRANSITION STRATEGIES FOR NEW BUSINESS LEADERS Mar. 19-22, 2002, Harvard Business School, Boston, MA A new Executive Education program that presents the framework for planning and prioritizing your actions upon assuming a major leadership position.
Visit http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/tcbtw/index.html
A copy can be downloaded by clicking here . Try comparing the assumptions and content with what is presented on this page and the blue print. Another example from The Economist.

Most successful executive in history. See paragraph beginning with "Once additional conclusion" under heading "The employee society" on page 311 of hardback, Chapter 23: "A century of social transformation -- emergence of knowledge society" in The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker.

Explanation of pictures. See first three paragraphs and the paragraphs following the heading "From analysis to perception" in Chapter 26: "From analysis to perception -- the new world view" in The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker . Toward unimagined futures

The foregoing quote appears in chapter 12 of Post-Capitalist Society by Peter Drucker.

Using this page as a thought stimulator : As you read through the pages write down or dictate the thoughts it leads you to thinking. Investigate mind mapping (also spelled mindmapping) books at Amazon.com or by using Google to search the Internet (search syntax -- OR must be capitalized and include quotes: "mind mapping" OR "mindmapping" OR "mind maps" OR "mindmaps"). Convert your notes to mind maps and then use the idea branches to start making associations or connections.

Already doing. The shock of alienation. The only way to really communicate. The only way to alert the "listener" that this is different from what they expect. See mental patterns and view point . See bottom of page 263, Chapter 18: "Functioning Communications" in The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker.

See Chapter on "Circularity" (of beliefs) in Section "How perception works" in Edward de Bono's I am right - You are wrong (From this to the new renaissance: from rock logic to water logic)

Look at the number of large, extremely successful companies that go outside to find replacement CEOs. In the case of IBM or HP, the boards didn't think there was one in 500,000 people capable of handling the job. Something similar happened at 3M.

In the case of GE, Jack Welch dismantled many of the elements that his predecessor (R. Jones) had spent his tenure developing. What about the GE management development program? There is some material on this in Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will.

There is nothing that anyone can do today to insure that tomorrow will be healthy. Tomorrow is influenced by events that aren't under anyone's control. This does not mean that being passive is the informed strategy. The informed strategy is to have an informed work plan.

A familiar road is a mental pattern. On an unfamiliar road with an identical physical appearance we are lost because we lack mental patterns.

Different cultures reflect different mental patterns. Mental patterns come from our past.

Our work focus needs to be the real present and future. A part of our work (maybe all of it) includes other people's mental patterns that are sure to be different from ours.

See Edward de Bono's I am right - You are wrong (From this to the new renaissance: from rock logic to water logic).

Also see Peter Drucker's The Essential Drucker, Chapter 26: "From analysis to perception -- the new worldview."

In the developed world, the world we experience is largely yesterday's world. It was conceived yesterday, in yesterday's mental environment -- note the characteristics of different decades. The production capacity has its roots in yesterday's technologies and its "products" have been produced in sufficient quantities to reach millions of us -- on a planet that has billions of people. What worlds do the people of Afghanistan experience? This thought requires further elaboration using material from Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad and Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker

The future of society: Foundational understanding and vision . The work that is done. The products and service we buy and the message it sends. The political representatives we support and the kind of education changes they vigorously promote. Innovation and productivity.

People in an underdeveloped country have a different view point from those in a developed country.

Almost all disagreements have this as an important element. We all see differently because we all view from a different point.

A way of viewing this material is to imagine the frames in a movie reel laid our flat on a table. Each frame presents a different picture in time. For many people a still photo would suffice. Routine days could be viewed as a repeating loop. Now add the necessary additional movie reels to provide an overall view of reality. People in Germany in the early 1930s had different movies from those of the people in the USA. At a point in time the German and American movies partially merged.

Special approach -- to be able to say something like: I really understand the nature of the journey ahead , here is the preparation I need and here are the things I want to take with me . This is the work I need to do along the journey. A work plan that is consistent with reality and at least not self defeating.

