Let’s start with a short quote:

Everywhere, we celebrate the famous entrepreneurs, but organizations “modeler”, rarely. If the foresight or recklessness of the former is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition of economic development, it is the second discrete engineering that allows companies to grow and last.(i)

What do those discrete engineers of organisation have to have in mind in today’s world?

Have a quick look at the historical perspective:

1946-1972: Development (glorious) demographic, economic, infrastructure, welfare state
1973-1992: Creep (pitiful) Budget adjustments, review of management practices, reforms at the margin
1992 -? : Turbulence (rough)
So, Briefly:
• Perspective confused
• Recurring problems
• The often partial solutions, imperfect, temporary.
• Much unrest
• Magical thinking
• Scatter (thinking, actions, etc…)
• Increased complexity and partly artificial

New organizational reality …
• Pressures for change are external
• Little influence on the evolution
• Seeking consistently: no lasting recipe
• Constant Fluctuations
• Fierce competition
• Disorganization – continuous reorganization
• Finishing is an exception (imperfect, incomplete solutions)
• Lack of time for HR…

The challenges for the coming years…
• We are looking for the right way to organize all areas
• The states and companies seek to control the cost of the growth
• Uncertainties and trial and error: we built as we do, we are looking for leads or guidelines, and we adjust constantly
• In turbulence in all sectors
• Perhaps a drastic change? And we do not know how it will look like in the future!
• Turbulence is such that it is impossible to plan the medium and long term

The teacher hypothesis:
• In North America and Europe: we now must manage scarcity, while before it was wealth and growth
• Economic activity shifting towards Asia
• We must learn to live with:
• Sustained performance pressure
• A scarcity of labor
• The same challenges in the private and public
• Etc.

It is clear that the economic activity is shifting today to Asia. But it is not going to end up there, I mean: in Asia.
Indeed, It is striking to already read articles where basically, companies are relocating from China to Africa (H&M)!
It will soon be definitely time for Africa. Time for a STRONG, SUSTAINED, CONTINUOUS and ACCELERATED economical ramp up for the big continent!

What to do? in this new phenomenon of our contemporary history of the organizations. We often improvise! And thus perhaps need the following:

• Constant monitoring, both externally and internally, to adjust the operation (dashboards)
• Regularly review the priorities and inform the staff directly and frequently
• Regularly inform the staff about the pressures exerted on the organization…

An “adaptive” mindset! Instability is seen as a normal state. This is asking for a suitable management:
• Quick decisions
• Decisions and priorities often revised
• Frequent adjustments
• Constant exchange of information
• Affirmative style of decision
• Decision makers closer to operations
• Culture of test and error acceptance!
• Continuous communication in real time
• etc …

For the managers, the bush plane check-list rather than the long-haul automatic piloting one is to be used. And thus, more turbulence to be expected!
What will happen when Africa will have reached or overcame the current development level of China? There will be no more territories with low wages to fuel the current system? A new paradigm will have to surface, the sooner, the better!

Ref:
(i) Comment créer des organisations performantes : l’art subtil des stratégies radicales Yvan Allaire et Mihaela Firsirotu
Pierre Collerette (course extract)