Digital Transformation Game Plan

Chapter 7. Organizational Constraints and How to Tackle Them

In this chapter, we look at the constraints that are inherent in the way your organization executes as a whole. Organizational constraints have to do with how the company behaves, unlike functional constraints, which have to do with the processes and policies that exist within functional areas. Functional constraints (which we discuss in Chapter 8) are often more difficult to change because they deal more with people, belief systems, and how one perceives personal achievement. Rarely having anything to do with poor behavior or evil intent, organizational constraints more describe and reflect on the things that influence the way that a company makes decisions.

Although each organization will have different constraints, or at least in different degrees, there are some commonalities that we will highlight:

• Fixed organizational structures

• Obsession with roles

• Compromising change

• Culture

Organizational Structures

Perhaps the most common constraint we come across is the impact of the rigidity of organizational structures. In 1967, Melvin Conway introduced a concept now known as Conway’s Law that states, “Organizations which design systems...are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations.” Although maybe this was aimed at the realm of software design and delivery, our experience suggests it stands true for all communication and decision-making pathways ...