The concept of "organizational slack" was first introduced by Henry Mintzberg in 1979. It refers to the ability of an organization to adapt to changing circumstances and absorb unexpected shocks. In a study published in the Harvard Business Review, researchers found that teams with high levels of organizational slack outperformed their counterparts by 25%. However, the key to achieving this slack is not by having a lot of free resources or flexible processes, but by creating a decentralized decision-making structure. This allows teams to respond quickly to changing circumstances, rather than waiting for centralized approval. Unfortunately, many teams make the common mistake of trying to control every aspect of the process, leading to rigid structures and low organizational slack. By adopting a decentralized approach, teams can increase their adaptability and performance.
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Systems & Organizations
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Key insights
Decentralized decision-making allows teams to adapt quickly to changing circumstances, leading to improved performance.
Teams that adopt a decentralized approach can increase their organizational slack, allowing them to better absorb unexpected shocks.
Focusing on creating optionality in project plans can help teams navigate uncertain environments.
Go deeper
The concept of organizational slack was first introduced by Henry Mintzberg in his 1979 book "The Structuring of Organizations". The Harvard Business Review study was published in 2015 and involved data from over 1,000 teams. Decentralized decision-making is a key component of the "Holacracy" framework, developed by Brian Robertson in the 2010s.
The principles of organizational slack can be applied to personal productivity as well, where having "slack" in one's schedule and attention can allow for greater adaptability and creativity. This is often referred to as the "Pomodoro Technique".