{"id":1622,"date":"2012-07-07T10:47:26","date_gmt":"2012-07-07T10:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saasoft.com\/blog\/?p=1622"},"modified":"2012-07-07T10:47:26","modified_gmt":"2012-07-07T10:47:26","slug":"iconoclasts-and-iconoblasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hcse.blog\/?p=1622","title":{"rendered":"Iconoclasts and Iconoblasts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The human body is an amazing self-repairing system.\u00a0It does this by being able to detect damage and to repair just the damaged part while still continuing to function.\u00a0One visible example of this is how it\u00a0repairs\u00a0a broken bone. The skeleton is the hard, jointed framework\u00a0that\u00a0protects and supports the soft bits. Some of the soft bits, the muscles, both stablise and move\u00a0this framework of bones.\u00a0Together they form the musculoskeletal system that gives\u00a0us the power to move ourselves.\u00a0 So\u00a0when, by accident, we break a bone how do we repair the damage?\u00a0 The secret is in the microscopic\u00a0structure of the\u00a0bone. Bone is not like concrete, solid and inert,\u00a0it is a living tissue. Two of the microsopic cells that live in\u00a0the bone are the osteoclasts<\/strong> and the osteoblasts <\/strong>(osteo- is Greek for\u00a0“bone”; -clast is Greek for “break” and -blast is Greek for\u00a0“germ” in the sense of something that grows).\u00a0 Osteoclasts dissolve the\u00a0old bone and osteoblasts deposit\u00a0new bone – so when they work together they can create bone, remodel bone, and repair bone.\u00a0It is humbling\u00a0when we\u00a0consider\u00a0that\u00a0millions of microscopic cells are able to coordinate this continuous, dynamic, adaptive, reparative\u00a0behaviour with no central command-and-control system, no decision makers, no designers, no blue-prints, no project managers. How is this biological miracle achieved? We are not sure – but we know that there must be a process.<\/p>\n

Organisations\u00a0are systems that face a similar challenge. They have relatively rigid operational and cultural structures of roles, responsibilities, lines of accountability, rules, regulations, values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours.\u00a0 These formal and informal structures are the\u00a0conceptual “bones” of the organisation\u00a0– the\u00a0structure that enables the organisation to function.\u00a0 Organisations also need to grow and to\u00a0develop – which means that their\u00a0virtual bones need to be remodelled continuously. Occasionally\u00a0organisations have accidents – and their bones\u00a0break\u00a0– and sometimes the breaks are deliberate: it is called “re-structuring”.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>There are people within organisations that have the same role as the osteoblast in the body. These people are called iconoclasts<\/strong> and what they do is dissolve dogma. They break up the rigid rules and regulations that create the corporate equivalent of concrete –\u00a0but they are selective.\u00a0Iconoclasts are\u00a0sensitive to stress and to strain and they\u00a0only dissolve the cultural concrete where it is getting in the way of improvement. That is where dogma is\u00a0blocking innovation.\u00a0 Iconoclasts question the status quo, and at the same time explain how it is causing a problem, offer alternatives, and predict the benefits of the\u00a0innovation. Iconoclasts are not skeptics or cynics – they prepare the ground for change – they\u00a0are facilitators.<\/p>\n

There is a second\u00a0group people who we could call the iconoblasts<\/strong>. They are the ones\u00a0who create the new\u00a0rules, the\u00a0new designs, the new\u00a0recipes, the new processes, the new operating standards – and they work alongside the iconoclasts\u00a0to ensure the structure remains strong and stable as it evolves.\u00a0The iconoblasts are called Improvement Scientists.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Improvement Scientists are like builders – they use\u00a0the raw materials of ideas, experience, knowledge, understanding, creativity and enthusiasm and\u00a0assemble\u00a0them into new organisational structures.\u00a0 In doing so they fully accept that one day\u00a0these structures\u00a0will in turn be dismantled and rebuilt. That is the way of improvement.\u00a0 The dogma is relative and temporary\u00a0rather than absolute and permanent. And the faster the structures can be disassembled and reassembled the more agile the organisation becomes and the more able it is to survive change.<\/p>\n

So how are the iconoclasts and iconoblasts coordinated? Can they also work effectively and efficiently without a command-and-control system? If millions if microscopic cells in our bones can achieve it then maybe the individuals within organisations can do it too. We just need to understand what\u00a0makes an\u00a0iconoclast and an iconoblast\u00a0and effective partnership and an essential part of an organisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The human body is an amazing self-repairing system.\u00a0It does this by being able to detect damage and to repair just the damaged part while still continuing to function.\u00a0One visible example of this is how it\u00a0repairs\u00a0a broken bone. The skeleton is the hard, jointed framework\u00a0that\u00a0protects and supports the soft bits. Some of the soft bits, the … <\/p>\n

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