Our current restructuring brings with it challenges for us all. Scott Arbuthot, who will be known to many of you who have completed the Strategic Leaders program says:

During and following "restructuring," effort is needed to build relationships and understanding (connectivity). The biological equivalent is a living system being able to feel/know all parts of itself. The mental-emotional health equivalent is self awareness - knowing all parts of ourselves. The post-restructure state of (various levels of disconnection) people being required to work together without knowing each other means "things get worse before they get better". For some (normally those not promoted) the post-restructure state of disconnect also has various senses of loss, abandonment and abuse. These states do not typically motivate people into new relationship building, especially across imposed hierarchies. The list of restructure-based cultural damage is long and sad. Restructuring was described in 1995 by one of it's most famous inventors, Thomas Davenport, to be "the last gasp of industrial age management". Until this metaphorical gasp is over, those of us working in and with restructured organisations are charged with picking ourselves up and leading the recovery.

Recovering from restructuring is "consultant-speak" for relationship building. It does not have to be clever or formal or even authorised! Just get on with the business of enabling the business through relationships - helping people know each other, know they can be themselves with each other, have real and/or tough conversations, be human/less than perfect, tell the truth, be cranky, be proud, ask for help. You know, the stuff that makes all the difference - not the org chart de jour. As leaders in post restructure recovery, our role is to facilitate the relationship building of others as well as ourselves. What relationships do we need to "just" complete our roles? What extra connectivity can we build in addition to that (so we are able to initiate useful change)?

So, for all of us, let’s remember in the coming months that….
1) Connectivity aids recovery from restructuring.
2) More than functional levels of connectivity are required.
3) Authenticity supports better connectivity.

The language of relational connectivity, authenticity and cultural emergence is notably absent from most discussions about organizational restructuring. This language and the more developed levels of awareness it comes from are, however, on the increase. People are craving and demanding more meaningful and fulfilling work, working environments and working relationships.

Just as we discovered and learned about ecosystems by polluting them, we are also discovering the nature of organizational cultures by violating them. There are more reasons for the failure of restructuring than those narrated here. Resultantly, there is also more to be learned. Greater than functional connectivity is increasingly being recognised as a strong indicator of organizational health.

Connectivity is chaotic, unpredictable, irreversible and uncontrollable. Working to stimulate connectivity requires leaders with emotional maturity and a strong personal responsibility for their own influential behaviours. It’s no wonder the far simpler task of restructuring was so seductive.

Let the real work begin.