Published here by permission. We are immersed in a world of new work. However, in spite of the remarkable technological breakthroughs of the past decade, relatively few breakthroughs have occurred at the human level of organizations. Much of the new work is being done in organizations that are designed in old ways. The data suggest a resounding yes.
Recent studies indicate that most organizations at any point in time are seriously under-performing.
Collectively, we still hold limited and limiting beliefs about the people potential of our organizations. Therefore, organizational capacity has changed very little over the past decade, though technological capacity has changed a lot. Our outdated beliefs about organizational change taint the new wine of the organizational change efforts that are flooding today's organizations. Reengineering is a good example. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that we can't change organizations until we find ways to overcome the basic human tendency to resist change.