No answers. If there were answers, the miracle workers possessing these answers would buy target stocks cheap (when they were in perceived trouble) with borrowed money, offer their miracle service for free, work their miracles, sell stock, move to next target. Their names would be on Forbes 400 richest list. See "Rich money making performance "

There is nothing that can be done today that will insure happiness and success forever -- a strategic work plan is needed.

Real investment work. As in financial investing, the real investment is in creating a foundation of understanding and doing the right homework.

Real investment work creates a capacity that serves the person the rest of their lives. Who in the world can be seen to have this kind of capacity?

You're not the only one reading this or its references. You have to assume that the only advantage you have is over the ones that stumble along blindly on the assumption that today (actually yesterday ) will last forever.

The challenges ahead. You could make a list from Peter Drucker's work: Post-Capitalist Society (Make knowledge and knowledge workers productive. Make service work capable of middle class income.), Management Challenges for the 21st Century and the relevant chapters of The Essential Drucker Also see The Next Society

See "their holdings in this one enterprise, plus later-organized affiliates" in the Postscript to Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor (1973).

Realities. Everything outlives its usefulness. We can't get to tomorrow by piling up more todays. Full up -- no empty spaces (time or money) in the economy. 11/12 of the original Dow Jones are gone. Only GE remains. In an growing, linear economy it should be easy. Reality has proven that it is anything but easy.

Preventing the IBM Selectric Typewriter's obsolescence wasn't possible, but doing the work that creates the future is possible.

See Chapter 23 "A century of social transformation -- emergence of knowledge society" from The Essential Drucker and the entire Post-Capitalist Society (knowledge as a utility has become the central resource).

See Managing for Results by Peter Drucker. Chapter 1 -- Business Realities; Chapter 6 -- Section II Market Realities; Chapter 7 -- Knowledge Realities

See The Essential Drucker, chapter 13 "Effectiveness must be learned"-- Executive Realities

From Peter Drucker's chapter titled "From Analysis to Perception -- The new world view:"

This chapter can be found in his books The New Realities or The Essential Drucker.

The real world has this nasty habit of letting things proceed in a stable and apparently linear manner just long enough for us to get comfortable and think things are going to be "this way" forever.

New realities lead to new common misunderstandings -- always have, always will.

Common misunderstandings. This section needs work -- more items and more clarity and guidance. I have created a separate page on this topic, but as of now it is a copy of this material. The list is long -- how could it not be? (it is intertwined with real world evidence , mental patterns and new realities ):

These common misunderstandings lead to trouble and senior executives typically don't know how to respond -- see evidence . They haven't prepared themselves. They wait for trouble rather than anticipate a non-linear future. They underestimate what needs to be done. They assume that the action that lead to their previous success will be sufficient. They frequently either get pushed out of the organization or sidelined. They lose the fruits of their "prior work investments."

See Peter Drucker on "Theory of the Business," "Permanent Cost Cutting," "The Five Deadly Business Sins," and Productivity.

These are not minor technical matters isolated within the organization. These misunderstanding misdirect our efforts and resources. These misunderstandings play a major role in resource deficits and lower the general standard of living.

Dealing with common misunderstandings should be in your strategic work plan.

Calendarizing is a way to force us to design how something occurs in time and then pay attention by putting it in front of us on a repeated basis (our to do list and schedule). It begins with our first exposure. It may involve putting an observation in our master action list. It may involve an analysis of an important book . This helps us with defining developmental desires and strategic navigation.

Developmental desires. In the most general sense what do you want to become? If this is more than a child's delusion, then it should be an informed definition and this involves insight and foresight -- an interesting article on Richard A. Hackborn . Also see the first two links in the External links and explanations that begins with "Examples of strategic work plan areas and the time spans involved."

Do you want to be a general manager in a world-class, high visibility organization, a real entrepreneur, a knowledge executive, a knowledge worker, a knowledge technician or what?

See heading IV "Where can I contribute?" Chapter 15: "The New Venture" in Innovation and Entrepreneurship or in Chapter 11 of The Essential Drucker by Peter Drucker -- this work needs to be calendarized . Notice the different strategic work plans that would be involved for each of the examples (Dr. Edward Montola, Edwin Land, Ray Kroc, the owner of the building supply company, the three scientists, financial services, founder of a medical clinic, Soichiro Honda and Henry Ford).

