Designing Organisations

Designing Organisations

A successful business comes from satisfying consumer needs, not just in making a product or service available. It comes from an obsession to stay focused on the customer, not on the competitor. A customer recognizes when you meet his needs, he stays loyal, he becomes a raving fan, he advocates you to others. This word of mouth is your strongest brand. Reflect on the countless review websites we read to assess a product, as opposed to the official website. Even while recruiting talent from campus, it is the word of mouth of earlier alumni that has more credibility than company placement presentations. We often feel that ‘paise vasool’ is what determines high turnover. That is indeed correct. However, paise vasool is not about being inexpensive, it is about delivering value appropriate to each price point. A rolex watch at 3 lakhs delivers as much value to the buyer, as a 15K Titan watch – at both price points the buyer is satisfied, as both products serve differentiated needs. A product in essence has to be attractive. 

Devdutt Pattanaik, author and well known speaker, argues that in order to receive, one must first give. It is the duty of the Yajaman (the initiator) to offer svaha (offerings) to the God invoked (at the yagna), and pleased with his devotion and offerings the God offers him Thatatsu (a boon). This needs to be understood. Unless one gives – a service or his talent, can only one expect a return. It is a reciprocal process.

The offerings we make has itself to be differentiated – it must be customized to each customer, even if it has to be mass customized. Like a pizza base, that allows for a choice of toppings, suited to each one’s palate. With appropriate use of technology and process, we must try and ingeniously support ‘My Plan, My way’. Companies that allow for this interactive engagement with the customer always get rewarded. Morever, customer stays loyal. 

I argue that any organization structure should have three basic units – a ‘serving unit’ (that executes flawlessly based on well engineered processes using fit for purpose technology). This serving unit should be self sufficient, self regulatory and empowered to deliver end to end services to the customer.

At the Central level, is the ‘thinking organization’ whose primary function is to ensure  Products /Services correctly segmented for right customer, well positioned for features and with correct price and placement. To ensure that Design and Architecture is built in right first time.

In between these two units is the ‘linking organisation’ that provides deployment support, embedding in the field and rapid scale up.  The linking organization needs to ensure that the fractal nature of the service is supported.  Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales. The real trick is to keep the linking units, light touch in resource.

The role of the organization, then in essence is to support the role of the Yajaman, to ensure that he is best served to serve the customers. At gatherings I heard my boss once ask, “how many of you are in Customer Service?”. Thinking it was a question about a department a few hands shot up in response. The reality is that we are ALL in Customer service. Some service the customer directly, while others service the Yajaman who does!

Fundamentally, this requires a re-look at Organisational Design, that structures the form to support from Top layer to the bottom. Instead it calls for a deep understanding around tasks /activities at the smallest level that will support the external customer. It is from this basic serving unit, that one builds the organization upwards, ensuring that the Organisation Design is secure, smart and simple.  As someone said, a simple model is not what one can add to it, but a stage when you cannot take anything out of it.

Smart Design is not enough: to this must be added Culture – the glue that creates the win. Devdutt Pattanaik argues that organisations need ever more innovators (Krishna) and ‘execution oriented’ people who follow rules to serve (Ram). It must be careful it does not support pretenders (Duryodhan) or even worse rebels (Ravan).

Nurturing the right talent mindset is key: to follow through on execution, to be innovative, to have an ownership mindset, a service mindset to give and serve, detailed orientation and being meticulous, a devotion and deep commitment to one’s duty, and a purpose that is differentiated to serve customer’s needs. To see one’s work beyond the material, but more deeply satisfying.

I advocate these are the new age competencies, eternal as it is for the truths it contains. For what is Truth now, would have been truth then, and will forever endure.