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In a recent article in Strategy + Business, Frederic Laloux describes the 5 evolutionary steps of organizational management:
1. Wolf Pack: organized crime, gangs, tribal militias
2. Army: Church, military, government, unions,
3. Machine: multinational companies, investment banks, charter schools
4. Family: Ben & Jerry, Starbucks, Southwest, Zappos
5. Living organism: Buurtzorg, Patagonia, Morning Stars
In “The Future of Management is Teal” which is adapted from Reinventing Organizations (2014) Laloux describes the unique breakthroughs of family and living organism.
If the purpose of social media is to be social, it must adopt the family and/or living organism paradigm to address the different and changing social conversations. The question is how?
Social media is generally organized as a top down, command structure with formal roles. Whether an external agency or internal department, social media contributors are specialized and dedicated to the effort — similar to wolf pack, army or machine. The structure blots out any social aspiration the organization might express by forcing the centralized management to oversee and approve content.
The family structure organizes participants as empowered equal stakeholders. Living organisms take it a step further by allowing teams to self manage and address market needs that emerge. Now that’s a social conversation!