In what kind of organization -- a key institution or one engaged in trivial pursuit? See healthy . There can only be one #1 in any "industry." See "Will the corporation survive? " -- part of The Next Society series that was published in the November 2001 issue of The Economist

See the section titled "Form and Function" in Peter Drucker's chapter titled "From Analysis to Perception -- The New World View."

Do you want to be an educated person (See Chapter 22: "The Educated Person" in The Essential Drucker)?

Realizing the nature of the changing "terrain" in which we work , what terms would be necessary to fully define your developmental desires? What capabilities would this require? When and how would these be acquired?

Whatever you choose, are you willing to pursue it wholeheartedly? This is connected to being trustworthy . Doing one's homework and understanding what's involved is part of a wholehearted approach.

Imagine a series of undefinable future milestones. Then ask: "what do I have to do to identify these milestones and what do I have to do to get there?"

Continuing what we are doing today is not strategic navigation nor is strategic planning as it is frequently conceived.

Repeatedly asking: "Where can I make the greatest contribution and what do I need to do?"

See chapter 2: "Planning for Uncertainty" in Managing in a Time of Great Change by Peter Drucker.

See Joshua Abrams example in Part 5 "Developing Yourself: as a person, as an executive, as a leader" Chapter 5: "Summary: The Action Implications" in Managing The Non-Profit Organization by Peter Drucker.

Strategic navigation implies charting our course from one definition of developmental desires to another.

External links and explanations : return to top These are some key links

. Some of these are part of the blue print. Explanations or executive summaries may be enhanced in the future.

Interesting tidbits is a collection of news articles that continuosly appear in the news. You might want to check this page frequently.

Career management and evolution blue print . This is a rough Internet available prototype -- something like shareware or maybe freeware. It is meant to be a vision resource and an editable blue print. It is an attention directing tool.

Steve Forbes comments on the Forbes 400 rich list After exploring some of the other conceptual material, you might want to find the positive statements in his article and test them against the other concepts. What would you see by contrasting his viewpoint with that of Warren Buffett (below)?

James Burke's work: Palmer Guide . Drury University (and then click on Listen to Convocation with James Burke) or Google : ["james burke" connection ]

Some example of organization histories In looking at these examples it might be insightful to explore how the blue print might have been usefully employed. (part of blue print)

Organization evolution examples from the news You would probably find it very enlightening to superimpose these examples on the "Economic content and structure" diagram (approximately page 41 -- see bookmark under 5.1 Organization evolution setting) in the blue print (oebp.pdf) (part of blue print). Organization evolution at IBM and Enron .

The Peter Drucker "Next Society " articles that appeared in the November 2001 issue of The Economist. This series of articles covers the shifting population age balance, knowledge as being all, the new protectionism in manufacturing, and the future of the corporation.

