SECRET TWO

Connect Peers with Purpose

A serious problem that large systems face, one that becomes more perplexing in an ever more complex, diverse world, is how to achieve a degree of cohesion and focus in an otherwise fragmented environment. In earlier chapters, I’ve referred to this as the too tight–too loose dilemma. Focus the organization with sharp goals and tight accountability, and you get passive or alienated workers. Go for decentralized creativity, and you get drift and inertia. The key to achieving a simultaneously tight-loose organization lies more in purposeful peer interaction than in top-down direction from the hierarchy. This ...

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