Lessons from a Middle-Aged Revolutionary at W.L. Gore

Here is a piece from Gary Hamel's web site. It is genuinely interesting reading about an organisation W. L. Gore who has developed a unique DNA, recognised it and continues to innovate around it. This is a highly successful formula just like Apple. Yet, I have to ask you the question, could you use any their management concepts and techniques in your organisation. If not what might your organisational DNA look like. Here is Hamel's blog from the Wall Street Journal. As a management researcher, I’ve had the opportunity to peer inside a lot of organizations. In doing so, I’ve learned that most big companies are pretty much the same, at least when it comes to the way they’re managed. The rituals of goal-setting, planning, budgeting and performance appraisal differ only slightly from firm to firm. There’s even less variety in the architecture of power. Hierarchical authority structures, top-down leadership appointments and order-following employees have come to nearly every organization I’ve studied—nearly. One amazing exception is W.L. Gore & Associates.

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