Developing a work approach that is adequate to the challenges ahead a world moving toward new and different futureS Current location: Time-Life Navigation :: Organization evolution introduction ::: Conceptual exploration Go next: Designed exploration path (Get interest profile checklist for this page; explore links in this document; Download the blueprint.pdf) OR Organization evolution site map OR Areas site map OR Master site map (Time-Life Navigation) OR see navigation bar above
My name is Bob Embry	A free prototype blue print for WORKING on organization evolution [ definition ] in a world continuously moving toward unexpected and unimagined futures
	This page introduces one dimension of a synthesis—configuration or constellation—composed of: organization evolution; career (work life) evolution and management; life design; financial investing—see top row of the navigation bar above—sequenced by a life management system (LMS) or life navigation system (LNS). The element interaction introduction and diagram plus Time-Life Navigation page (symbol at the top of the site map) provides an essential insight foundation. The pages on this site are not just something else to read. They are designed to prototype* the core of a comprehensive healthy action system in a global, knowledge based economy and society.* These pages and their links are ATTENTION DIRECTING TOOLS that can lead to an informed, proactive work plan aimed at creating and maintaining world class management mental patterns. The action we take flows from our mental patterns. Shifting one's attention is the first step in doing something new or different and we can't get into the future without doing something new or different—tomorrowS are never a linear extrapolation of yesterday or today. Managing to get to the futureS requires new mental patternS. These pages are not an attempt to "fix" mental patterns but to repeatedly create new capacities. Having read the last three paragraphs, you've had the opportunity to shift your attention (from the events in your life and your world to the events and action flow in the larger time world) and to create new mental patterns—the essential foundation of an action system. "To know, and not to do, is not yet to know."
	You might want to consider this first: interest profile worksheet and technique for exploring this page. This page is divided into five parts: Questions and answers Endnotes External links and explanations Suggested basic authors and books Background reading
	Questions: Why does this web site exist? Isn't this just a duplicated effort? How do I know these ideas are valid? Who should explore this page and its linked files? Why read this page (benefits)? What material does this page and its linked files provide? What is the suggested or proposed action being recommended? What is organization evolution? What is the significance of the terms used in the page title: blue print; prototype; working on; a world moving toward unexpected and unimagined futures ? What role does organization evolution play in personal wealth formation and preservation? What role does successful organization evolution play in a person's social standing? What role does organization evolution play in society and the economy? How does organization evolution relate to conventional subjects such as functional work areas; knowledge specialty areas; and technologies? What are the realities of organization health and survival? What are the challenges in working on organization evolution? What if "I" think I've already got organization evolution covered? When is it most useful to work on organization evolution? What fundamental concepts are useful in organization evolution work? Why is a work plan useful? What tools are useful in this work? Why is a blue print useful or needed? How could I initially approach the material on this page? How could I develop a customized approach to reviewing the material available on this page and its linked files? How could I integrate this material (in one form or another) into my life? Who authored this page and what were his qualifications? Page summary How to get the blueprint.pdf
	Questions and Answers:
	Why does this web site exist? Isn't this just a duplicated effort? It attempts to be strategic, basic and time comprehensive. While what seems to be available in other locations is incremental, job or product/service oriented. You might want to see if you can find this in any educational, news, or consulting service offerings. I think what you will find is other people pitching what is convenient for them
	How do I know these ideas are valid? I've tested it against thousands of news articles. The main way to know it is valid is by working with it. Unless you believe that the world is linear or static (an assumption you might want to test), the act of working with these issues will create new, unique mental patterns and shift your attention.
Most successful executive in history?	Who should explore this page and its linked files? This page is an executive (CEO) summary on the future—a vision and action resource that has an impact on everyone involved with them and their organization. It is aimed at those who want to be organizationally healthy , make a significant contribution , and don't want to be social pawns in an evolving complex global competitive arena. More about the benefits in the next topic.
	Why read this page (benefits)? Depending on your age and situation, the issues raised here will probably have a substantial impact on your life (as well as the lives of your family, friends, customers, associates, suppliers, and employees). This is a doorway to a genuinely interesting life where boredom is unknown and excitement is almost assured. This page and the blue print are attention directing tools. They can also be thought stimulators—as you consider a topic, note what it leads you to thinking (you could use a tape recorder). This is time travel. This page is a time navigation tool—from one unimagined future to the next. Unimagined futures (click here to see a larger view) More benefits are discussed below: personal wealth; social standing
