Fundamentals of Level Three Leadership

138. Organizational Capital

Concept

Organizational Architecture can either enhance or inhibit an organization’s ability to perform. The contribution made by organizational architecture, positive or negative, can be conceived of as organizational capital.³⁹ Some confuse this term with social capital (already introduced).^40,41,42 It’s an intangible asset. Organizational architecture, that is, how you are organized can either release latent energy or clog it up. As you noted above in Larry Greiner’s description of organizational evolutions and revolutions, the solutions to yesterday’s problems often become tomorrow’s bureaucracy. Sludge. Cholesterol.

We cannot really measure the effectiveness or efficiency of an organization with any exactitude. ...