Abstract
This presentation outlines a different Mental Model of organizational structures and upends the Corporate Pyramid and balances it on it point.
This inverted model places the leaders at the bottom of the pyramid and defines loose roles for each successive layer. The top most layer represents the interface of the organization to its external enviroment. Unlike traditional top down structures, this model seeks to identify that poor implementation of various aspects of job performance can send fault lines up through the organization. The foundational managements perspective is that they support the work force above it and that all levels must work together to hold the organization together and keep it in balance.
If members allow fault lines to develop in the organization, their team may fracture or fall apart. While a traditional pyramid can survive this through “power of intertia”, the inverted model cannot survive with out external supports and stong bonds.
These external supports can take the form of external practitioners, brought in to shore up the higher levels of the organization by providing such functions as conflict resolution and change management. These external practitioners can be more effective supporting organizations' forward movement rather than attempting to pick up the pieces after they falter.