	What material does this page and its linked files provide? The topics covered in this questions and answers, the end notes and external links that provide further details and information sources. Books for your library. Background readings. Also see the site maps. To get a preview of the journey ahead, please scroll through this page and return to this point.
	What is the suggested or proposed action being recommended? There's a what, why, and how associated with this question. What: We need world-class management mental patterns. (Boxing seems to provide a good analogy. We meet different opponents in different situations at different times. And the performance bar keeps going up). Why: In an increasingly global world we need world class thinking and almost nobody has it—the evidence in the news and common misunderstandings . How: There is a framework in what I'm presenting. This framework is a tool for integrating the best thinking in the world into your life in multiple time dimensions. The fundamental idea is to use this page and its hyper-text linked files to help build a work plan that encompasses more than your current situation, efforts, and horizon—working outside the box. In part, this a work plan for making informed work investments. A work plan that creates a work plan. A work plan in which today is just an element or chapter in a longer, enigmatic story—as human history demonstrates. Sometimes there is a convenient linkage (foundation) between the "chapters." Sometimes it means starting all over. This work plan encompasses an effective work plan for creating and reaching your informed developmental desires . This is a work plan for creating the "right" world-class management mental patterns at the "right" time. They are a moving target. The blue print "icon" below is designed to create a strategic work plan for focusing on the objective in the previous paragraph. A road map for exploring a blue print for working on organization evolution (click here to view a larger image)
	What is organization evolution? My quick definition: Movement through the life STAGES of a healthy and successful organization. This concept contains all other possible future concepts. There is more info on this in the end notes. Effective organization evolution work is driven by world-class management mental patterns.
Steam engines create a new world	What is the significance of the terms used in the page title: blue print; prototype; working on; a world moving toward unexpected and unimagined futures ? This is a prototype blue print. A prototype illustrates what could be done. It provides a takeoff point. A blue prints offers something specific. A blue print can depict a prototype. The blue print is designed to help cope with the evidence . In one dimension it is an investment work menu. A blue print has an implied end result and work sequence. In this case there is an implied time scope—multiple futures. See stage illustration in the previous topic.
	What role does organization evolution play in personal wealth formation and preservation? Organization evolution is the core of wealth creation and preservation (previous link takes you to Steve Forbes comments on the Forbes 2001 Rich List)—the wealth we need for the future as well as the present. Effective organization evolution work is the real investment work . This pool of wealth funds our social development needs and desires.
Main energy source of the mechanical model	What role does successful organization evolution play in a person's social standing? Effective organization evolution work explains how the world progressed from the settings of 1900, 1950, 1980 to today's world and how we'll get to tomorrow's unimaginable worlds . The world of 1950 isn't a linear extrapolation of 1900 any more than 1900 was a linear extrapolation of 1800 (see Steve Forbes comments linked above). The challenges ahead aren't linear and will require mental investment work. If we don't take responsibility for working on this in an informed manner, who will? The blue print design helps us do this. Eventually the people who have organization evolution results and performance become known and genuinely respected. What examples can you think identify? How do you regard everybody else?
	What role does organization evolution play in society and the economy? The ideas covered in this page qualitatively and quantitatively transform our world and impact all of our lives in multiple ways. Organization evolution is the CORE of economic and social development because we live in a society of organizations. Organizations create the majority of the developed world we experience and largely take for granted. These organization's future and the organizations that emerge in the future are our future and our children's future. They matter. Therefore organization evolution is crucial to the future of society It is world-class management mental patterns that drive organization evolution and therefore social and economic development.
	How does organization evolution relate to conventional subjects such as functional work areas (research & development, marketing, operations, finance, human resources); knowledge specialty areas (chemistry, mathematics, physics, biology, computer science); and technologies (plastics molding, computer chip production)? This question concerns a view of the knowledge terrain. Effective organization evolution makes these knowledges effective. Otherwise they border on sterility.
The ultimate source of motive power	What are the realities of organization health and survival? This question is linked to non-linear (discontinuous) time zones, challenges ahead, non-linear organization histories, common misunderstandings, and prices, costs, and incomes in the economic chains. There is no single answer. We live in a complex reality. Today's organizational world is not just yesterday's world with some MBA tools or high tech gadgets superimposed. Does this insight apply to tomorrow's world? Do mergers and acquisitions lead to healthy organizations and real performance advancement or new satisfactions? The relatively few organizations that survive and are capable of a significant positive future impact don't have linear histories (also see examples from the recent news) See end notes on realities and common misunderstandings.
