Tuesday, August 28, 2007

An Elephant with a Rabbit’s heart

This might appear as a queer Title, but then a well designed post should have a catchy title to attract interest :)

But this title really summarizes the Business and Growth strategy of any successful organization today. I think classically it has been believed that the Business and Growth strategy of an organization would largely depend upon its size, domain and duration of its presence in the market… But increasingly, it is becoming evident that this differentiation is fast disappearing. Successful organizations all over the world behave more and more like start-ups, irrespective of their size, or time in the market. That appears to be the only way to achieve the speed of growth necessary to survive in the market. The agility of an organization in changing itself according to the changing markets is imperative for survival today. Shifting focus quickly and efficiently from one area to another, organization restructuring, scope for innovation are as crucial for behemoths like Google, Microsoft, SAP today, as they are for little known start-ups. Probably that’s why companies like Google try very hard to maintain a culture of a start-up with the simple rule ‘There are no rules’. I remember reading that the employee of tomorrow would be like a Construction worker in his agility: a group of employees would come together as a team to complete a project, disintegrate, and then reorganize in some different team to complete a different project. There would be no fixed teams, working on the same product for ages, and to apply your core skills in different areas with ease would become crucial. Businesses even today are increaingly focussing on their core competecies, and virtually all other Administrative, Maintenance and Support activities are outsourced.

Today, it is as crucial to build a healthy eco-system around your company, as the growth of the company iself. We will have to be increasingly collaborative and flexible in times to come,and the adage 'If you cant beat them, join them' would become the mantra. Probably thats why more and more forward-looking companies are actively nurturing and contributing to the Open Source movement, with a view to nurture their eco-systems. The only monopoly that can survive in today's world is the one formed by the people, for the people, the one resting on the collective shoulders of thousands of unknown, yet powerful shoulders. Hmm….we live in interesting times.