This book is an ambitious undertaking earning its use of “revolutionary” in the title. The basis of author Brian Dive's healthy organization building methodology is placing true decision‐making accountability (DMA) where it belongs in the hierarchy. This may sound like a simple rule‐driven activity, but it is just the opposite, encompassing all the complexity and messiness of anything to do with change and humans in organizations. He also addresses people management and motivation questions of how many people should be in an organization, how they should be rewarded, how many layers of hierarchy are necessary, and what career paths should individuals follow to reach fulfillment.
Throughout the ten chapters of the book, Dive gives descriptions and examples of how to achieve an healthy organization. The foundation of his approach is a concept/practice known as DMA. According to Dive, “a lack of well‐defined and clear accountability leads to organizational sclerosis and inefficiency”. He debunks the myth that flattening an organization will improve it by saying that all organizations which exist for a purpose need a spine of DMA. In removing jobs from the spine, a gap may form that weakens the whole beyond repair.
The practical application of these techniques has been demonstrated. Dive implemented and tested these principles at Tesco and Unilever, both large companies. According to the Foreword, others have installed these methods in a variety of organizations around the world, including Amersham, a global healthcare company taken over by General Electric, the Second Sea Lord's organization in the Royal Navy and ABP Publishing Company in India.
The book begins with several of the many reasons that organizations could be unhealthy. Dive points out that there is no quick fix or easy answers. The book outlines the empirical credentials of the story with a mixture of his own application experience with references to the classic works of giants like Frederick Hertzberg, Peter Drucker, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Dive moves on to list the DMA solution set outlining key principles, seven elements, and 11 steps to healthier organizations. The development of the individual is a key tenet of this approach. He also exposes as faulty the popular notions of organizational development such as the “salmon fallacy”, which is the belief that if 100 salmon are swimming slowly upstream and ten are culled, the other 90 will then swim faster.
This book has a wealth of definitions, descriptions and examples and with a small measure a bit of storytelling that augments the “how to” part of the book. I found the concepts confusing to learn during an uninterrupted read‐through. Even with the Tesco, Unilever and other examples to illustrate, it is difficult to keep straight appropriate numbers of work levels, 11 steps for building a healthy organization, seven elements of DMA, and six competencies without having a familiar‐to‐me example to follow.
My recommendation for getting the most effective use and benefit from this book is to first scan the chapters, noting the terminology used and the broad categories covered. Second, use the heightened awareness you have now to watch for clues of unhealthiness. These will be potential applications or opportunities for applications of DMA principles. Return to the book, delve in deeper, and practice analyzing and applying the concepts. Continue this process until a working knowledge of the DMA process is attained with a healthier organization.
This book could be useful to almost anyone interested in helping an organization become more effective. This includes leaders who set strategic direction, change agents, technology gurus, front‐line employees and anyone in an organization who can influence others. As Dive points out, middle managers sometimes feel threatened by the prospect of organizational change or restructuring because the current faddish “solution” is to flatten an organization by removing the middle layers. However, this book makes a cogent argument that removing those layers without the appropriate analysis may hobble the organization. It may take several readings to fully understand the complexity of this approach, but that persistence and effort may have many rewards.