A change in the organizing principle for work. A new civilization is born	What are the challenges in working on organization evolution? If you could stand on the highest possible conceptual mountain , what would you see? What would be in your "big picture ?" What would be on your radar screen ? How far would you see? What work investments would you make? What action would you take? Is WORKING on organization evolution necessary? Is the work obvious, sequential and linear? Who in 1900 effectively imagined the futures that have unfolded? Who in 1950, 1960, or 2000? The answer can be seen in the daily news coupled with a little multiplication. Who in conservative 1950 imagined what is accepted in today's society ( The Naked News )? One of the inherent pitfalls in working with this material is that you will try to fit this into your existing mental patterns . What else can you do? It would probably be helpful to read some background material and try imagining the mental patterns (people's radar screens and expectations) that existed at various points in history. This is a significant step toward an informed strategic work plan. How can we effectively work on things we don't know exist, don't understand or aren't focused on at the appropriate time ? (Examples: Entrepreneurial strategies and Information challenges ) Think about it. Connect the resulting thoughts to the events in the news . Organization evolution is contrary to our natural inclinations—assuming that today's products, services, programs will extend well into the future; assuming our new efforts will work out; assuming our view point is the only "view point;" navigating by looking in the rear view mirror; and waiting for trouble before thinking and acting. The evidence of this can be seen in the news almost every day Everything mentioned in this page and the blue print is embedded in the " motion" implied in the concept map below (picture of the changing social and economic situation)—including this page and the blue print. There is something—often invisible—happening in each of the boxes on the diagram that leads to subsequent unimagined futures. You can click on the diagram to see a larger version. What is the likelihood that anyone even begins to grasp what lies ahead and possess the unaided, existing ability to deal with it? Where's the evidence that others have found organization evolution obvious, natural and easy? How can observable financial success be explained?
	What if "I" think I've already got organization evolution covered? It would be naive to assume that you're the only one thinking about this strategic issue—organization evolution in a world moving toward unimagined futures. The awareness that other people are working on this should be factored into your work, thinking, imagination and action plan. Organization evolution, economic and social development, and the future of society are driven by world class management mental patterns (previous link takes you to Peter Drucker's bio and overview of The Essential Drucker) — additional examples . These world class management mental patterns are themselves evolving and this flux leads to the need for a special approach (a testable blue print for working on organization evolution). There is no recipe, only a configuration of principles, work modules, and information that can be introduced and sequenced in time. It seems to me that we need a fundamental synthesis of these—principles, work modules, and information—that is unique to each of us. The effectiveness of this approach is dependent upon when it's started. There are significant gestation periods involved. If you believe you're already doing this, you probably don't understand the critical role that time dependent mental patterns play in how the world works. There is no permanent this, but we're embedded in the middle of it and it will influence, shape, determine your life—it has mine. Besides the obvious, the forms of influence include regulations, transfer payments and other taxes. If you have a tangible, tested strategic work plan that encompasses today and tomorrow in a world where knowledge has become the central resource (and constantly makes itself obsolete), we're on similar pages. A strategic work plan that recognizes the fallibility of planning (looking, thinking, deciding, and operational work sequencing—including operacy) and not planning. The blue print can be used as an assessment tool by comparing and contrasting. Acquiring a cellular understanding and motivation to vigorously work on the unsatisfiable need for organization evolution is a significant personal achievement.
	When is it most useful to work on organization evolution? Adequate lead times are required for effective organization evolution work. Don't wait for trouble. The count down clock is constantly ticking toward the arrival of a new unimagined future. As the time reservoir empties, the alternatives become less and less attractive and more and more crisis oriented. Improving today's performance may push the crisis point further into the future without removing the threat. The nature of the unimagined future is the determining factor.
	What fundamental concepts are useful in organization evolution work? Because organization evolution involves a journey into the unknown, a map would be useful. How can we map uncharted territory—where no one has gone before? In place of a map, I have created a prototype blue print for defining and working on this unending journey. This blue print is a tool for discovering, designing, and planning our contribution to the future of society . This blue print involves vision and thinking outside the box.
	Why is a work plan useful? A work plan gives us something specific. We can test our work plan against the challenges we face.
	What tools are useful in this work? Almost all of the tools are visible by exploring this site. To name a few: computer, internet connection, HTML editor, Adobe Acrobat, outline processor with columns, optical recognition software, graphical concept illustrator, personal digital assistant, simple project management software, e-mail client for communicating with associates etc.
	Why is a blue print useful or needed? The blue print is a tool for acquiring useful ideas and integrating them into our work and lives in a world moving toward unimagined futures. It is the tool that leads to a work plan mentioned above. It is also a part of a work plan—review the blueprint and create an interest profile. The blue print can be viewed as a time investment menu . One of the items on this menu is getting a view of the "social time terrain" in which we all are inescapably embedded. Parts of this time terrain can be seen in James Burke's work or in the photos documenting The Great Depression to WW II . The events of 9/11/2001 are parts of this social time terrain. The blue print is intended to be modified and used through out one's life. Implementing the blue print involves repeatedly creating new mental patterns that help us escape our history and experiences. This blue print is therefore a prototype of a life-long learning system. It is also part of a genuine knowledge management system. One of the blue print's purposes is to help view the work of creating new mental patterns that open new doors that help us with strategic navigation (the path through the "stops" along the way to an ever receding developmental horizon—see unimagined futures illustration above). It can also be used as a communication tool with associates and young people—both are susceptible to being guided by the noise in the present and the monuments from the past. It can be used in a variety of different circumstances and with different types of people. A variation could be used by first year college students to help them get a view of the road ahead.
DNA (programmed information) EXPLANATION	How could I initially approach the material on this page? You might want to print my work plan outline to help with the exploration and decision making—open the outline page in a new window so you can switch back and forth (see technique in the paragraph after next). Your browser's go back button may help in navigating the links. You might also want to experiment with Ctrl+Shift (Windows) or Command (Mac) as you click* any external link to open the link in a new window.* Some of the links on this page are to material that is part of the blue print. I suggest reading through this page without clicking the links (to the point where the end notes begin) and then re-read and explore the links before downloading the blue print. This material is complex because the real world is becoming more and more complex . My intent is to provide a long-term, comprehensive view. You can edit out what doesn't fit your informed developmental desires . (You could print out this page and cross out ideas that you don't like or want to explore, or you could copy the text to a word processor and do the same.) Reading this requires more than calling out the words—it requires active reading and argument testing. If you don't have time right now, continue the initial read recommended above, order the suggested books and then bookmark this page before putting an action reminder on your calendar—it is a useful information bonanza . In addition to the obvious, it offers informed clues on life design , career thinking (work life in a changing economy and society), financial investing , knowledge and capital investment expenditures (including education and information technology ). It is to your benefit to visualize new realities unfolding, how reality has become inter-linked worldwide and where you want to fit in the emerging world (your informed developmental desires ). A concept map would help clarify the concepts and relationships. A set of broad management planning questions will give your work direction and focus. Do your friends a favor and introduce them to this page. At the very least be sure to introduce them to "Managing Knowledge Means Managing Oneself " and "The Next Society ." Identifying the action items in both of these and calendarizing them would be crucial parts of a strategic work plan. If anything is unclear, please let me know . I want this to be as useful (comprehensive and real) as possible. Suggestions are welcome. Please thoroughly explore this before your next major decision (even that may not be early enough). Before going to work on this, be sure you have the latest version of this page.
	How could I develop a customized approach to reviewing the material available on this page and its linked files? An exploration of this page and the blue print can lead to an organization evolution interest profile. This can be done by just circling items of interest on the following diagram and combining it with the items of interest on this page. By calendarizing this interest profile it is possible to create a strategic organization evolution work plan—or a major element of a career work plan for those interested in general management . Creating an interest profile can also help define developmental desires and crystallize some important developmental questions . This page and the blue print are aimed at helping repeatedly identify promising work investments in a limited CUSTOMER time and financial world—there isn't enough time or money for everybody to be big winners. This page and the blue print are attention directing tools. They can also be thought stimulators—as you consider a topic, note what it leads you to thinking (you could use a tape recorder). You could even re-write this page and modify the blueprint
	How could I integrate this material (in one form or another) into my life? See interest profile to daily work plan and life management (navigation) system
	Who authored this page and what is the author's range of qualifications? See author info
	Page perception summary The work I've been mentioning can be viewed as executive learning and development focused on organization evolution. This is investment work in the truest sense. It involves mental patterns for a world moving toward unimagined futures. Intelligently navigating our journey through time can provide a rewarding life adventure.
	Click here to download the blue print PDF file. Instructions for using the file can be found on page 12 of the blue print (oebp.pdf). The blue print requires Acrobat Reader. You can download it by clicking here The full Acrobat application is very useful in working with Internet pages.

This page is divided into five parts:

Questions:

Questions and Answers:

End notes